Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

I am the homemaker of an average family in Bhingaloli village of Mandangad

district. I was born in Mumbai and have studied till Class VII. My husband is

a clerk in Ratnagiri, and I had to adjust to looking after household chores and

agricultural activities. Having been brought up in a place like Mumbai, I hardly

knew anything about rural life and especially about agricultural activities.

However, I learned these things and started handling all responsibilities very

efficiently. I have two daughters and a son. I have been very concerned for

their education since their childhood. Today my son is a computer engineer,

my elder daughter is pursuing a Masters of Science, and my youngest is doing

her secondary education.

My family is not political but is very social in nature. I belong to the gawali

community. I am an active member of a women’s collective in my village and

my husband is the Secretary of the gawali community. My father in law is the

Police Patil of the village and is well known as a social worker. Because of this

background, villagers insisted that I contest elections.

I contested three times but it was only in the third attempt that I was elected.

During the submission of my nomination form, I was pressurized not to

submit the form by the opposite party members. Nevertheless, I went ahead

and they tried to defeat me by casting fake votes. I very wisely remained present

at the booth and discouraged the fake voting by individuals whose names were

not on the voters’ lists. After crossing all these hurdles, I was elected and was

offered the post of President.

I have headed Bhingloli gram Panchayat for the last two and a half years. Now

I am a gP member. When I was nominated for the post of President, which

was reserved as ‘a general women seat,’ there was another woman, Sandipa,

who was also from the same category. Hence, it was decided by the body that

I we would share the post.

Initially, I felt it a burden to handle this new responsibility along with my

household chores. I constantly felt that I lacked the exposure and information

to effectively serve as President. In spite of this when I was invited to attend

Asmita Ankush Nate
President
Panchayat: Bhingloli
Block: Mandangad
District: Ratnagiri