NILOKHERI EXPERIMENT

Prepared by:
Amulya Kumar Sahoo
Apporva Srivastava
Rahul
Arjya Pragyan Mohanty
Ayushi Sarkar
 INTRODUCTION
• Nilokheri is located in Karnal district of Punjab (now in Haryana) near
Kurukshetra.

• It drew its name from the nearby village of Nilokheri.

• During 1948 the project was initiated by Surendra Kumar Dey who was then,
the Minister of Community Development.

• The Nilokheri project was developed as a rehabilitation and resettlement

colony of refugees who migrated from West Pakistan to Punjab during the riots
which took place soon after independence.

• The original plan of Nilokheri was to have a township of 5,000 people and to
link it with villages having a population of about 25,000.
 OBJECTIVES

 Self sufficiency for rural cum urban township in all essential

requirements of life.
 Making provision of work and training for the
 people according to their native background.
 To enable transactions between the consumer and the producer, to
approach a vertical order.
 APPROACH

• It was people- centred

• Planned settlements for the people
• School, an agricultural farm, polytechnic training center, dairy, poultry farm,
piggery farm, horticulture garden, printing press, garment factory, engineering
workshop, soap factory, etc.

ENTRY POINT
• Linking new township with the villages
• Planned settlement for refugees
• Basic infrastructure in the township
• Self-sufficient rurban township
• Improving the conditions of the villagers by availing of the infrastructure
• Linking new township with the villages
• Planned settlement for refugees
• Basic infrastructure in the township
• Self-sufficient rurban township
• Improving the conditions of the village by availing the
infrastructure
 RAPPORT BUILDING
• Township planning and would have centre of medical relief, public
health and sanitation.

• Technical and vocational training.

• There was also a provision for high school education, technical and
vocational training, horticulture, poultry, piggery, fishery, sheep
breeding and other farms of animal husbandry.
 PEOPLE’S PARTICIPATION
• Mazdoor Manzil scheme – “He who will not work, neither shall he eat”.
• It was contemplated that the Nilokheri town would have centre of
medical relief, public health and sanitation.
• There was also a provision for high school education, technical and
vocational training, horticulture and other farms of animal husbandry.
• Work centres were started in all the crafts which were taught in the
institutions like weaving, printing, soap making, laundry, bakery,
tinsmithy, blacksmithy, general mechanics and leathery.
 PHILOSOPHY

Employment– Livelihood—
Confidence– Living Standard

The Resettlement colony, as

Growth Centre

Township (Surrounded by Village)

Serves as Economic &

Administrative Unit

All facilities/ Service

Infrastructure
 SUCCESS
• By the beginning of 1950, small, medium and village industries were
providing gainful employment to 625 families.

• 150 families were sustaining themselves through jobs in government

institutions.

• As many as 60 families earned a livelihood from agriculture and allied

industries, and 900 families from the construction division.

• Impressed with the model, Nehru termed it to be the “Mecca of

Development” and called for the creation of many more Nilokheri
Experiment across the country.
 SUCCESS (CONTD.)
• It gave the idea of agro industrial township as the nerve-centre of rural
development.
• The programme found place in the First Five Year Plan and in the lay-
out of the Financial Plan of the first 52 Community Projects.
• The Colony developed its own hierarchical structure and the
industries started facing troubles due to lack of competitive
advantages.
• Nilokheri is still an important center for the training of Panchayat Raj
and Rural Development Functionaries.
 IMPACTS OF THE EXPERIMENT
• The whole experiment was very successful.
• Yet there were problems with the neighbouring villages.
• Less or no attention was paid to social and cultural aspects of neighbouring
villages.
• Despite the weakness, Nilokheri was an excellent experiment in the planning
of town.
• Nehru was so impressed by his work in training the refugees that he allowed
him 500 acres of marshy jungle land, about 15 km from Kurukshetra, for
setting up a new township.
• The new town was built to rehabilitate as many as 7000 displaced persons
from the refugee camps of Kurukshetra and Ambala.
• Once the forestland was cleared, a small row of houses was built to replace
the tents.
THANK YOU