Prestigious awards for the Barli Development Institute

Manager Jimmy McGilligan awarded OBE

James McGilligan (Jimmy), manager of Barli Development Institute for Rural Women has been awarded an OBE in Her Majesty the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2008, “for his services to social causes and the use of alternative energy in rural communities in India”.

Originally from Northern Ireland, he has spent 20 years as Manager of Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, Indore, in the State of Madhya Pradesh. A land reclamation and drainage contractor by trade, Jimmy left his country in 1986 to work on reclamation of saline soils at Rabbani School near Gwalior. His aim was to serve the rural communities in India in response to a call from the Baha’i World Centre.

To see the eco-friendly Barli campus before and after his presence is to see how Jimmy has put his mind, body and soul into this institute in its overall development. In this way, he has contributed to the empowerment of more than 4000 disadvantaged young women who have returned to their rural communities as agents of social change.

The trainees are taught vocational skills, health, literacy and personal and environmental development. Jimmy always maintains that it is very important for women to be educated and empowered in any society; they are the first educators of their children and their status should never be seen as secondary to that of men.

This official recognition of his dedicated service to the rural and tribal women in central India was as unexpected as it is deserved. Jimmy and his wife Janak were overjoyed at hearing the news of the nomination, but had to wait for the official announcement on the Queen’s official birthday before they were allowed to tell anybody. Jimmy insists that the award is really for both him and Janak, and the institute as a whole, so the official announcement was an important moment for Barli. Nevertheless, Jimmy’s proud family back home in Ireland (as seen in the picture) was ‘over the moon’ on hearing the news.

This multifaceted man has literally developed the institute; over the years he has taken care of logistics, maintenance, infrastructure development, food production, information technology and environmental education. But above and beyond all this, more recently he has dedicated himself to the research and development of rural solar technologies. For the last 10 years, he has been the pioneer in central India for manufacturing the large community solar kitchens in Madhya Pradesh, and has installed them in tribal school hostels in Jhabua, Dattigaon and Dhani, and at an orphanage in Indore.

More than 300 domestic parabolic cookers are also in use in rural and tribal communities, these are sources of livelihood in the village of Nathudhana, and in many parts of Jhabua district. The tribal women now have a technology which is ‘gender friendly’ and easy to use, as well as being safer and more hygienic than firewood. Collecting wood is not just about walking long distances to find it, as Jimmy’s wife Janak explains:

‘It is also a struggle because of the numerous threats that they encounter along the way. For instance, walking through isolated areas makes them vulnerable to abuse and rape. They also suffer mental and physical harassment from forest officials, who stop them under the garb of enforcing rules and regulations relating to trespassing. The way back home is even tougher, when these women have to carry heavy loads on their backs. This is the time when they face the greatest threat. The maximum numbers of rapes in these areas occur during this time, when the women stop for a while to drink water, rest or relieve themselves.’

Not content with his work in rural areas, back at the institute he has recently installed solar water heating systems, solar dryers, a solar oven, a water distiller and briquetting equipment. Jimmy’s work to promote solar cooking is an integral part of the main goal of the Barli Development Institute - the empowerment of young women through education and training.

Among 500 tribal communities, Jimmy is popularly loved and known as ‘Jeejaji’ (brother-in-law) since 1988 when he married their ‘Didi’ (sister) Janak Palta McGilligan. Janak was also a Baha’i pioneer from Chandigarh, Punjab, invited by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of India to establish the Institute for Rural Women in Indore in 1985.

Janak also recently achieved great recognition for her long years of dedicated work at the institute. On the occasion of International Women’s Day (8th of March 2008) the government of Madhya Pradesh honoured Janak in the presence of thousands of women, gathered from all over the state to attend the award ceremony.

Dr. Mrs Janak Palta McGilligan, Director of the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, was conferred the state Social Service Award for 2007, for her dedicated work for tribal and rural women's empowerment since 1985.
This is the only award given every year to one woman social worker out of 48 districts in Madhya Pradesh. The award was presented by Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, a leading member of the opposition in the Raja Sabha (House of Parliament), Government of India. (See photo below)

The official citation is in Hindi but roughly translates as: ‘Madhya Pradesh Government respectfully confers the Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Social Service Award for 2007 to Dr. Mrs. Janak Palta McGilligan for continuous activities in the field of social services, service attitude and achievements full of challenges, and gaining prestige’.

Janak and Jimmy have run the Baha’i inspired Barli Institute with tireless enthusiasm and incredible dedication. It is the centre of their world, their home and their work, their passion and the purpose of their life. These awards could not be more richly deserved.

Tom Wilmot