Chhavi Rajawat is not your regular sarpanch, even in these days of reservation in panchayats for women. Educated at Rishi Valley School, Mayo College Girls’ School and Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Rajawat went on to do an MBA but she bid goodbye to the corporate life to return to her roots in Soda village, 60 km from Jaipur in Rajasthan’s Tonk district. In a constituency once nurtured by her grandfather Brigadier Raghubir Singh Rajawat, she was welcomed as Bai-sa (daughter of the village). Within two months of becoming the sarpanch, in February last year, she prepared a blueprint for development of the village but it has been languishing in government files ever since. As she tells Trithesh Nandan in an exclusive interview, there is considerable resistance from the local government officials. Edited excerpts:

Ten months on, would you say it been more of an adjustment than homecoming for you?
I have been familiar with the village life since childhood. So that has not been an issue. Now, as sarpanch, I stay in the village for 20-22 days a month. My main motto is development and as sarpanch I have a platform. In the village, it is all about awareness. Scepticism exists beca-use so many people have come and gone and said they will work but, in fact, none of it came through. I don’t blame them for that outlook. Tonk district has been declared a backward area, and there is nothing out there. Forget electricity, there is no potable water. The basic resources are not available and nobody has done enough to tackle this problem. There is no external organisation apart from government working in the village.

Have you tried to change this?  
I need to go to the district headquarters in Tonk and run to the state ministers in Jaipur. When I am away, work tends to stagnate in the village. Sanctioning happens through the government agencies and, unfortunately, it takes a very long time. We sat down and sketched all the projects for the village in our gram sabha meeting in March. When I took this report to the panchayat samiti and requested them for lists of projects required for the village, for example, water-related projects ahead of the monsoon, I did not realise the process would take its own course and time. They just sanctioned the anganwadi project, which was not our priority.

There are three kinds of sanctions involved: administrative, technical and financial. Until the financial sanction comes, you can’t start work. Just to give you an example, technical sanction for roads in the village was done in June but the financial sanction happened only in October, and that too for just one road. This, when we had applied in March! When I complained to one of the officials, he told me that I should be happy that at least something is happening. I am lucky I can drive on my own, which no other sarpanch does. There is also the fear factor: you can’t annoy the officials. The secretary who sits in the panchayat does not assist the sarpanch so much.

To give you another example, every village is supposed to build a Rajeev Gandhi Seva Kendra. Most of the panchayats have a paucity of land. In my village, we thought we would donate some personal land. But it was a little outside the village, so it did not make any sense to construct out there. Then three brothers in the village donated a patch of land. However, the SDO, who is supposed to supervise the development work, passed a stay on the donation. Even after the collector instructed him to release the stay order, he did not do so and our project is still on hold.

Did you sense an implicit demand for bribe?
I did. People told me that he (the SDO) had been bribed earlier.

Given such a situation, how are you approaching your work?
I am trying to make the villagers aware that development can happen. As I said earlier, the sarpanch does not usually know whom to question. They are afraid of questioning officials. There is nobody to question the junior government officials who are directly responsible for the development of the projects. I question these authorities. I am able to shake them up. They are used to a particular way of working or, rather, not working. Close to a year into my tenure, I haven’t seen any work happening in the village. On water conservation  effort, at least some work happened because I raised Rs 20 lakh of my own.

Tell us more about this project.
There are 11 reservoirs in the village. Two of them are very big and used to supply water in the neighbouring panchayats. But a lot of silt has accumulated over time. The government is supposed to fund the money through the NREGA to desilt reservoirs. The feeder channel which supplies from reservoirs to homes has been encroached upon. And those responsible for encroachment are influential.

Everybody is afraid to question such people. I am looking at projects which are sustainable and I wanted to do this project in two phases. I thought I would manage to raise the funds but that did not happen.

I proposed a Rs 3.5 crore project to clean up these reservoirs and help conserve water. When I took the report to the government officials, they told me it was too ambitious. They said I couldn’t use government machinery for cleaning up the reservoirs. The soil in our area is too hard for digging. The engineer told me that even if all villagers start digging, they won’t be able to complete the job in eight years. So I approached government officials to allow me to bring earth-movers but they told me they couldn’t allow machinery in existing projects. Then I requested them to dovetail it with the NREGA. But they disallowed it again, saying machinery works do not come under this scheme.

