Herma, an obscure village mostly inhabited by the tribals under Charilam block in Western Tripura has turned into a modern village on Sunday with many modern facilities reaching the door step of its every household. All the 24 families of the village are now having sanitary toilets with 24 hours water supply, purified drinking water and lights in their home. All are with the help of solar power. Thanks to the NGO Arkaneer and its main organizer Dr. Shantipada Gan Choudhury who envisioned of such a developed village equipped with modern facilities backed by solar technology long ago and implemented with generous financial help from the centre. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Sunday visited the village and observed how the modern facilities are extended to this village with very minimum cost. The Chief Minister was so elated with the success of the project that he instantly instructed the principal secretary for Rural Development Lok Ranjan to prepare a project so that one such village can be set up in each of the state’s 52 blocks irrespective of their remoteness and other difficulties. The project officers often face a serious challenge as the local people specially the tribals are suspicious about the modern technology and averse to accept. ‘Make some documentary in Bengali and Koborok, the languages spoken by the local people, and show them in the villages to convince the people about the benefits of modern technology’, he told the officials. Herma village become a landmark in the development of solar energy in India when the first solar lamp in the country was lit in the office of the Large scale Multipurpose Co-operative Society of this village in the year 1981. ‘The village become another landmark today’, said Gan Choudhury who won Green Oscar award for his contribution in development of solar energy in India. He said corporate houses are there to develop the urban centers and big cities but there is none to look after the villages. Only solar energy can be the answer to it and can ensure the flow of modern technology in the rural areas. He said Arkaneer is coming up with more projects when the residents of the village will be taught how to made modern houses with less cost and how to harvest and store rain water.