Members had started a practice of organizing ‘fake’ Panchayat meetings
where they would fill the Panchayat register with false information and hand
it over the BDO.
My husband is a ‘social activist at heart’, and he encouraged me to take
up the matter in the Panchayat. He himself tried to mobilize other male
Ward Members to resolve this problem. I was given the task of mobilising
my female colleagues. I successfully roped in one of my two colleagues. In
the meanwhile, I was approached by the local NgO -CECODECON to
participate in Panchayat trainings. The training sessions gave me the space to
air my grievances and seek the support and advice of my colleagues.
Frustrated, the Ward Members, led by me, decided to call a gram Sabha to take
out a no - confidence vote against the President. When the BDO got wind of
this move, he arrived at the gram Sabha and spoke in favour of the President
and the Panchayat Secretary. He dissolved the gram Sabha and threatened
us dissenting Ward Members. In response, the Ward Members put a lock on
the Panchayat Bhawan to register their protest. On my part, I reported the
matter to CECODECON and requested them to speak with the BDO. At the
various trainings and meetings that followed the event, I continuously spoke
of my Panchayat’s problems. Fellow EWRs offered suggestions on strategy.
Kaushalya Devi Meena, president of the women’s federation even spoke with
the BDO about my Panchayat, in the hope that I could use the federation’s
strength to force the BDO into action. This support and encouragement was
important for me as I went along pushing to keep up the fight.
Matters came to a head in early August 2007, when I was appointed a core
committee member of the EWR federation. The husband of my President was
mad that his wife was not the one who was receiving the honors. Angry and
insulted, he threatened to kill my husband and me. The BDO was called in
to pressurize him to offer an apology. This pressure put an end to his threats
but it did not result in his holding Panchayat meetings or reinvigorating the
Panchayat.