Popatrao Baguji Pawar (born 1960) is the farmer

sarpanch A sarpanch ( IAST: ''Sarpañch'' Hindi: ''सरपंच'') or Gram Pradhan or Mukhiya is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the Gram Sabha (village government) in India. The Sarp ...

of Hiware Bazar, a

gram panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

Ahmednagar district Ahmednagar district (Marathi pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �ɦ(ə)məd̪nəɡəɾ is the largest districts of Maharashtra, district of Maharashtra state in western India. The historical Ahmednagar city is the headquarters of the district. ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He was the only post graduate in the village. In 2020, he received the

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

honour from the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

for his contribution in the field of social work. He is the Executive Director of Maharashtra state government's Model Village programme. He is credited to have transformed it from an impoverished village into a model of development that the government of Maharashtra wishes to implement across the state. Pawar led Hiware Bazar's transformation from a drought- prone village to a green and prosperous model village, thus successfully reproducing

Anna Hazare Kisan Baburao "Anna" Hazare (; born 15 June 1937) is an Indian social activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public life. In addition to organising an ...

Ralegaon Siddhi Ralegan Siddhi is a village in Parner taluka of Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra state in western India. It is located at a distance of 87 km from Pune. The village has an area of 982.31 ha (1991). It is considered a model of environmental c ...

model of village development. He featured in an

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' launched a new onl ...

cover story Cover story or Cover Story may refer to: * A magazine or newspaper article whose subject appears on that issue's front cover, and may be profiled in depth. * A fictitious explanation intended to hide one's real motive; see disinformation, cover-u ...

as the person who demonstrated how rural water resources could be revived. The Hiware bazare gram panchayat, with Pawar as its sarpanch, won the first National Award for community led water conservation in 2007. In an interview with

Nikhil Wagle Nikhil Wagle is a journalist from the Indian state of Maharashtra. Career Print media Nikhil Wagle started his media career in 1977 as a freelance reporter. He later joined ''Dinank'', a Marathi newsweekly, in Mumbai. In 1979, when the edi ...

on IBN Lokmat, Pawar describes his entry into public life as an accident. In relation to the control of malaria he is quoted to have said "Show me one mosquito (in Hiware bazar) and take away Rs 100." He speaks regularly at Policy BootCamp, a flagship summer school in public policy conducted by Vision India Foundation.

References

Activists from Maharashtra Maharashtra politicians 1960 births Living people People from Ahmednagar district Recipients of the Padma Shri in social work {{Maharashtra-politician-stub