By Gazi Abbas Shahid

Copyright india

Indias Village of Officers: While its a fact that education in rural India still lags behind the literacy levels in urban centers there are a few villages in the country which outshine even major metro cities in terms of academic and professional laurels. One such place is Padiyal a small hamlet in Madhya Pradeshs Dhar district which has churned out more than 100 IAS officers and almost every student from the village who opts for NEET or JEE has achieved success in these exams.
Where is the Village of Officers?
Padiyal a remote village in Dhar district has earned the moniker village of officers and for good reason. According to various media reports this tribal-dominated village in Madhya Pradeshs Malwa region has a population of just over 5000 people out of which more than 100 native sons and daughters are working as civil servants across different parts of India.
Around 90 percent of Padiyal natives belong to the Bhil tribe– an ethnic community native to central Indian states including Dhar Jhabua and West Nimar districts of Madhya Pradesh Dhule and Jalgaon in Maharashtra and in parts of Rajasthan.
What is the secret of this villages success?
The secret lies in the villages high literacy rate and quality education. According to the Madhya Pradesh government Padiyal village has a literacy rate of over 90 percent and more than 100 people from the village are serving in the Indian Police Service (IPS) Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and other central civil services.
Additionally there are scores of others who are lower court judges engineers doctors prosecution officers forest officers among others.
In a statement the state government claimed that every household in Padiyal has at least one government employee. There are a total of 300 families living in the village. According to the government the youth of the village started appearing in competitive examinations since independence.
Beyond its high literacy rate the quality of education in Padiyal is even more remarkable with various reports claiming that 4 out of 7 school children here have cleared the NEET test while the remaining 3 have cracked JEE Mains in 2024 an astonishing feat for a such a remotely-located region which lacks facilities found in urban and semi-urban areas.
How Padiyal became a model for rural literacy?
Manoj Dubey who has served as a block resource centre official in the area for an extended time bears witness to Padiyals success stories. Dubey says that unlike other villages Padiyal has focused on providing education to children and students here usually begin preparing for competitive exams from a very early age.
More than a dozen officers residing in Padiyal village have retired and are engaged in public services like education and medicine. Presently the youth are getting higher education inspired by the elders Dubey told news agency IANS. The official also highlighted the role of retired IAS officers and other former civil servant who run smart classes to prepare the aspirants for civil services examinations.
A good portion of natives are now living in foreign countries like the United States and the UK where they work as engineers doctors IT professionals while some run successful businesses. The village has a higher-secondary school with 23 teachers and 702 students as per reports.