A self-sufficient society or community requires several fundamental elements to function properly and supply the right environment and opportunities for the all-round progress of its people.
While in the short-term food availability may appear to be the number one priority, worldly development relies on the timely cultivation of human resources. Hence investing in education and research provides the best returns because even the task of producing food and all other life necessities can be facilitated if people have access to the collective knowledge gained by humanity in the course of its history.
This is why in the model community concept Ananda Nagar wants to represent, you will find the complete range of educational institutions, from pre-school to post graduate levels, from purely academic to vocational, to stimulate and nurture children’s budding intellectual faculties, bathing them in the clear waters of neo-humanistic ideals to form a solid foundation of positive values to build their individual and collective life on.
Also, since not every child can count on the material and intellectual support of his or her family and so Ananda Nagar provides shelter to such student in its dedicated hostels.
Cultural life is somewhat related to education because it provides a link with the history of a people and in Ananda Nagar such aspects are particularly encouraged with structures such as the Rotunda auditorium, and events that promote local cultural education and expression.
Health care is also a fundamental human right and Ananda Nagar provides several approaches to providing affordable health care to its people, from small outpatient clinics to a 36 bed’s multi-discipline hospital that is offering orthodox allopathic treatments along with alternative systems such as acupuncture and homeopathy.
Obviously human development depends on adequate availability of food and in Ananda Nagar there has been a great investment in water management along with research center to test and apply affordable technologically improved methods of cultivation capable of increasing crops production and lift people’s living standards.
A relevant industrial development is also present in Ananda Nagar mostly in terms of cottage industries and will require further expansion because it is indispensible not only to supply useful goods to the people but also to reduce the number of those depending exclusively on agriculture, which is an essential condition for establishing a balanced economic system.
Renewable energy such as solar and bio-gas, are already present in Ananda Nagar because local production of energy not only resolves the problem of the environmental pollution caused by fossil fuels, but also the tremendous wastage of resources involved in building and maintaining power lines stretching for thousands of miles to connect each community to centralized power stations.
Every aspect of development in Ananda Nagar is meant for all the people, regardless of their gender and social condition, because Ananda Marga doesn’t recognize such artificial distinction, but rather promotes a casteless society in which women enjoy the dignified status they deserve, which is essential for the balanced progress of a truly human society.
Finally comes the care for the natural environment, which in Ananda Nagar has taken the shape of reforestation projects and the Pasaka zoological and botanical gardens. Nature gives us sustenance like a mother but if abused can also become a threat to human life so a community needs to care for living beings by providing and preserving the natural habitat they need.