The story of Bhavana Damor, the woman sarpanch (village council head) of Rampur Mewada Gram Panchayat in southern Rajasthan is as inspiring as it is rare, considering she hails from the predominantly tribal district of Dungarpur.
This high school educated woman owes her entry into local politics to her mother-in-law and, of course, to the provision of reservations for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). When her family members proposed her name for election as sarpanch in the year 2000, she won unopposed because Rampur Mewada in Bichchiwada block was one of the seats reserved for women under the 33 per cent quota at that time. It’s now 50 per cent.
When Damor spoke about her experiences in local governance at the leadership summit of elected women representatives from South Asia, ‘Dialogue for Change: Women Leaders Transform Politics, Policy and Livelihoods’, held in Jaipur recently, she held the attention of everyone in audience including Michelle Bachelet, former Chilean president and currently Executive Director, UN Women, which had organised the event.
Damor recalled, “One of the first things I did when I became sarpanch was to hold meetings with the villagers, both women and men, to identify the problems that we were up against. The biggest challenge was the lack of education in our region.”
Read more at The Weekend Leader, published 30 October 2012.
The story of Bhavana Damor, the woman sarpanch (village council head) of Rampur Mewada Gram Panchayat in southern Rajasthan is as inspiring as it is rare, considering she hails from the predominantly tribal district of Dungarpur.
This high school educated woman owes her entry into local politics to her mother-in-law and, of course, to the provision of reservations for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). When her family members proposed her name for election as sarpanch in the year 2000, she won unopposed because Rampur Mewada in Bichchiwada block was one of the seats reserved for women under the 33 per cent quota at that time. It’s now 50 per cent.
When Damor spoke about her experiences in local governance at the leadership summit of elected women representatives from South Asia, ‘Dialogue for Change: Women Leaders Transform Politics, Policy and Livelihoods’, held in Jaipur recently, she held the attention of everyone in audience including Michelle Bachelet, former Chilean president and currently Executive Director, UN Women, which had organised the event.
Damor recalled, “One of the first things I did when I became sarpanch was to hold meetings with the villagers, both women and men, to identify the problems that we were up against. The biggest challenge was the lack of education in our region.”
Read more at The Weekend Leader, published 30 October 2012.