I am a graduate, and before being elected to the Panchayat, I was a Supervisor
in a non-formal school. As a teacher, I had pursued the cause of education and
succeeded in enrolling many children, both boys and girls, into school. This
is my second stint in office, the first time I contested from a reserved seat; and
the second time from a general seat.My husband, who is a clerk with NIC (National Insurance Corporation),
was associated with a local club and was involved in garnering support for me
in the village. But unfortunately, the villagers didn’t appreciate it, and they
opposed my candidature as I was from a different village. I also faced a lot
of opposition from the village elders who had reservations about a daughter-
in-law entering politics. However, I still won the elections with a majority of
votes from the educated sections of the gram Panchayat, but for two years,
there was a lot of resistance to me in the Panchayat meetings and lack of
cooperation, especially from the elders.But I took it as a challenge and went on to build a High School, concrete
roads, ponds, gave eight IAY houses to the needy, identified and provided
nine Annapurna cards, nine Antyodaya beneficiaries, built tube wells and
also a water harvesting structure in the local school. The Total Sanitation
Campaign, under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Scheme was carried out amidst
constraints but was completed with separate toilets for teachers, boys and girls,
respectively. The Executive Officer and Secretary are helpful and provide me the
necessary help.Apart from continuing with activities that I had started during my first
term, I have also started some new projects. Under the Swarnajayanti gram
Swarozgar Yojana (SgSY), loans have been given to women for goat and sheep
farming. Around 638 job cards have been distributed under the NREgS out
of which 200 have managed to obtain employment. Being a woman myself,
I have always given the foremost priority to issues, which concern and affect
women. Therefore, women feel reassured to come to me with their problems
and stand by me whenever the occasion so demands. Around 770 BPL cards,
13 physically handicapped allowances; IAY houses to three visually impaired,Diptirani Rout
President
Panchayat: Balarampur
Block: Odapada
District: Denkanal