The officials told me to do it on my own. From March till June, I tried to tap each and every private and public sector company, but nothing materialised. Then I exhausted my own funds and funds from my grandfather and friends. I managed to raise just Rs 20 lakh. With this money, we were able to complete one section of the project. And luckily for us it rained this year. We were able to conserve water in that area. The villagers are thrilled. Such work has not been done in years. But I am not very happy. I still hope to make more headway.

I keep visiting schools. I see what they teach is inadequate. For example, in eleventh or twelfth class, the panchayat school teaches just Hindi literature, Sanskrit and geography. I want to change that. For this, I need support. Nothing concrete is coming my way. But I tell teachers, apart from these subjects, you teach the basic civic sense like not to waste water, keep the area clean. The kids will go home and teach their parents about the new things they learnt. I have touched village sanitation, water problem, health, afforestation, vocational training, and other key issues in the master plan that I have prepared.

How did you prepare the master plan?
With the help of the villagers. I have seen that there is usually a one-way dialogue, with just the sarpanch talking and the villagers listening. When I told them to come up with ideas and  grievances, nobody came forward because they were not used to that. I am trying to encourage them to participate more. They feel more responsible now.

So, what happened to the master plan after you finalised it?
It went to the block and from there to the collector’s office.

Rajasthan is among the leading states in implementation of the NREGA. Has it helped your village?
When we speak of sustainable projects, the NREGA is not one that can help rural India. I have seen how the works happen. Villagers have got used to proxy attendance and some even go for just two or three hours of work and receive payment for a day under the scheme. On paper, it is eight hours of work for the NREGA. When I got elected, I asked the villagers to work for eight hours for getting payment from the NREGA. They thought it was an imposition. There is a multiplicity of agencies. The engineer decides how much of money is to be given and, strangely, the sarpanch has to sign the document. Every decision is taken at the district level, and none at the panchayat level.

I will tell you how they work. When they work on reservoir area, they pick up the soil from the area and put it on the other side. And during rain, the same soil goes to the catchment area. So what’s the point? You are making them to go around the circle. You are just trying to keep them busy.

For employment, it is better that the government provides vocational training so that people can work on their own. As a result of schemes like the NREGA, villagers are getting crippled. There is a lot of wastage of resources. The execution is very poor. For people it is free money and they don’t care. Even when they don’t work, they get Rs 20. Instead of government-oriented, supply-driven approach, it is important to shift to people-oriented, demand-responsive approach. It is important to empower rural India. It is important to have people’s participation in government schemes. Only then will people become responsible and projects will become sustainable.

What is the budget for your village?
It is supposed to be population-based. So it should be Rs 1.5 crore. I have gone through records and found that the amount hasn’t been fully utilised earlier. But not much money is available to the panchayat. The only funds which should come to panchayats are revenue-related funds. The money collected from buying and selling of lands goes to the state and nothing comes to us. These funds should go to the panchayats which should not have to run to the government like a beggar.

What about your salary?
I found out that the remuneration for the sarpanch is Rs 3,000 per month. Unfortunately, most sarpanchs do not know that. And nobody I have spoken to knows how it is credited to the sarpanch. So I haven’t got my salary as yet. I believe we should get it once a year. The panchayat members get Rs 65 per meeting and in a month there are just two meetings. On paper, I have 11 members on my team but I do not have the heart to push them for just Rs 65 per meeting.

Does it hurt giving up a corporate career?
Financially, yes, it has hurt me. But there is nobody to speak for panchayats. There is little money with the panchayats. I am happy that I am able to help. Many neighbouring panchayats, when they stuck with something, also come to me for help. So it is a lot more satisfying than earning in my corporate life. I am able to help many more people. I feel each one of us can contribute. I am not saying become a sarpanch like me but do interact with the villagers and go back to your roots where you come from.

What changes would you like in the working of panchayats?
The sarpanch is used just as a signing authority. So you can’t do any work on your own. This has to change.

Any ambition to join state or national level politics?
I haven’t thought about it. But if that is the platform to contribute to grassroots development, I can go for that.