I am 54 years old and a mother of three daughters, all of whom are currently
pursuing their higher studies. I was elected the President in the 2006 Panchayat
elections. I belong to the fishing community and we have our own traditional
Panchayats. It was earlier an all-male affair and women were not even allowed
to attend meetings. Therefore, being accepted as the Panchayat President was
an accomplishment in itself.I regularly visit each ward in the Panchayat so that I am able to identify the
needs of all the people in my Panchayat. I conduct each gram Sabha, and I
can say with confidence, that there has been a marked improvement in the
attendance of the meetings.My primary focus as a President has been on education, particularly for the girl
child. After the Tsunami, the Panchayat saw a number of school dropouts. The
school fee was high and many parents were unable to afford it. Even though
the Central government has a provision to support these children through
a monthly grant of Rs. 300, procedures complicated. The students need a
certificate from the Village Administrative Officer stating their eligibility for
the Scheme (besides a certificate that they were Tsunami affected) and they
need to have a bank account.I approached the Block office and the government’s education department
for funding the children’s school fees under “The Prime Minister Tsunami
Relief Fund” I was successful, and the required funds were released. Today, all
the children are back in school. We have brought all the earlier dropouts back
to school as well. The Primary School now has 68 girl children and Middle
School has 138 girl children out of 520, all of them funded by The Prime
Minister Tsunami Relief Fund. After witnessing this success, the neighbouring
Panchayats have also started approaching the government for the grant.According to me, education is the best way to bridge the gender divide. The
girl child deserves special attention since boys are able to get education without
much of struggle. I will ensure that no child in my Panchayat drops out of
school.Kumari Kaliyaperumal
President
Panchayat: Vanagiri
Block: Sirkazhi
District: Nagapattinam