Panchayat ward member Samanthi of Nalur Village

Samanthi is one of the most active and motivated SHG members in her area. She has been re-elected as village ward member in her panchayat three consecutive times. For 15 years she has been the voice of her village and helped to get all their needs met.
Samanthi is a housewife and her husband Siva works hard as a contract based labourer to bring in the family income. They have three children, two sons aged 20 and 17 and a daughter who is 15. Samanthi’s eldest son is mentally handicapped and needs full time care and assistance. One of Samanthi’s proudest achievements over her years as ward member has been to get other disabled peoples in her village recognition by the state government so that they receive disability loans and rehabilitation.
The role of a ward member is to make sure a village has all it needs, such as a proper water supply and street lighting. In Nalur panchayat there are a total of 9 ward members, 6 male and 3 female.
Samanthi came to be a ward member because of her involvement with SHGs, she was group animator and when the elections arose members of her group persuaded her to run. When you are first elected to become a ward member you receive three days ward training from the government. CRUSADE has also started to conduct some independent panchayat training sessions for members. Last year, prior to the panchayat elections, they held some training for ward members that included topics such as working in the field, increasing your power, problem solving and communication skills.
Samanthi says that being an SHG member gave her the confidence to stand in the panchayat elections. Originally she didn’t really know what being a ward member involved but now she realises how important the position is within the community and feels honoured to represent her village at Panchayat level. Every month Samanthi attends a panchayat meeting where ward members have the chance to speak and voice the concerns of their villages.
Over her 15 years as ward member Samanthi has achieved a lot for her village. She is especially proud of the good roads have been laid and housing and sanitation facilities that have been built.
She is also pleased that she has been able to help families in her village by linking them up to government schemes like the widows pension and disability allowance.
Samanthi says she has never felt any discrimination as a women but admits that most of the higher positions in her own panchayat are held by men. In the next elections Samanthi would like to stand for one of these higher positions.
Samanthi is pleased that when there is a problem her village people feel happy to come to her house and talk to her about it. And by working from this grass roots level peoples’ needs can really be met. Samanthi believes the Panchayat Raj system is the best way for villagers to get their voice and problems heard.