Yahoo – AFP,
Penny MacRae, 16 april 2013
 |
A villager collects water from a well beside a drinking water reservoir in Soda,
India on November 20, 2012. Soda is a byword for backwardness in this remote
corner of Rajasthan where the houses are made of mud, electricity supplies
are erratic, literacy levels are below 50% |
Chhavi
Rajawat, an MBA graduate and one-woman whirlwind, is seeking to drag her
impoverished ancestral village in the desert state of Rajasthan into the 21st
Century.
Rajawat,
who spent her family holidays in sun-scorched Soda, became its sarpanch or
elected village head three years ago after villagers implored her to take charge
with dozens turning up at her home in state capital Jaipur to persuade her.
 |
Chhavi
Rajawat talks to villagers in
Soda, a remote village in India's
Rajasthan on
November 19, 2012.
|
"The
villagers broke all caste, gender and religious barriers to elect me,"
said Rajawat, a glamorous 33-year-old whose 10,000 constituents are mostly
farmers and labourers largely untouched by India's economic boom.
She ditched
her corporate career with one of India's biggest telecom firms to become
sarpanch and has been working ever since to bring better water, solar power,
paved roads, toilets and a bank to her ancestral village.
Soda is a
byword for backwardness in this remote corner of Rajasthan where the houses are
made of mud, electricity supplies are erratic, literacy levels are below 50
percent and the fear of drought is never far away.
The
villagers said there had been no progress since Rajawat's brigadier
grandfather, now in his 90s, had served as sarpanch two decades ago and they
wanted someone else in the family to take on the role.
"I
didn't have a choice," said a smiling Rajawat, who represented India at a
recent UN poverty summit.
Her story
reveals the potential of good grassroots leadership in making a difference in a
country plagued by corruption and inefficiency. It also shows the limitations.
 |
Chhavi
Rajawat (2nd L, back) is pictured
during a village meeting in Soda, India
on
November 20, 2012.
|
Swarmed by
villagers as she walks down the road, Rajawat greets them by name as they share
family news and pepper her with questions about progress on various projects.
"Nobody
has been able to do what she has done -- no other sarpanch has done as
much," said 30-year-old farmer Jai Singh.
Rajawat was
visiting a computer centre in a no-frills stone structure that she set up with
the help of a corporate sponsor. The spartan interior doesn't bother the
youngsters who tap away eagerly on keyboards on long trestle tables.
"It's
a huge opportunity for them to get some skills -- there was nothing
before," said teacher Mohammed Sadeek, 25.
But
Rajawat, who now divides her time between Soda and Jaipur, chafes impatiently
at the sluggish pace of change.
"India
can't keep advancing at the same slow rate -- it must go faster. Otherwise we
won't be able to give people the schools, the electricity, the water and the
jobs they need," she said.
She was
also checking on the progress of a scheme equipping primitive homes with
toilets, which have made a big difference to locals who earlier had to relieve
themselves outside -- and the women only after darkness set in.
There are
many women sarpanchs in India because a number of these posts are reserved for
them. But what sets Rajawat apart -- aside from her iPhone, big-rimmed
sunglasses, blue jeans and youth -- is her education.
She holds a
master's degree in business administration from the Indian Institute of Modern
Management in Pune, rated one of the nation's top 10 business schools, which
she says helps her draft funding plans and proposals.
"She's
unique. We need her kind of people, they are a breath of fresh air, they have
vision," said government district collector Muktanand Agarwal.
Among the
achievements is her arrangement for medical checks of villagers by doctors from
the state capital Jaipur, a bone-jolting two-hour drive away.
 |
Chhavi Rajawat interacts
with villagers in Soda, a remote village in India's
Rajasthan state on November
19, 2012.
|
She also
organised the opening of the first bank in Soda -- a branch of the state-run
State Bank of India -- a significant success as 90 percent of India's 600,000
villages have no banks.
But all
that change doesn't come without raising some local hackles.
When she
constructed a drinking water reservoir that has created a shimmering blue lake
in the middle of the village, she got her first taste of the bureaucratic
hurdles that have repeatedly thwarted her.
"I was
told we could not use government machinery to clean up reservoirs. Finally,
they (the government) told me to do it on my own," she said.
And that's
what she did -- raising money from friends, family and companies to fund many
of her projects.
Baskar
Petshali, secretary of a local welfare charitable trust, say her problems stem
from the fact "she's a clean politician" who refuses to give bribes
to get jobs done.
A senior
state government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, called Rajawat's
initiatives "praiseworthy" but added she "wants do things very
quickly -- she treads on toes and upsets vested interests".
Rajawat is
hopeful better leadership will come with the Indian government's new drive to
make lists of services and funds available on the Internet.
"If
everything is online, people will start demanding accountability from their
politicians," she said.
She has not
decided whether she will continue in development work once her five-year terms
ends, but she is hoping her example will inspire other educated young people to
take time out to serve their communities.
"Your
roots are your foundation. You have to start at the bottom to make a difference
-- and there is so much left to do."
