Self-governance, Self-Reliance and Eco-Friendly Development: The Story of Kuthambakkam Village

Shri Elango is Village Panchayat President in the Kuthambakkam, India, and played a key role in helping to make his village into a model for creating other self-sufficient rural communities. Rangaswamy Elango was born into a dalit, farmer's family in Kuthambakkam in 1960. He earned a degree in Chemical Engineering and worked as a scientist at the Central Electro Chemical Research Institute (CECRI) for eight years, before returning to his village to help raise Kuthambakkam from poverty to prosperity.