Forty-eight-year-old Prem Devi Meena, the Mahila Sarpanch of the Kodai Gram Panchayat was elected formally in pre-pandemic 2020 but has dedicated her life to social causes and service to women.
She was an Anganwadi worker before she started campaigning to be elected as a Mahila Sarpanch. Her first challenge was during the pandemic and lockdowns. She wasted no time…as the head of her gram panchayat, she mobilized all efforts to ensure that the migrants returning had food to eat, medicines for recovery and were well looked after.
Before she took on the charge of her gram panchayat, domestic violence especially fueled by alcoholism was a pressing issue in the community, with some cases reported and many not. Through her strong ties with the police forces, she has brought about significant change and tried to nip this social evil right at its root. Her approach is two-pronged – one- the immediate mobilization of police forces, and two - awareness generation drives. She also ensured the closure of the liquor shop situated right in the center of the village.
Very recently, she tackled a serious domestic issue wherein a father wanted to take his daughter out of school and sell her as forced labor to the highest bidder…a serious and unacceptable act of violence and commodification towards the girl child. The mother and brother, terrified of the fathers’ actions, restrained him, and immediately alerted Prem Devi.
They were so petrified of the father and what he would do to them once he was unrestrained that the family even considered consuming poison to end their lives, said Prem Devi who immediately intervened. Through intensive counseling and alerting the father about the long-term legal consequences, she was able to resolve the crisis.
It was one of my toughest cases to date and took many days and hours of counseling to settle. I am happy to report that peace has been restored. I am proud of the mother and son who took it upon themselves to alert me and ensure that their daughter and sister did not meet the cruel fate of being sold. I would not stand for it.
Since Prem Devi Meena has been elected, she has also developed and improved the infrastructure of her Gram Panchayat. The installation of school gates at the girls’ school for increased security, roadworks, clean and functional public bathrooms for women, motor pumps, planting shady trees, and linking women with NREGA for employment are just some of her achievements.
I can say with utmost certainty and confidence that any woman and girl at any point of the day, evening or night can walk safely through any of the villages of my Gram Panchayat. I have a sole purpose and mission to ensure a safe and thriving environment for and have been working to ensure it since the very first day of becoming a Mahila Sarpanch.
These days Prem Devi Meena is working towards her newfound goal of securing an MLA ticket to formally join the political landscape in the State.
