I am 40 years old and have studied up to Class VI. My husband was elected as
the President of a cooperative society. When the post of President was reserved
for women, I decided to contest the election with the support of my family
and the villagers. I went door-to-door, asking for votes and promising the
villagers better health facilities and transportation. In a close fight, I won by
28 votes, contending against 12 other candidates.Devgaon is a Panchayat located in a hilly terrain, surrounded by hills full of
bauxite. A contractor has been involved in bauxite mining in the Panchayat
since the last 40-50 years. He holds the leasing rights of 72 acres of land in
Devgaon and another 106 acres in a nearby Panchayat. When the lease expired
in 2002, he renewed it for another 20 years. The gram Sabha members were
never happy with this mining arrangement. Every day, 40-50 trucks full of
bauxite was dug out and sold at the open market at Rs. 1 Lakh per truck.
Moreover, the plying of a huge number of trucks everyday took a toll on
the roads. With the contractor depositing the lease amount and taxes to the
mineral department, the Panchayat did not receive any share in the revenue
generated. However, the roads had to be maintained by the Panchayat.When I came to know about the rights of a Panchayat over its natural
resources, through a training program I attended, I decided to get the revenue
records of Devgaon checked to understand the terms of lease. I found that in
contravention of rules, the lease did not show in the map of the Panchayat.
Along with some of the gram Sabha members, I complained to the Department
of Panchayats and Minerals regarding the matter, but they ignored us. The
relentless mining had rendered agricultural lands of a vast number of farmers
in the village infertile. Rocks and mining residue would be deposited in the
fields due to rain and erosion and hence, the farmers were unable to grow
crops. In all, 50-60 acres of land belonging to 20-25 owners got affected. The
last straw was when a plot adjacent to the mining point was identified for
making a new pond under NREgS. It was supposed to benefit the villagers
by providing employment, as well as solve the problem of water shortage faced
by the farmers of Devgaon. However, when the work of the pond was almost
finished, the contractor intervened and filed a case in Court against the work,Murti Pandey
President
gram Panchayat: Devgaon
Block: Sirmore
District: Rewa