A journey – from housewife to CBO leader to panch…

Radha Khute is an example of a woman who owes her initiation into politics to the policy of reservation for women, with the benefit of reservation in 2000, the post of panch of the Taldevari gram panchayat was declared reserved for women. Radha has completed her studies till the 10th standard but could not pursue further because she was married off at an early age. Her husband is well educated having done Masters in two subjects. He decided to return back after his studies to be a farmer on his land rather than joining any job in a city. She is proud of the fact that her husband is quite supportive for Radha to devote time for the CBO. This has created favorable conditions for her to go out of home and village for strengthening the CBO and interest of the women members. Her children go to school irrespective of gender.

Radha Khute a, an active president of one of CBO in the village, was elected to the post. Over the next five years. In the next elections (February 2014), the post was open to candidates of both sexes. However, Radha, in spite of all odds and despite a number of strong male opponents contested and was elected She has since created a definite political space for herself and made a mark at the village, block and district levels. Radha’s journey into politics began with her joining as a CBO member which was formed in her village in 2012. Her interest, sincerity and leadership qualities helped her to become the president of the CBO with support from KALP. Various trainings/ workshops and experience sharing from KALP have helped her to be dynamic in her functioning. Meanwhile she came to know that Gram Sabha takes place on paper and with our quorum. Sensing her duty as a panch she not only mobilized her ward members but also whole village to take active participation in Gram sabha At Gram Sabha meetings, she made it a point to inform the people about government schemes and discussed with them on how best these schemes could be implemented. The active participation of the community ensured that the Sarpanch is accountable for the work undertaken in village and there will be effective implementation of NREGA in the village. Radha and other women in the village were also given basic training in forms of discriminations, social justice, gender etc. on the basis of this she and her team is taking action towards various community development works. It has been noticed that now villagers have also started to take note of her work and supporting her. She has been instrumental in convincing the people of her village about the need for effective implementation in NREGA. She has ensured that the working of anganwadi has been regularized. Today five out of six public distribution outlets in the village are run by SHGs, and this has led to considerable improvement in their functioning. She is also working hard to strengthen the forum and federation activities.

In 2013, she organized a unique program in the village – a Women’s Day Meet at the community hall in the village. More than 200 women took part in this first of its kind meet. meet broke the stereotypical image of women and gave them an opportunity to explore a different dimension of their personalities. Since then, this dt is celebrated with very much energy and enthusiasm Radha has several other initiatives in mind, which she wants to implement. She has the people’s support and is confident that she can bring more improvement to her village.