India’s Latur Village picks an All-woman Council for tackling everything from Sanitization to Superstition!
Not many countries in the world are led by women, but those that do have women in power, have become an example for the world to emulate. No, we are not being biased to women here, and we are certainly not just talking about female representation in politics. It has been witnessed time and again how women leaders have transformed their country/constituency through their intelligence and hard work, and Latur Village is just one such example where social welfare became synonymous with female leaders.
Recently, a village called Latur in Maharashtra, India, has elected an all-woman panchayat. These women were elected unopposed after the village was transformed by the efforts of two-time sarpanch, Bhagyashree Chame, who was one of the three women elected in 2015, along with Shobha Kasle and Kalpana Sagar. While six women have been elected unanimously, the seventh seat of the panchayat will be filled by someone from the ST category.
The village has changed by leaps and bounds within a span of a few years. According to an article by The Indian EXPRESS, “Home to 635 people, mostly farmers, Gaur, (the village is also called Gaur due to nearby Anandwadis) has in the past five years, seen improved cleanliness, a campaign against superstitions, change in nameplates of all 112 homes to that of their women occupants, a sanitary napkin dispenser, inclusion of widows in festivities, a drive to encourage organ donation, and a free flour-grinding mill.”
Latur is one of the few Indian villages to have normalized the discussion around menstruation. While many pharmacies in metropolitan cities sell sanitary napkins secretively (wrapped in brown papers), Latur made it a point to install napkin dispensers to make menstrual hygiene available to everyone. In an interview, Manisha Tangadpalle, an ASHA worker, said, “Menstruation is a natural process, but girls hesitate to talk to their mothers about it, though they talk to me freely. The sanitary napkin dispenser we set up in the Anganwadi gives three napkins for Rs 5. Soon we will install a machine for safe disposal of napkins too”. Two years ago, brothers gifted sanitary napkins to their sisters for Raksha Bandhan, an Indian festival celebrating the love of siblings. In a country where people talk about menstruation in hushed tones and rarely with their male relatives, this is a huge step! In addition to these achievements, a whopping 477 villagers have pledged their organs to be donated for social welfare in just about 3 years.
Latur is also setting an example on how to fight the vicious monster of superstitions. In a campaign against superstitions, the village converted a deserted crematorium into a playground. Instead of being scared of such a place, children now come to the playground to play and be happy. With women in power, the village has improved drastically in matters of sanitation as well. According to a retired primary school teacher, “We have had no infectious diseases in the last many years, open drains have been covered, and the village is cleaner”.
Latur village is the perfect example of men and women working in harmony. Like it is supposed to be ideally, men and women work in the fields equally hard, with no bias due to their gender. In an attempt to give women the rights that they deserve, all the houses in the village have the woman of the house as the registered owner of the property. This was done a few years back to make women independent, and today, women stand tall, governing the village with perfection. The panel ensures that everything in their area runs smoothly and conflicts are resolved before they turn into serious fights or rows.
Another inspiring thing about this village is how it never lets castes matter. Everyone here is truly equal. To end the prejudice related to the birth of a girl-child and stop thinking of their daughters as a burden, Latur has introduced a scheme called “Kanyadaan Yojana”. The villagers donate and bear the expense of a girl’s wedding so that the family of the bride is not burdened with the cost of organizing the ritual. In addition to this, a board on the entrance to the panchayat declares that the village is dowry-free.
This village is an example in the lesson of equality. It has proved that women are much more beyond the roles society imposes on them. If this is not true empowerment, we don’t know what is.
At Fuzia, we believe that it is high time we all realized that everyone is equal, no matter what their gender or sexual orientation is and what social class or caste they come from. Check out this blog for a more elaborate idea on this topic.
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Image Credits — Google; The Indian EXPRESS
Originally published at https://www.fuzia.com.