Reluctance. Resistance. Acceptance. True pages from the election diary of an Indian Woman Sarpanch
A former city teacher deciding to contest Sarpanch elections in her home village, Devpar-Yaksh, was harder than it sounds. Kasturben Garva returned home in 2021, having left her teaching job in the city. She looked around and opportunity presented itself. Elections for local panchayats were announced. She felt she could do this. She was educated, cared about her surroundings, cared about women, cared about her village. Why not?
Surprise. Her own folk, the SC community to which she belongs, were the first in line to oppose her, when she first made her decision public. Tch. Tch. Tch. Their tongues wagged in disapproval. ‘Women should not be so adventurous. Women are not meant to take on leadership roles.’ Sections of the community even made common cause with her opponents. Their argument, ironically, praised her, just to put her down. They said it was not in the community’s best interest for a knowledgeable and skilled teacher like Kasturben to enter the dirty ring of politics. Another argument was trotted out – she had lived in the city and was ‘out of touch’ with the village. But, despite everything, Kasturben Garva won the election, and on January 17, 2022 became Sarpanch of Devpar-Yaksh.
She had heard about KMVS’ work with women in panchayats, and reached out for support; to be the best woman sarpanch she could be. In the following year, Kasturben attended an array of trainings - on Panchayati Raj, gender equality, women's safety, and the planning and implementation of developmental projects; she learnt about governance systems, establishing effective leadership platforms, and protecting women’s rights. As her learning progressed, her work expanded. She conducted meetings in different village neighbourhoods, started collective planning on village development, and conducted workshops on the safety concerns of women and young girls.
KMVS asked her to join WALL (Women as Local Legislators), a pilot initiative in collaboration with CLGF (Commonwealth Local Government Forum), the RSCD (Resource and Support Centre for Development), and the Mahila Rajsatta Andolan.
The trainings under the WALL initiative helped Kasturben develop new skills and deepen her understanding of gender-centric governance. She learnt to host job fairs promoting local women-led co-operatives and businesses; conduct area meeting and assemblies; and to have March 8th women’s day celebrations in the village, creating a space where village women could voice their opinions on the myriad inequalities they see and experience everyday.
Kasturben today runs the Devpar-Yaksh Panchayat, on the basic principle of equality for all. She has made an active effort to promote women members and increase female representation in the panchayat, because equality in political spaces cannot become reality unless women make their presence felt.
