WOMAN IN CHARGE

In the recent panchayat elections, Phull in Jalandhar elected a young woman sarpanch: Kumari Sokhi, a 22-year-old Dalit who says she hasn’t been able to stop “dreaming” ever since she was elected. She has dreams for the village, for the school she went to, of building a new college, of a village whose streets magically light up at the turn of a switch.

These are dreams she has urged others in the village, especially women, to see with her. So every time Sokhi speaks, the women come out in hordes to listen, gawk and chuckle in turns. They have even learnt to say the right lines. “We have always wanted to have a young woman sarpanch in our village who could not only work for the development of the village but also inspire our women to dream big. Sokhi has helped turned our dream into reality,” said Staya Devi, an elderly woman who breaks into a big smile at the end of her oration, obviously pleased she had got it right. So who taught her to speak that way? Staya looks at Sokhi and breaks into an impish smile.

All of them spoke in Punjabi about how they would always be with Sokhi. The lines seemed rehearsed but the poise with which they said them was genuine. It was obvious that Sokhi had already made a difference.

The village has a population of over 1,000—Dalits form nearly 60 per cent of the total; Kambojs and Jats make up the rest. Most of the people are either daily wagers or the small and medium farmers. In 1998, Phull got its woman sarpanch in Gurbakhash Kaur, a distant relative of Sokhi. But this time around, with Sokhi, they are more optimistic.

Which makes it more important for Sokhi to dream. “It all God’s grace. I always wanted to actively pursue social work but could never express it,” she said.

The Phull panchyat has elected three Schedule Caste members, one from the backward class and the remaining from the general category. But the sarpanch seat is reserved for a Dalit woman and Sokhi is the only one who fits the criterion. So while village heads in Punjab are yet to be formally appointed, Phull has already declared Sokhi their sarpanch.

But she wasn’t the first choice. Some women in the village wanted Sokhi’s mother, Piaro Devi, to contest but they settled on Sokhi as she was “educated and young”. “These are times for the young and educated who can speak much better in the interest of the people. Sokhi can convey her message in a better way,” said Amarjit Kaur, another woman.

As Sokhi led us to the village school, the women followed in hordes. “This is where I studied,” she said as we walked past the gates of the Ghudowal middle school that the villagers of Phull and Ghudowal share. “It’s closed for summer vacations,” she said, looking around nostalgically. Sokhi, whose father is “primary pass” and whose mother has never been to school, studied here till her Class VIII.

“For years, no one ever thought of upgrading this school but now that I have the opportunity, I will upgrade it to at least the high school level,” she said. “And we need a good playground too.”

About 150 children from Phull study in the Ghudowal school. For high school, students have to go to Lohian town which is about three kilometers from the village and which is where Sokhi did her Class XII.

“I wanted to study further but the college was far away. You know, in villages, parents don’t send their daughters to distant places. Also, we have no proper transport service in the village,” she says.

The village has no college and students have to either go to Sultanpour Lodhi, which is about 12 km from the village, or Nakodar, which is about 30 kilometers away.

Though the village has a crude septic tank, Sokhi plans to revamp the sewage system. Also, she said, the village needs street lights, good roads. The village will soon get its drinking water supply from the government’s water scheme.

“I want all around development in the village,” she said. “I want people of the village to remember me for my good work.”

But Sokhi—and Phull—has more pressing worries. Female foeticide is one. According to the 2001 Census, there are only 876 women per 1,000 men in Punjab. “I hope to educate the women of my village that female foeticide is a stigma to our society and girls should not be killed. I’m sure the women will understand—they’ll look at me and know what I mean,” said Sokhi confidently.

Another worry is that of drug addiction: nearly 30 per cent of the boys in her village are addicts with no jobs or education. Sokhi plans to get the panchayat members and villagers to organise drug de-addiction camps here.

More dreams: revamp the dilapidated dispensary, open a sports club, a stadium, rope in the 10 per cent NRIs for development projects…