Back to the Grassroots

Bhuyan,though,had other plans. Just before panchayat elections were announced in January 2012,she resigned from her job. The history graduate from Berhampur University told her boss that she would contest a panchayat election in her native village Dhunkapada. He was surprised and naturally so. I was doing well and he tried to talk me out of my decision. But I was sureabout what I wanted to do, recounted Bhuyan. Though very few people favoured her chances in the panchayat elections,she won.

My maternal grandparents were freedom fighters who inspired me to do something for the poor. At home,I was also close to my paternal grandfather who wanted me to become a leader and not just spend my days in some office working for a salary. But I was unsure what to do, says Bhuyan,who spent her school and college days in Berhampur and then Hyderabad.

Last year,some villagers met her and requested her to join politics. Bhuyans name was proposed to local strongman and senior Congress leader Ramakrushna Patnaik because the Dhunkapada GP sarpanch seat was reserved for women.

I asked for 10 days to take a decision, says Bhuyan. Though my father didnt want me to discontinue my job,I told him,’please dont stop me, she recalls. When I found her to be determined,I thought let her find her own way, says her father Bhaskar.

Bhuyan is slowly coming to terms with the demands of her job. Though Ganjam has fairly well-paved roads,there are other pressing issues that need urgent attention. Its local school has only two teachers who have to manage more than a hundred students and primary healthcare is in a mess.

I was surprised when I found that she left a banker’s job to become a sarpanch. Though she has a lot to learn,she is quite sincere, says Polasara block development officer Bansidhar Khosla.

Bhuyan didn’t waste time on the job. Soon after winning the election,she discovered that villagers in Dhunkapada were missing out on public distribution system (PDS) wheat meant for above-poverty-line (APL) households. For the last 20 years,people here did not get wheat though it was coming to our panchayat. My ward members and I made a list of APL families from the voters list. Now more than 800 APL households in Dhunkapada are getting five kg of wheat every month, she says.

As Bhuyan goes around the three villages chairing meetings,villagers seem to be slowly warming up to the idea of a young woman as sarpanch. She always tells us to sort out our problems at our home and not approach the police station. She may be young,but we all listen to her, says Sulabha Rout,an elderly woman of Dhunkapada. For women,it is no longer a problem to approach a sarpanch late in the night. Earlier,we would have been wary of meeting the male sarpanch at odd hours, says Mami Bhuyan,a villager.

Bhuyan is not sure whether she is ready to get married. She wants the villagers to be educated and be aware of their rights. Her immediate priority is to provide better roads,a hospital and clean drinking water in Dhunkapada. I had left the city on my own, she says. If I can fulfil what I dreamt for villagers,I would be happy.