Ananda Nagar, Rarh, India

Ananda Nagar is a unique rural development project. Located in one of the poorest and most backward areas of India, Purulia district in West Bengal, the area around Ananda Nagar is inhabited by indigent tribal villagers and exemplifies most of the problems which rural people face: lack of education and literacy, chronic disease especially leprosy, widespread nutrition verging on starvation, total absence of any source of energy life electricity, non-productive agriculture on arid and non-irrigated lands, and lack of any type of industrial development. The projects of Ananda Nagar are designed to address all of these challenges and transform a depressed area into a vibrant example of sustainable development.