at trainings where I even dreaded the trainer’s questions. I learnt writing my
name, how to read maps of my village, District and State, how the Panchayat
works and how to make budgets.
I faced many challenges. Once, I had gone to the Panchayat office to check
the names of the beneficiaries in the Public Distribution System (PDS) list.
A clerk scolded me and told me to go away, but I told him that I was there to
check if the people of my Ward were included in the list. When he came to
know that I was a Ward Member, I was treated with dignity and was offered
a chair immediately. Being the only earning member of my family, I plan my
days strategically in case of trainings and Panchayat duties. I wake up early to
finish my household chores, work in the fields, and then go for other work.
When a local NgO awarded me a fellowship of Rs.25, 000 for a period of six
months for the village, I took up the issue of PDS. I feel that every villager
needs to have a ration card. I have been negotiating for the rights of those
families in the Ward who were displaced from another Districts. All of them
own land in the Panchayat and have been living here for the past five years,
but they had been denied the benefits of PDS since they were denied ration
cards. I took up the issue in the gram Sabha and the President asked me to file
a petition at the Block-level. When I did that, the BDO told me to conduct a
survey to find out the eligible families and submit it to the Panchayat Secretary.
Based on that survey, the District Office issued orders to the gram Panchayat
for a survey on their part. In a special camp organized to table the findings
of the survey, the Chief Executive Officer found out that the survey was not
conducted, he asked the Panchayat Secretary to do it at the earliest. I am
now constantly following up to ensure that the survey is conducted and the
families get their due benefits.