Beggar elected village chief; wants to keep profession

One would have thought that after being elected the village chief, the beggar would do something else for a living or at least quit begging but that did not happen.

The beggar Narain, whose sole means of earning is alms given by the people of Sahawar Shah village, defeated as many as 12 candidates to emerge victorious from this reserve seat at the elections.

“The people of the village were fed up with their previous chiefs as they had done nothing for the development of the village....so this time many villagers decided to make an experiment,” said Narain.

“They (people) asked me to file the nomination for the post of pradhan...they gave me money for doing that and also promised to bear the other expenses as I did not have a single penny,” he went on to add.

People campaigned wholeheartedly for Narain and he was able to defeat the other nominees, who had more resources. Narain, after emerging victorious, made it clear that he would not abandon his old job. “I would like to continue begging for a living,” he pointed out to the villagers.

“People know me as a beggar....it is my identity and I want to maintain it...it will also prevent me from misusing the funds given to a pradhan for carrying out developmental works at the village,” Narain said.

Narain said he would strive hard to fulfil the wishes of the people of the village, which is very backward and had no basic facilities. He also requested the people of the village to continue to give him alms so that he did not have to quit begging.

At a time when a majority of ‘pradhans’ indulged in corrupt practices and amass huge wealth ignoring the developmental needs of the village, Narain stands out as a shining example of honesty.