A number of highly qualified candidates are this time contesting the ongoing Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir so as to bring a change at the grassroots level. (Shuaib Masoodi/File)Taking a cue from their counterparts in other states, a number of highly qualified candidates are this time contesting the ongoing Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir so as to bring a change at the grassroot level.
Sindhu Bhalla Sharma, with MPhil degree in Sanskrit, is a candidate for Sarpanch in the remote Thakrie area in Kishtwar district. According to her, she got inspired by Chhavi Rajawat, one of India’s youngest Sarpanchs and an MBA graduate who quit her corporate career with one of the biggest telecom firms in the country to become a Sarpanch of Rajasthan’s Soda panchayat to take her impoverished ancestral village into the 21st century, an official release here said.
Dr Prithvi Raj, with PhD in Botany, is a Sarpanch candidate from the remotest Loharna-A Panchayat in Dacchan area of district Kishtwar.
Similarly, Mansoor Hussain, with Masters in Political Science and English, is a Sarpanch candidate from the remotest Loharna-B Panchayat in Dacchan area of district Kishtwar.
Another highly qualified woman Arti Sharma from a far-flung village of Udhampur is a candidate for the position of Sarpanch in Udhampur district’s Ghordi Khass West Kulan area of Ramnagar. Arti is eager to serve the people of her native Panchayat and contribute towards the upliftment of the women.
All these highly educated young men and women are keen to work for the development of their respective rural pockets. “Funds are flowing to rural bodies. My primary concern will be to see that funds are judiciously utilised and not siphoned off”, said Mansoor Hussain.
