Saturday, Oct 02, 2004
Saturday, Oct 02, 2004 |
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | New Delhi
By Our Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI, OCT. 1. It was the "other India'' that had got together in the Capital today just a stone's throw from Parliament House to thrash out issues and the problems of womenfolk. Part of Hunger Project's Panchayati Raj Campaign which is designed to ensure that rural women have a powerful voice in decisions that effect their lives, the 23 women sarpanches from different States exchanged ideas, heard out each other's problems and even offered some helpful suggestions at this `kitty party' with a difference. Gathered in the Capital a day before the presentation of the fourth Sarojini Naidu Prize for best reporting on `Women in Panchayati Raj', the women spoke not about religious conflicts or even politics but of day-to-day problems of lack of clean drinking water, primary schools, health illiteracy and problems of girl child. "Assam is more than just tea gardens. We have problems of villages being washed away by floods and people being displaced. What we are hoping is to get these villages back on their feet and rehabilitate the villagers. My vision is to build a panchayat that is self-sufficient and does not depend on `government funds,'' said Hem Kumari from Assam. And hoping to create a new life and community for displaced people is Bhagwan Devi, from Bihar: "I am more popular than the `mukhiya' and do more work than him. The police are not allowed to enter my panchayat and most of the disputes are resolved at the panchayat level. Issues are only taken to the police if we cannot resolve them at home. But despite my work, even today I face hostility from a small section of my panchayat, but I hope to provide a pucca house for everyone in my ward, health for all and also work towards eradicating poverty.''
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