NEW DELHI: There is still no electricity and telephone in Padma Domla's village, Rumbak, in Ladakh. Taking a day for her to commute from her village, Padma's world might be years behind the Capital in terms of modern facilities, but she along with 19 other elected women representatives have taken giant steps to strengthen democracy and is proof that India is shinning.

"My village is 60 km from Leh. We don't have a road to connect our village. We use solar power. I have been a panch for five years now and have managed to build a school and a medical centre. We have also got women together to start a self-help-group and we knit socks, sweaters and caps. Whatever money we get we put 10 per cent of it aside so that we can give that to women who need it,'' she said with a smile at a function to felicitate elected women representatives in Panchayats at the Embassy of Norway here over the weekend.

Working with The Hunger Project -- that operates at the grassroots level to give elected women representatives of Panchayats the training to stand on their own feet -- she has managed to give children at her village a chance to get connected with the rest of the world through education.

Dalit community

While her village might be cut off from the rest of the country and is too small for most people to even remember its name, she has done what most women in urban India fail to achieve -- stepping out from the margins to `count'. Not alone in her fight to get her voice heard or move beyond the four walls of her house to become a leader, the story of Nilkamal Sethi is almost as remarkable. A graduate from the Dalit community, she was initiated into leadership by her mother-in-law. A story that will certainly not be seen in the `saas-bahu' sagas that dominate the television screens, Nilkamal has an up-close and personal experience with poverty.

"I come from a poor family. I was married into a poor family and I represent one of the poorest parts of the country in Orissa. I think one of the biggest problems we face is that women don't want to come out of their houses. They work but never step out, one of my biggest challenges is to get them out,'' she said.

Having managed to get a contract for women to work to build structures in the village, Nilkamal has to overcome not only the logistic problems of ensuring that the experiment works, but also battling centuries of patriarchal mindsets. The road in front of her is long, but she has at least made a beginning.

And sharing such experiences with the diplomatic representatives of Norway, a country that has been relying on the strength of the local government for a long time now, it was an opportunity for the both the old and new to learn from each other.

"The local element is very important to the Government in my country. It looks after schools, health, water and collects taxes. I am proud to see how it is developing in your country,'' said Ambassador of Norway, Jon Westborg.

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