By BBC News Online's Sanjoy Majumder in Bhuj.

One year after the Gujarat earthquake, villagers across the disaster area are making a fresh start.

Many villages are being rebuilt from scratch, with assistance from non-governmental agencies and businesses as well as the government itself.

Although many rural areas remain untouched, those that have received assistance have made impressive progress.

In one unique experiment, reconstruction agencies are engaging village communities in an attempt to rebuild both their homes and their lives.

Out of the rubble

Lakhapar village lies in the Anjar division, one of the worst affected areas. Approaching the village from the freshly constructed country road, some evidence of the destruction can still be seen.

Piles of rubble lie everywhere, some of it being used in the reconstruction of the village.

The new homes are built to resist both earthquakes and cyclones

Tents and temporary shelters made of straw are still in place - many of the villagers still live in them while they wait to move into their new homes.

But across from the old village, a new settlement of bright, brand new homes is rising.

The single-storey houses built of concrete bricks have been developed by architects and structural engineers to resist both earthquakes and cyclones.

"Our design has a certain amount of flexibility," says Satish Sinha of Care International, which is constructing the village in partnership with the Federation of Indian Commerce and Industry.

"Each home is approved by the villager who is eventually going to reside in it."

Before the earthquake, Lakhapar had 380 homes for its 1,700 residents. All of them were levelled after the quake struck last January.

"There was nothing left standing, not a single home," recalled Dhakhrabhai, a Lakhapar resident. "We had to move into tents and temporary houses."

Public-private partnership

As part of an effort to encourage private initiatives in the reconstruction of the disaster area, and also to tap into resources beyond its reach, the government of Gujarat state offered villagers a couple of options.

Many have lived in tents ever since the quake

They can accept compensation from the government directly, and rebuild their damaged or destroyed property themselves.

As an alternative they can allow a NGO to rebuild their homes - in which case the organisation received 50% of the compensation amount and put up the rest itself.

"It took us a lot to persuade the villagers to accept our assistance," said Pervez, a Bhuj resident who quit his job as a computer programmer to join the rehabilitation project.

"Many of them were suspicious - they didn't understand why we would want to help."

But finally the villagers relented. The village council made fresh land available to the organisers and construction began.

"It's nice to have new homes," says Kahiyan, another Lakhapar resident. "And we didn't have public toilets and a proper drainage system earlier."

Left out

But not everyone is happy.

Ragha, Rupa and Makhibehen, a widow, are among some villagers who will not get homes. Their names do not figure in the list approved by the government for rehabilitation, based on the village records.

"We were living in rented accommodation. So obviously we do not have our names on any land or property deeds," says Ragha.

Many rural residents see reason for hope about the future

They also lack identity cards which would allow them to be a part of India's vast public distribution system, which enables people living beneath the poverty line to receive subsidised food.

Despite this, it is evident that for some people the process of rehabilitation is likely to have a happy ending.

Some 30% of Kachchh villages affected by the quake are being built by NGOs. The remaining 70% are being covered by the government's rehabilitation programme.

At the moment, many of those rural residents can only live in hope.