Ánanda Nagar’s development as per Bábá’s directions.
Every development is based on the existence of relevant knowledge and that is perhaps why Bábá stressed the creation of a network of educational institutions that could serve people living in and around Ánanda Nagar by giving expression to the local hidden human resources that had remained undiscovered for generations.
For decades now, Ánanda Nagar’s rural children have enjoyed the opportunity to intellectually form themselves thanks to the Ánanda Márga’s educational institutions, which have survived the difficulty of existing in its hitherto barren intellectual landscape thanks to the selfless dedication of Ánanda Márga volunteers.
In order to take Ánanda Nagar and its neighboring poorest districts out of the vicious cycle of poverty, Bábá defined the necessity to guarantee the minimum requirements of life to the people, and to provide to them socio-cultural, healthcare, employment and economic security. Such requirements can be achieved by addressing the individual development of food production through progressive farming and water management methods, and the creation of renewable energy.
Bábá listed various areas of economic development, especially through industries directly dealing with agricultural production and processing of agricultural produce, as essential to provide necessary goods to the local people as well as alternative forms of employment, which otherwise is condemned to remain insufficient because overly dependent on agricultural production alone.
Healthcare and appropriate medical facilities are one of the basic necessities of life and Bábá wanted them to have a relevant importance with the institution of rural clinics and at least a multi-disciplinary hospital that could serve the wider Ánanda Nagar area.
Last but not least, it is a fact that there can’t be all round progress of society as long as women are discriminated against in terms of educational opportunities, which perpetuates their state of utter material and cultural dependency. That is why Bábá envisioned an entire area or Ánanda Nagar to be dedicated to women’s welfare through literacy, cottage industry training, children’s homes, maternal care and childcare, and also musical education.