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Uttar Pradesh village gets ‘women only’ gym, DM calls it state’s first
In keeping with the administration’s promise to villagers, district magistrate of Baghpat village in Uttar Pradesh, Rajkamal Yadav, inaugurated what he called the state’s first dedicated gym for females in Bijrol on Saturday
In keeping with the administration’s promise to villagers, district magistrate of Baghpat village in Uttar Pradesh, Rajkamal Yadav, inaugurated what he called the state’s first dedicated gym for females in Bijrol on Saturday.
The district magistrate claimed that it was the first such gym for females in the state and that six more gram panchayats of the district have sent him requests to establish similar facilities in their areas.
The gym has been established in the panchayat ghar of Bijrol, which is a historic village with a population of over 20,000. The great revolutionary Baba Shahmal of Bijrol fought against the British during the First War of Independence in 1857 and made the supreme sacrifice for the motherland. As many as 32 other villagers were also hanged to death for supporting Baba Shahmal.
The gym has six machines for multiple exercises. Yadav shared that over ₹6 lakh had been spent to set up the gym. The amount was sourced from the account of the Gram Nidhi. “We can extend it further after seeing the response,” said Yadav, adding that villagers, especially women and girls, were quite excited during its inauguration. “A few of them even assured to add more machines by spending their own money and to take care of its maintenance too,” said a visibly overwhelmed DM.
The district administration had a plan to establish the gym in the last week of March this year but it was delayed due to the second wave of the pandemic. “The project was delayed due to the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and we started it again only after the corona cases subsided,” said Yadav.
Fitness freak Priyanka Sharma of the village has been deputed as the trainer in the gym. Priyanka’s association with the gym has an interesting story behind it.
In the second week of March, divisional commissioner of Meerut, Surendra Singh, visited the village and held a ‘Jan Chaupal’ to address the grievances of the people. Singh was taken aback when Priyanka asked him to set up a gym for females in the village. “It was for the first time in my career that a village girl demanded a gym,” said Singh who immediately approved it and directed district magistrate Rajkamal Yadav to work on it. “We announced to set up the gym in 15 days,” said the DM.
An overjoyed Priyanka said, “What I dreamt of and demanded has transformed into a reality now”. She said village girls and women were happy and excited and have started using the gym.
The gym is being run in two shifts - 5 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 6 pm. Priyanka is the mother of three children but has a passion for fitness and sports, like weightlifting. “I have a dream to bring a medal for the country like Mirabai Chanu,” said Priyanka who teaches village girls and women how to use machines at the gym and do multiple exercises.
The gym will also be a boon for such girls and women who aim for recruitment in police and armed forces. Priyanka shared that many girls of Bijrol and neighbouring villages aspired for police and other similar jobs. These girls and women needed to maintain their physical fitness to qualify for the medical tests during recruitment. They used to attend a gym in the neighbouring town of Baraut, which is six kilometres away from Bijrol, but now they will not have to travel that far.
She said many village women have joined the gym to reduce their weight and become fitter. “We seldom get the opportunity to attend a gym because of the hectic routine at home but the availability of a gym in the village would help us access it for fitness,” said Rekha and Anita of the village.
