I have studied up to Class x and am married with two children. With unflinching
support from my husband, I am able to do what I feel is the responsibility of every
leader specially those that have been elected to gram Panchayats. Some of the
notable things that I have facilitated during my tenure include the construction
five toilets in my village and the fair distribution of food and food items at the
Aanganwadi Center in Hunuganahalli, a village that falls under the purview of
the Panchayat. In addition, to do this I had to threaten the Aanganwadi teacher
and the helper with punitive action if they continued to be unfair and non-
transparent in the distribution of food to the children. With this warning, the
distribution of the government-sponsored Mid-Day Meals has improved and
now reaches every child.I have also taken steps to stop corruption in my area. Under the government
sanctioned Bhagyalakshmi Baramma Scheme, BPL families are entitled to a sum
of Rs. 10000 at the birth of a girl child, through the Aanganwadi. Two women
who were entitled to this money were asked by the Aanganwadi teacher for a
bribe of Rs. 1750/- and were asked to swear in the name of god that they would
not speak of this to anyone. A SHg leader, Vombamma also went to Aanganwadi
to avail of this scheme for her grand daughter. The teacher would not sanction
the money and asked for various records. Lakshmi, one of the earlier beneficiaries
informed Vombamma that the money would not be sanctioned unless she paid a
bribe. She narrated her own experience. Vombamma came to the gram Panchayat
and informed me. I confronted the Aanganwadi teacher but she denied asking
for money. When I brought forth others who testified otherwise, she was forced
to admit to her wrong doings. I warned the teacher of severe action if this was
repeated and gave her one-week to refund all the money she had taken.In the Rangasamudra government Primary Health Centre, the ANM charged
money to distribute medicines to the people. This came my notice, I intervened
and stopped this practice, and all the villagers appreciated my work.I participated in all the trainings conducted by The Hunger Project. I have also
attended the Sarojini Naidu Prize ceremony in Delhi. It is through the trainings
that I have developed the courage to fight against injustice.Saubhagya Nanjundaswami
Ward Member
Panchayat: Rangasamudra
Block: T. Narsipura
District: Mysore