IndiaPost.com - Sowing seeds of prosperity in rural India

India Post News Service

NEW DELHI: Dr Surinder M. Sehgal left India in 1959 to pursue higher studies at Harvard University in the US. After establishing himself in the field of rural development, 20 years hence Dr Sehgal, who hails from Punjab, decided to give something back to the people who helped him climb the success ladder.

He set up The Sehgal Foundation in Mewat, a district of 504 villages, some 130 kilometers from Delhi. It is one of the most backward regions in Haryana. The Sehgal Foundation came into being in 1999 with Dr Sehgal's vision to empower rural India through crop improvement, better health, education, skills building, and increased income.

For the past 40 years he has been associated with the global seed industry. He was the chairman of Pro Agro Group which was the second largest seed company. He was a pace setter in establishing the latest facilities in the seed industry, which were then followed by many others in spreading the gospel of hybrid seeds.

This brought much prosperity to 'seed villages' (where hybrid seed is produced) whether it was corn, sorghum, millet, sunflower or rice. The Sehgal Foundation has three activities: grassroots developmental in Indian villages, crop improvement research (at ICRISAT campus) and supporting ecological initiatives to conserve genetic resources.

The Foundation has a consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), has got the Bharat Samman Award from the NRI Institute and is member of the Credibility Alliance. Dr Sehgal is an NRI based in Des Moines. He is a researcher, institution builder, entrepreneur, genetic conservationist and a philanthropist.

As a social entrepreneur, Dr Sehgal established a not-for-profit foundation, The Sehgal Foundation (SF), with his own family funds. He has brought the latest seed technologies to India through his contacts the world over.

In the capacity building area, most of the successful commercial corn breeders throughout Asia were in one or the other way associated with him, as were some of the most prominent seeds men in the world. Wealth was also created in the farmer's field through increase in productivity.

In India, Dr Sehgal is one of the first to establish breeding stations and modern facilities in the private sector seed industry, to establish biotech laboratory and engage in biotechnology research, to establish a hybrid rice seed company after hybrid technology became available from IRRI, and by inviting collaboration with leading Japanese companies.

The Trust is currently promoting Integrated Sustainable Village Development (ISVD) model in 17 villages. The projects spearheaded currently are water management, income enhancement, rural health, family life education, alternative energy mainly solar energy.

At the grassroots level, these programs are implemented by a dedicated team of field workers who work closely with local bodies. They receive support from a team of experienced and highly qualified professionals based at the Foundation's headquarters. Both the field workers and the headquarters' team visit the villages regularly, interact with the communities, and involve the people in all key decisions.

An institute is being set up in Sector 44 Gurgaon, Haryana by the foundation. Institute of Rural Research and Development" (IRRAD) would be a research centre for policy makers, a mass scale training center for village champions, social scientists and other NGOs.

Students would be provided with fellowships. IRRAD will have three centers, the first one for the training of village champions in rural development, the second one for rural research, and the third one for governance and rural policy issues The building of this Institute is being constructed according to the Platinum rating in Energy and Environmental Design Standards (LEEDS) set by the United States Green Building Council.

There are very few buildings in India with this distinction. Dr Sehgal's initiative is a deserving boon to the rural parts of the nation, which provide the urban ones with life, like a seed does to the plants.

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