Women bag 50% sarpanch posts in three Sirsa blocks

Nearly 50% posts of sarpanches have been won by women in Dabwali, Baragura and Odhan blocks of Sirsa district in the first phase of the panchayat polls. In the 129 village panchayats, 60 women have been elected as sarpanch in the said blocks and seven of them are graduates.

Nearly 50% posts of sarpanches have been won by women in Dabwali, Baragura and Odhan blocks of Sirsa district in the first phase of the panchayat polls. In the 129 village panchayats, 60 women have been elected as sarpanch in the said blocks and seven of them are graduates.

Richa, 29, the newly elected sarpanch from Sugh Majri village in Yamunanagar district. (Karun Sharma/HT File Photo)

In Dabwali, 23 women have been elected as sarpanch, while Baragura has 20 and Odhan 17 women sarpanches.

Sarpanches Neelam from Chatteriyan village, Veerpal Kaur from Alikan village, Mamta from Jhuthi Khera, Beant Kaur from Desumalkana, Gurjeet from Jagmal Wali, Ranbeer Kaur from Jalalana village, Bakshpal from Khokhar village are graduates.

One of them, 23-year-old Beant Kaur, who is now the sarpanch of Desumalakan, is unmarried. Of the rest, 11 women sarpanches have passed senior secondary and 25 are matriculate.

As per the block development and panchayat office (BDPO) officials, the women sarpanches would be the brand ambassadors of their villages in government’s initiative to better the sex ratio in the state.

Dabwali BDPO Satinder Siwach said, “Educated sarpanches will surely give a positive direction to the development in villages. Women sarpanches’ presence will give fillip to the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.”