JOIN USAn MBA sarpanch in Rajasthan making waves
She became the sarpanch of Soda village at 30 in Tonk district, about 60 km from here.
A year later, Chhavi had raised the same kind of awe at the 11th Info-Poverty World Conference held at the UN. She was one of the invitees from India.
The two-day panel discussion at the UN held on March 24 -25 this year was to highlight how civil society can implement its actions and discussed at length the role of society in fighting poverty and promoting development.
Chhavi, alumni of Rishi Valley School, Andhra Pradesh, Mayo Girls School, Ajmer and Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi, showcased the changing face of rural Rajasthan at the meeting.
“If India continues to make progress at the same pace as in the past 65 years since Independence, it just won't be good enough. We will be failing people who still dream of basic things like safe drinking water, electricity, roads, schools and jobs. I am convinced we can do it differently and faster," said Chhavi, who had a business management in marketing and IT from Pune.
The biggest challenge for the new sarpanch was drinking water in the village. From a village largely known for its water bodies, the other water bodies had dried out due to successive droughts. But, after becoming sarpanch, the first task that she took upon herself was to desilt and revive the old water bodies. The villagers also joined her in the task voluntarily, an instance of her leadership and popularity.
“In the past year alone in Soda, the villagers and I have brought about a radical change in the village purely through our own efforts. We had no outside support, no NGO help, no public or private sector help,” she said at the meet.
“In fact, my business management degree is helping me take care of the village better and a sort of social work that runs in my blood,” says the woman who became sarpanch on February 4 last year.
And it is a change that Chhavi attributes to her grandfather Brig Raghubir Singh. He was also served as sarpanch of Soda, about two decades years ago, he had made Chhavi's mother drive through the village without a veil, an unthinkable act for a Rajput that time.
Rajawat says she took the plunge into politics, backed by the villagers. “There was a rebellion against the previous sarpanch. The villagers did not want him again and though I was pitched against his wife and another woman, I managed to win.” she says.
Chhavi says she’s used to rural life. “I am used to it. I grew up playing with kids of farmers. Since my ancestral house is in Soda, I used to spend time there and don't miss anything,” she says. Besides being sarpanch, she also tends to a hotel that the family owns in Jaipur and the numerous horses that are part of her riding school which is her passion, she explains.
She’s also trying to change mindsets of the villagers. “Villagers have got used to not working and taking partial payment for NREGA. I have to change that. I go on surprise visits and give them a scolding or two if they are not working,” she says.
“But my focus is on bringing safe drinking water and increasing job opportunities in the village by involving NGOs,” says Rajawat.