of 35 kg for Rs. 105/- as per the rules. When I told the BDO about it, after
failing to persuade the Secretary to discontinue this corrupt practice, he chose
to side with him by saying, “how can you complain against a Secretary from
your own village? These are village matters and shouldn’t be brought to the
Block Office.” I then went to the Collector who deputed a 3-member team of
officers from the Supply Department. On questioning, the Secretary confessed
and returned the extra money taken from the villagers. A new Secretary has
been appointed since.
I discuss matters of importance of our village with the people, and with their
help I have been able to identify rightful beneficiaries of various Schemes and
have also learnt about various problems of the village. To this effect, I initiated
a Palli (Ward) Sabha that was attended by 700 people, a majority of whom were
women. Until date, we have provided ten IAY houses, and are in the process of
giving 17 more. We have registered about 1200 people under the NREgS, of
which 600-700 have already been given jobs. Over 110 beneficiaries have been
identified under the Antyodaya and Annapurna Schemes, 150 OAPs have
been given, 15 disabled pensions have been benefited, and eight more people
have been identified for OAP as per the recommendation of the Palli Sabha.
The construction of a small dispensary, which had been under construction
since years, has now been speeded up.
I plan to have latrines in the village, as there are hardly any latrines in the
village, as well as complete pending road works. Electrification and digging
of tube wells are another priority area, as there are only about 50 tube wells at
present for a population of 5000.
Because I was new and ignorant of many things, some people tried to take
advantage of me. Now I feel confident to take up any challenge that arises in
the course of my work.