Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

I am a 46-year-old married woman and am a Ward Member of Bauligarh

gram Panchayat, falling under Banarpal Panchyat Samiti of Anugul District.

This is my second term as a Ward Member. After my first term as a Ward

Member, when people requested me to contest the election again, I accepted.

Although I did not have much time to spend in community works, as I have

to earn a living, I attended all the necessary community-level meetings at

the time of election. I contested from the Bauligarh general seat and had

to face two opponents. I was elected defeating my nearest rival by a margin

of twenty votes.

As my natal family was very poor, I could not read beyond Class VII. Then

I dropped out of school on my parents’ insistence. Life went on and in

due course, I married and have five children now. My husband is a daily

labourer on whose daily earnings my family of five depends. All my four

daughters and one son all go to school. Apart from looking after the needs

of the family, I have always given part of my time to others in the village.

I believe that for helping others, one does not always need to have money.

Kindness and empathy, coupled with a genuine desire to help others are

also necessary in ample measure. Maybe the people in my village recognized

this, and they requested me to take on a more challenging, and official,

position. I thought I would have no time to come into politics because I had

to take care of my children’s education. However, on the insistence of my

community members, I made up my mind and found time to campaign in

the election. This was in 2002, and I attracted the voters by visiting them

personally, listening to their problems with patience, and assuring them of

all help that I can extend, legally.

However, life is never smooth. In spite of a majority of people being with

me, certain other did not digest the fact that a woman could be given so

much respect and attention. Some moneyed and upper caste people vented

their ire at a mere woman trying to step into an ‘official’ position. They

tried their best to defeat me and created all kinds of trouble for me during

and after my campaign. However, as some respectable elders of our Ward

supported me, the rest also followed suit. Being poor, I could not ‘buy’ any

golap gadnayak
Ward Member
Panchayat: Bauligarh
Block: Banarpal
District: Anugul