There is a quiet but effective ecological movement happening in the country that goes by the name of 'ecotechnology'. Its core idea is to balance the conservation of natural resources with the need to give poor people a chance to secure a decent livelihood. The flag bearer of the movement is the JRD Tata Ecotechnology Centre, which stands testimony to the vision of Dr MS Swaminathan, the renowned agricultural scientist and is part of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation located in the southern Indian City of Chennai.

"The famine of work causes the famine of food," says Dr Swaminathan, the patriarch who has given shape to the Centre. "Today's world is in need of a message of hope. What we need is an ecology of hope: not a ‘doom ecology’, but a ‘do ecology’. This is where the new movement for eco-enterprises and ecotechnology has become a very powerful instrument."

Established in 1996, the Centre symbolizes Dr Swaminathan’s conviction that an optimum blending of traditional wisdom and scientific endeavour that nurtures and protects the environment is the bedrock of truly sustainable development. Dr Swaminathan, when he won the 'World Food Prize' way back in 1987, had set aside the money, which was part of the award to establish the Centre. A larger initial monetary contribution of Rs 18.5 million came from the Sir Dorabji Tata and Allied Trusts. The Centre, formally inaugurated in July 1988, has so far received more than Rs 45 million from the Tata Trusts and today it is a major catalyst in transforming the lives of the rural poor in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere.

The Centre’s holistic vision for rural development stretches way beyond farming. It covers literacy programs that use computers and touch-screen technology, interaction and advocacy with the government, educating the poor about governmental schemes and establishment of village knowledge centres, where the poor can source information on agriculture, health, animal husbandry, horticulture, government schemes and subsidies and so on.

What is unique about the Centre is that it does not have any fixed bouquet of projects or any set sequence of initiatives that it carries to every new place it gets involved with. It could be micro-credit organizations in one village, self-help groups in another and literacy projects or sustainable farming in a third. But, there are three core components in its approach -- creating grassroots institutions that can respond to any problem, building capabilities, so that people can understand where solutions are available, and helping start micro-credit associations and micro enterprises that deliver livelihood opportunities.

There are six phases in the Centre’s matrix of sustainable development: mobilization, organization, technology transfer, systems management, capacity building and withdrawal. The last mentioned is crucial. The objective is to make itself redundant, so to speak, over a period of time to the people who benefit from its expertise. This is a consistent theme with the Centre, and it is a huge bonus for it and, more importantly, for the villages it works with.