Vethachalam Rural Development Trust

Vethachalam Rural Development Trust: The Background

Subramaniapuram in Sawyerpuram Town Panchayat jurisdiction was one of the most backward villages in the erstwhile Tirunelveli district, Tamilnadu till the mid nineteen seventies. Due to high salinity of the groundwater, instead of digging wells, the residents had to fetch water from wells along the canal of Thamirabarani River that flows about a kilometer away from the village, till the State introduced public water supply through street pipes during the nineteen sixties. Over the years, due to lack of palatable ground water most of the residents who availed the educational opportunities in the region had been leaving the village to enhance their economic status. Hence, those who remained were largely skilled and unskilled workers, old people who after retirement came and settled in the village, plus a small number of native land lord and businessmen families.

One of the sons of the soil, who after retirement from service with Government of India, Delhi returned and settled down in the village saw the plight of women waiting long hours near the street water taps, even during late nights for water, which was just enough for cooking and washing vessels and other essentials. For bathing and washing clothes the villagers still depended on the canal water. His concern for these women led him to pioneer a Water Mission through which he provided individual house connections to all the households in the village and supplied water pumped from wells along the canal bed on a non-profit basis. Four neighbouring villages too were later added by the Non Profit Organization, which he had formed, to avail this provision. Probably these villages were among the first in India to enjoy the hitherto exclusive urban facility of having palatable water piped to the houses.

Inspired by this pioneer, the Vethachalam Rural Development Trust was formed in 2008 to enable those who have similar rural roots but now settled down in urban centres in different parts of India, to connect to their ancestral villages and participate in the development processes that happen there.

The Trust is named after Vethachalam, a local philanthropist who lived between the late 19th and early 20th century, whose generosity is remembered and revered even today by the elders of Subramaniapuram.