Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

I am a former teacher and the people of my village asked me to contest for

the post of Panchayat President in the 2006 elections. I won by 975 votes in a

Panchayat of 11,000 voters. I contested from a seat reserved for women from

the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC). I am 35 years old and have studied up

to Class xII.

After attending the Women’s Leadership Workshop (WLW) organized by

The Hunger Project-Nirdesh, I became active in my role as a President.

Subsequently I became a WLW trainer, learnt to use the computer and ride a

bicycle.

After gaining confidence and energy from these workshops, I started criticizing

the Panchayat Secretary openly. I complained to the Block Development Officer

(BDO) about the Secretary for his autocracy and ill treatment of others. A

special gram Sabha was called in March 2007, where the Panchayat Secretary

was criticized for removing the names of eligible families from the BPL list.

A resolution was passed and was given to the District Magistrate (DM) after

being signed by every member present in the gram Sabha. I also called for a

Panchayat Meeting to counter the autocracy of the Secretary. I have, on several

occasions, put forward my views to the Panchayati Raj Director and State

Election Commission without hesitation.

Within one year, I have regularly conducted gram Sabhas and worked for the

development of my Panchayat. I always bring different Schemes to the notice

of the people in the gram Sabha. Using the gram Sabha as a platform, I

have recruited an Aanganwadi Sevika, Sahayika and a Siksha Mitra. I used the

National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREgS) to construct roads

and install seven solar lights. I got bank accounts opened for 34 people so

that they can receive their dues under various Schemes, and have distributed

scholarships for education giving priority to students belonging to EBC and

Scheduled Castes (SC).

At present, I am fighting a big cause for my people. A lot of land of Kolhua

Panchayat has been acquired by the government for the construction for a

Amita Devi
President
Panchayat: Dadar Kolhua
Block: Kanti
District: Muzaffarpur