132 villages part of ‘One village, One Ganpati’ in distt

Staff Reporter

Nand village in Bhiwapur tehsil houses a population of 10,000. Three to four Sarvajanik Ganesh Mandals existed in the village before 2018. The yearly Ganesh festival led to unhealthy competition and enmity among the members of the mandals over playing of bands, decoration and sound system. Finally, some good samaritans decided to install one Sarvajanik Ganpati under ‘One village, One Ganpati’ or ‘Ek Gaon Ek Ganpati’ scheme. Since then, the organisers observed an increasing flow of donations and growing unity among the youngsters.

There are 132 such villages in Nagpur district where ‘One Village, One Ganpati’ was installed this year. In the last three years, more and more Ganesh Mandals from villages have unitely opted for the scheme. Highest numbers of

‘One village, one Ganpati’ were installed in Umred division (36), followed by 32 in Ramtek division, 27 in Kahnan division, 26 in Saoner division, Seven in Nagpur division and fine in Katol division.

Dinesh Chacherkar, President of Bal Ganesh Utsav Mandal, Nand, said that the concept brings a change in the village as youngsters are participating in the festival. The social atmosphere of the villages suddenly changed since the three to four Ganesh Mandals came together to install only one Ganesh idol, he said. “Hindu, Muslims, Sikh and Dalits are the members of our Ganesh Mandal and unitely participate in each programme,” he said and added that the Bhivapur police was also helping the villagers to bring the change.

Bharkas village is located in MIDC Butibori area where Ganesh Yuvak Utsav Mandal installed Ganesh idols under the concept. Akash Masram, President of the Mandal, said that they were installing the Ganesh idol under the scheme for the past nine years and not a single incident of fighting was reported during the festival. “The population of our village is around 10,000 and everyone participates in the festival with enthusiasm,” he said.

In Indapur village with a population of 650, the villagers have been following the ‘One village, one Ganpati’ concept for the past several years. Vickey Dhone, President of Navyuvak Ganesh Utsav Mandal, said that the concept was useful to maintain peace and harmony in the village. Our aim is to unite the people during the festival, he said.