Women Leaders in Village Panchayats

I am 48 years old and a widow with three children. My husband passed away 10

years back. Although I have no political background people encouraged me to

stand as a Ward Member. This is the second time that I have successfully stood

for elections. It was a change for me to mingle with the people. I am not very

educated, just seventh classes pass, and belong to a poor family. My husband

was a daily labourer. After my husband’s death, I was fraught with financial

difficulties, which included bringing up my son and daughter. However, even

with such hardship, I was motivated to work for the development of my area,

since economic up-liftment alone can help mitigate some of the sufferings of

the rural poor.

I believe women’s empowerment and self-employment are the keys to the

rise in the community’s fortunes. Therefore, I got involved with a women’s

SHg in our locality and motivated other women to join our group and work

towards financial security. Local people understand my mission and vision

and greatly appreciated the fact that in spite of my personal troubles, I was

giving time for them. They selected me to contest the election in 2002. Two

other contestants were fully equipped with men, money, and muscle. The

other two competitors initially laughed off my challenge, and tried their

level best to discourage me. Nevertheless, my group members stood united

and extended their full support, as it became a prestige issue for them. The

contest subsequently boiled down to an autocracy vs. democracy fight.

Though I belong to the OBC category, I contested from the unreserved

women’s seat on the insistence of my supporters. During the election, I

campaigned with my SHg group women whose presence helped mobilize

and influence many voters.

I won the election easily. It gave me great pleasure that now I had a wider

scope to study the problems of women, especially from the BPL families

and other deprived sections in our village. Before my second term as Ward

Member in 2007, I had gained a lot of knowledge in working for the public

as well as with different people. It enriched my self-confidence and enabled to

me talk frankly with people and government officials about the developmental

works, project plans, roads, sanitation, health, and PDS. I also worked to

Asanti Behera
Ward Member
Panchayat: Jarasingha
Block: Sadar
District: Angul