Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

Last year, when only two children passed their school exams, both of which

were girls, I was immensely disturbed. After some deliberation, I decided to call

a special gram Sabha. This gram Sabha, held in June last year, was convened

with much fanfare. Around 150 people were called, of which one-third were

women. The falling standards of education was on top of the agenda and

resolutions on getting better teachers for the village, getting them to attend

classes on time and to relieve them of their non-teaching responsibilities were

passed. To inspire other children to study hard the two girls that did manage

to pass were felicitated and awarded in the gram Sabha. Their teacher, the

only woman graduate in the village was also felicitated during this ceremony.

However, the issue did not end here. At the beginning of the new academic

session, I went to the local schools to check the attendance register. I asked to

see the attendance register, the teachers refused to show it to me. They told me

that only their superiors were authorized to see the files. I did not lose heart

and organized a rally, which included around 50 women along with children

and a few other Panchayat representatives, and took it to the school. We then

demanded to see the relevant files and discovered that quite often the teachers

themselves were absent. However, this absence had not been recorded. I insisted

that this be rectified and their absences be noted in the register as well. After

this incident, the teachers were found to be more regular. Consequently, I

formed a women’s association that undertook the responsibility of monitoring

the activities of the school from time to time.

I took it upon myself to personally overlook the implementation of the Mid-

Day Meal Scheme and the functioning of the ICDS-Aanganwadi. The result

of all this was that of the 66 children who were in class VIII, 17 passed - seven

girls and ten boys.

I am very excited by this and am now going to everyone in the village to

ask them to send their children to school. The bigger problem is a high

dropout rate and for this I have been talking to the parents. I have been quite

successful in sending some children back to school. However, I lament the

absence of a High School in the village, which impedes further studies of the

Radhiya Adivasi
President
Panchayat:
Block: Rampur Baghelan
District: Satna