Once plagued by poor sanitation and scarce resources, this Rajasthan village transformed through local leadership, community willpower, and smart planning.

Hanumangarh, Rajasthan: “I got married here when I was just 13. Back then, Longwala didn’t even have proper drains,” Anganwadi worker Sanjana Sain told 101Reporters. “Today, it feels like I live in a new village.”

Even five years ago, Longwala village in Pilibanga tehsil of Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district had no working sub-health centre, few toilets, and problematic drainage issues.

Today, it has 35 CCTV cameras, a solar-powered panchayat office, a new overhead tank for water supply, a fully equipped gym, and the National Panchayat Award under its belt.

The turnaround began in 2020, when coming from the dalit community Sunil Kranti, a local youth leader and founder of the Yuva Kranti Dal, was elected sarpanch—even though the seat was reserved for the general category. 

Longwala, a village with a population of around 7,000, had an annual panchayat budget of approximately Rs 1 crore when Kranti became the sarpanch. The village is about 23 km from the Hanumangarh district headquarters and 5 km from the Pilibanga Panchayat Samiti.

Kranti, along with a team of “motivated” panchayat members and officers began to tackle basic challenges first like sanitation, healthcare, and water management. 

One of the first things the Sarpanch did after being elected was to study successful panchayat models. He visited several developed villages in neighbouring Punjab to understand how they had planned, mobilised communities and leveraged government schemes.

In 2023, Kranti and his team’s efforts led to Longwala being honoured with the National Panchayat Award for developing self-reliant infrastructure.

“We managed to bring some changes in the village because we focussed on works that people wanted to get done,” he added. 

Tulsi and Suman, women from the village (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Blueprint for change

Longwala village is home to about 1,200 families, half of whom belong to Scheduled Castes like Nayak, Meghwal, and Majbi Sikh. The rest include Kumhar, Jat Sikh, Nai, Brahmin, and Bania communities. 

Kranti said that the earlier Sarpanches and officials struggled with fund mobilisation due to a lack of awareness. However, he and his team visited the Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishad offices to understand which schemes exist, what kind of documentation is needed and what could be used where. 

This research helped him scale up the budget from Rs 1 crore to Rs 10 crore annually, by applying to multiple government schemes across departments.

People working out at the village gym (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Participative planning

To get residents involved, Kranti used pressing issues to encourage community discussion. His first major Gram Sabha focused on water drainage, a chronic problem in the village. “People were troubled by this. When we organised a Gram Sabha to solve it, they came in large numbers,” he said. Four to five hundred residents began showing up regularly. 

“In the next meeting, we raised the issue of Gaushala. In every meeting, some important issue like this was highlighted,” Kranti added. 

This momentum carried into the Gram Panchayat Development Plan, where villagers began to actively propose and prioritise local works. 

He also launched a “Hathai” programme for informal public dialogue. He also reorganised Longwala into seven named zones, distinct from its 12 administrative wards. Each zone, encompassing areas from one or more wards, now has a unique identity, encouraging enhanced community participation.

Gram Panchayat of Longwala (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Smart streets

Cleanliness and sanitation saw immediate improvement. Regular cleaning by the Panchayat, modern public toilets at the bus stand and schools, and a new drainage system turned two previously polluted ponds near the school into functional water bodies. A new overhead water tank ensured supply, and borewells were installed for rainwater drainage.

Infrastructure expanded rapidly: a Rs 1.25 crore tar road to Chak SGW shortened the commute to Hanumangarh by 12 km, 35 CCTV cameras were installed on main streets, and every lane now has streetlights, greenery, and Reinforced Cement Concrete benches. A grand panchayat gate was built, and roads were paved and named.

Education and childcare facilities received new classrooms, boundary walls, and a modern Anganwadi. A fully equipped gym and model bus stand—complete with fans, toilets, and shaded seating—were added for public convenience. In Sada Singh Wala locality, community toilets, an Amrit Sarovar, and a smaller secondary waiting area were also constructed.

Public land encroachments—especially on walkways and a 3-bigha playground—were resolved through consensus-building. Boundaries were marked, and farmers voluntarily pulled back their fences.

Longwala’s panchayat office is now fully solar-powered and digitised. Twenty-five homes already use solar panels, and streetlights are being connected to the solar grid. Under the National Gram Swaraj Abhiyan, Longwala has been chosen to host a Panchayat Learning Center, with LED screens, CCTV, a sound system, projectors, Wi-Fi, and a mini-library.

Beyond physical upgrades, Kranti also focused on economic empowerment. Many villagers expressed interest in animal husbandry and dairy businesses. The panchayat arranged loan camps in coordination with nationalised banks, enabling many to secure business loans.

Women were encouraged to form Self-Help Groups (SHGs), with three already receiving loans through Rajivika. These groups now run beauty parlours, tailoring shops, and grocery stores. Several more are in the pipeline. 

Chandan Singh showing a lane in the village (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Setbacks

The transformation wasn’t without controversy. Two years ago, a newly built panchayat office was found to be located on a school playground. The High Court ordered its demolition and fined Kranti and the Village Development Officer Rs 50,000.

Kranti, the Sarpanch at the time of the alleged misuse of power and is now the appointed administrator, appealed to the Supreme Court. In August 2023, the court overturned the demolition order, thereby saving public funds. However, the Supreme Court simultaneously held Kranti and the then Village Development Officer responsible for arbitrary use of powers, ordering them to jointly pay a fine of Rs 10 lakh. 

This amount was subsequently recovered from them and deposited into the account of the school whose playground had been illegally occupied. The Supreme Court further emphasized that gram panchayats must always represent the public interest and are not permitted to occupy parks or playgrounds for infrastructure projects without strictly following legal procedures.

Sanjana Sen and children at the Anganwadi (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)

Model village 

With a consistent approach and participatory planning, Longwala is no longer just a village. It’s a case study in grassroots governance. The Rajasthan government sent 100 newly appointed development officers to study its model, and over 50 sarpanches and officials from Jammu & Kashmir have visited.

Sandeep Kumar, coordinator of the Gram Swaraj Abhiyan in Jammu, noted that such facilities are typically found in urban municipalities—not rural panchayats. Village Development Officer Sushil Siddh shared that once development began, public trust soared. Ravindra Sharma, Block Development Officer from Pilibanga, said, “Villages with active representatives consistently see more progress.”

Locals like Indrajit Singh and Chandan Singh said that they never imagined officials from across the country would visit their village which is now nationally renowned. 

Kranti said applying for awards is a conscious decision. He explained that receiving a national award changes the perception of governments, district administrations, and the Panchayat Raj department towards the winning panchayat. 

“Officials help such Panchayats to apply for raising funds for development. Our Panchayat has benefited in this way,” he told 101Reporters.

Cover Photo - Villagers at the bus stand (Photo - Amarpal Singh Verma, 101Reporters)