Pochampally village in Telangana is set to be named as one of the best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

Best Tourism Villages Initiative

• The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO Pilot initiative aims to award those villages which are outstanding examples of rural destinations and showcase good practices in line with its specified nine evaluation areas.
• It also aims to support villages to enhance their rural tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for improvement.

Key objectives

• Reduce regional inequalities in income and development
• Fight rural depopulation
• Progress gender equality and women’s and youth empowerment
• Enhance education and skills development

About Pochampally

• Pochampally, 50 Kms from Hyderabad, is a town in Nalgonda district of Telangana.
• It is often referred to as the Silk City of India for the exquisite sarees that are woven through a unique style called Ikat.
• It is also known as Bhoodan Pochampally to commemorate the Bhoodan Movement that was launched by Acharya Vinobha Bhave from this village on April 18th, 1951.
• Currently, a two-room Vinobha Bhave Mandir exists within the village which was earlier the place where Vinobha Bhave resided during his visit to the village.

What is Pochampally Ikat?

• Ikat is a Malaysian, Indonesian word that means “Tie and Dye”.
• For this style, Pochampally Ikat, received a Geographical Indicator (GI Status) in 2004.
• Ikat involves the process of wrapping (or tying) and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to a predetermined colour pattern before they are woven.
• The dye penetrates into exposed sections while the wrapped section remains undyed.
• This pattern formed by the yarn in this process is woven into fabric.

Back2Basics: Bhoodan Movement

• The Bhoodan movement (Land Gift movement), also known as the Bloodless Revolution, was a voluntary land reform movement.
• It was initiated by Vinoba Bhave, a staunch Gandhian in 1951 at Pochampally village, which is now in Telangana, and known as Bhoodan Pochampally.
• The movement attempted to persuade wealthy landowners to voluntarily give a percentage of their land to landless people.
• Philosophically, Bhave was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi’s Sarvodaya movement and Gram Swarajya.
• Landless laborers were given small plots that they could settle and grow their crops on.
• Bhoodan Acts were passed that stated that the beneficiary had no right to sell the land or use it for non-agricultural purposes or for forestry.

Try this PYQ:

Q. With reference to land reforms in independent India, which one of the following statements is correct?

(a) The ceiling laws were aimed at family holdings and not individual holdings

(b) The major aim of land reforms was providing agricultural land to all the landless

(c) It resulted in cultivation of cash crops as a predominant form of cultivation

(d) Land reforms permitted no exemptions to the ceiling limits

 

Post your answers here.

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