MBA Sarpanch advocates training of elected panchayat members

Leaving a plush corporate job and luxuries of city life, one of the youngest sarpanch in the country Chhavi Rajawat -- an MBA degree holder -- went back to her village, Soda in Rajashthan's Tonk district to bring about a change at the grassroots.

Since then, she has been working to bring drinking water, solar power and roads to her village.

"The pace of progress in India, particularly in rural India, was not good enough. We had failed to provide the basic things to the people who dream about having water, electricity, toilets, schools and jobs. I was convinced we could do it differently and do it faster," she said while answering a query on what prompted her to take over an executive role at the village level.

Despite being an elected sarpanch in 2010 and re-elected in 2015, Chhavi does not belong to any political party. "It is not important whether one belongs to a political party or not. It is about passion and dedication to usher in development to the villages," said Chhavi, who was announced Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum in 2012.

Drawing on her experience of working at the village-level, Chhavi on Thursday said elected representative of the panchayats, particularly women members, must have a formal training to acquire knowledge about government's social and developmental schemes.

"Elected panchayat representatives do not have the knowledge and awareness about developmental projects and schemes of governments. (Government) Officials at the district and panchayat level often try to take advantage. It is necessary to have a proper training programme for the elected panchayat representatives, particularly for women members," she said.

"Such training programmes would empower them to execute the projects and schemes in a better way," she said on the sidelines of an interactive session organised by Ficci Ladies Organisation.

Despite the push for constructing toilets at the villages, the central government is struggling to build them in the villages, she said, adding that authorities should recognise the need for a bridging agent for better implementation of social programmes.

"The government's approach is top to bottom. It designs schemes and provides funds but does not come to execute such programmes. That is why, there is a need for bridging agent with the knowledge about the scheme to implement welfare programmes seamlessly," she said.

The recipient of Rajiv Gandhi Bharat Ratna Yuva Shakti National Award said on paper, welfare schemes are good but improper implementation and absence of a robust audit mechanism are the hindrances to produce the desired results.

--IANS

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