But it is now a model for self-governance and income generation. Winning many awards, it has attracted dignitaries like the President of the World Bank, ministers from South African countries, researchers, government officials, and students from 43 countries.
The panchayat, nestled in the foothills of the Nilgiris, has won accolades for supplying drinking water to all its villagers, providing housing to all, tapping renewable energy, and for adopting several green measures. It also has a corruption-free administration and its annual income has grown multifold.
The credit goes to R. Shanmugam, who took over as the panchayat's president in 1996, though he had studied only up to the tenth grade.
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