'Millet Man' PV Satheesh Dies At 77 After Prolonged Illness
NDTV
Years ago, Mr Sathesh had set up a local public distribution system, run by women farmers, solely based on millet crops.
The man who deserves the honour of being called the Millet Man of India for pioneering work in demonstrating an alternate, ecologically sustainable agricultural food system, died in Hyderabad on Sunday morning after a prolonged illness.
PV Satheesh was founder and Executive Director of Deccan Development Society (DDS) that worked out of Pastapur village in Sangareddy district of Telangana, where last rites of the 77-year-old will take place on Monday at 10.30 am.
As DDS Board member Vinod Pavarala put it, Mr Satheesh was one of the icons of civil society activism in India. His Zaheerabad-based organisation in rural Telangana successfully championed issues of agri-biodiversity, food sovereignty, women's empowerment, social justice, local knowledge systems, participatory development, and community media.
The women's groups, called sanghams, of DDS, and their steadfast adherence to millet cultivation and organic agriculture, led the way nationally in offering demonstrable alternatives to the dominant agricultural paradigm.
