implications of sex selective abortions and closely monitors their families in
case they suspect any threat. The committee in my Ward has helped seven
pregnant women, of whom, five have given birth to girls.
I have also facilitated access to Widow and Old Age Pension to some women
in my village. I hope to work with and help such women in the future. I have
really struggled to include names of three such women in the BPL list and
have included them in the priority list for housing.
Even though cases of conflict over property, between neighbours and so on
come up frequently in my village there have also been cases of domestic
violence where women have suffered abuse by their husbands and daughters-
in-law have suffered harassment by their in-laws. These cases have also been
resolved through negotiation and counseling.
I have also undertaken other development works in my Ward in the past two
and a half years. The first of this kind was to get Rs. 40,000/- sanctioned to
repair the water tank and get iron pipes to deliver water in the agricultural
fields. To get this done, I myself sent an estimate budget to the Junior Engineer,
collected all the material, consolidated the bills, and prepared the muster roll
and so on. Initially, I did not receive the full support of the people in my
village but gradually they came on board.
The second development work was to make a link road for which I collected
Rs. 90,000/- from the MLA fund. I had to put a requisition before the
Panchayat and prepare an estimate budget approved by the Junior Engineer
with which I approached the MLA. I kept waiting for the money to reach the
Panchayat and it was only later that I realised that it had already reached and
been used up by the President in his Ward. I had to visit the MLA again and he
guaranteed an investigation. Neither the President nor the people, especially
the men, complied with the investigation and they kept creating obstacles for
me. It took me some time to learn the nature of this work, understand how to
get the line departments involved and gradually get the work done.