Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

My Panchayat falls under Uthangarai Block of Krishnagiri District located

at the border of Thiruvannamalai District. There are nine medium and eight

small villages in this Panchayat and 300 households live in the Panchayat. The

population of the Panchayat is about 9,500. The literacy rate of the Panchayat

is about 65 percent. There are two Higher Secondary, one Middle School,

and three Elementary Schools here. The majority of the residents derive their

livelihood from agriculture and allied activities.

I belong to the Adi Dravidhar caste (SC Category) and I have studied until

Class III. My husband is a retired government school teacher and was

awarded the Ambedkar Award by the State Human Resource Development

(HRD) Minister in 2005. We have two sons and a daughter and all of them

are high school graduates. My eldest son is working in the private sector while

my daughter is married and my younger son is still looking for a job. My

family and I have been victims of poverty and untouchability. When the

seat of the Panchayat President was reserved for an SC woman in the 2006

elections, I took the opportunity to work for the education of children and

the Panchayat. I won the election defeating four competitors. I faced many

challenges in performing my Panchayat duties due to the inherent gender and

caste prejudices that prevail in my area.

There was a special National Child Labour School in the Panchayat until

2006-07. When the school closed in 2007, thirty-two SC/ST children were

denied their School Transfer Certificates (TCs) and hence could not join a

regular school. I talked to the headmaster of the Middle School and explained

the situation to him. The children have now been given admission to their

respective grades. The Panchayat provided them with school bags, uniforms

and notebooks, so that they could continue their studies. I personally visit all

the schools once a month and monitor the execution of the Mid-Day Meal

Scheme. My Panchayat is taking steps to re-enroll all school dropouts below

14 years of age. On June 1, 2007, the Panchayat meeting passed a resolution

to conduct a public rally to generate awareness among all households of the

consequences of Child Labour and the importance of children’s education.

I have also implemented some other important steps in the Panchayat to

ensure an improvement in the health and sanitation situation. The Panchayat

Prema Chandran
President
Panchayat: Singarapettai
Block: Uthangarai
District: Krishnagiri