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Steering her village on path of success

Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao

COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION: The Pacharlamatu tank after restoration works were taken up under NREGS in Warangal.

NARASAMPET (WARANGAL DT): Unlike women of the past, Mutyam Swarupa of Rajapalli village did not sit cursing herself. She not only scripted her own success story but also of the whole village. She fought and won the local sarpanch election. When the district administration announced a scheme to restore the age-old tanks under `Indiramma' scheme, Swarupa ensured that the tank in her village too was included in the scheme. The story does not just end here.

Mobilising labourers

Mutyam Swarupa mobilised all landless and agricultural labourers to utilise all the Rs. 6.5 lakh sanctioned under labour component as part of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). To motivate people, she herself donned the role of labourer and went along with them to de-silt the tank. Of the 14 tanks taken up by the District Water Management Agency (DWMA), the Pacharlamatu tank in Rajapalli was the first to be completed including the revetment works strengthening the bund.

Speaking to The Hindu , elated Swarupa said this was the top priority in the village as the tank frequently breached draining away all the water and submerging the agricultural fields down the stream. "We had acute water scarcity and everybody felt concerned about it. But, until the district administration took it up, none really bothered to restore it," she explained.

Now, everybody in the village feels so possessive about the new asset created under the NREGS. Those who have not been not really involved in the programme too feel very proud and wear a broad smile on their faces as they are assured of some water next season for their crop.

Jobs created

Swarupa says they have created employment for 60 days fetching a labourer Rs. 60 to Rs. 70 on average during the peak summer. According to her, the credit goes to officials - RDO, MPDO and DWMA Project Director S. Vijay Gopal. The visit of district Collector K. Damayanthi ensured that the momentum of works would be maintained till the end.

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