Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

Mahurach Kandela gram Panchayat is situated at a little distance from the

Satna-Rewa main road and has a population of 2500 persons. I have studied

up to Class x and have been a Panchayat member earlier, so I had prior

experience regarding the functioning and work of Panchayats. My experience

and dedication made me a popular candidate for the post of President. When

the President’s seat was reserved for a woman belonging to the OBC category

in the 2005 Panchayat elections, nine other candidates contested the election

against me, but I won the election by a margin of 182 votes. After being

chosen, I started working with the active cooperation of 19 ward members and

the woman Secretary. Since I belong to the OBC category, I had to undergo a

lot of discrimination and got ill treated by the villagers.

I undertook a lot of developmental work during my tenure: constructed roads,

kitchen sheds, wells under Kapil Dhara Scheme etc. in the village. The money

allocated under the 12th Finance Commission for the Panchayat was used for

constructing roads. Under NREgS, 300 job-card holders were provided 100

full days of work, during which public wells were constructed, a plantation

drive was held, and two village ponds were deepened.

I got the names of eligible families enlisted on the poverty list and with the

support of the gram Sabha members, struck the names of ineligible people

from the same. On one hand, it improved the position of many people suffering

from poverty, but on the other, it led to many influential and affluent people

becoming my enemies.

While executing the deepening of one of the ponds under NREgS, my

opponents (including the ex-Deputy President) alleged that a machine was

used to do the work. They filed a complaint about it in the Sub Divisional

Magistrate’s (SDM) office. Consequently, the work was stopped before its

completion, without any enquiry and any explanation. I was given a show-

cause notice under Section 40 of the Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act.

During the enquiry setup by the SDM’s office, the Deputy Engineer evaluated

that the expenses on the work was only Rs. 61,000/-, while the actual expenses

were of Rs. 2.50 Lakhs. At that point, it was very clear that this manipulation

Kusum Devi Khushwaha
President
Panchayat: Mahurach
Kandela
Block: Rampur Baghelan
District: Satna