Make way for an all-women panchayat at Kalvapalli village

BHUPALPALLY: It’s a new world after all. The people of Kalvapalli village in Chityal mandal have unanimously elected women as their sarpanch and ward members, creating a record of sorts, in a gram panchayat that is not reserved for women.  

In all, the village has seven post, including the sarpanch, some of which are reserved for SC, ST and BC categories. The sarpanch post itself is not reserved. The total population of the village is 560 of which 392 are voters. Recently, when the dates for the elections were announced, the village folk met to pass a resolution to not spend money on electioneering and name their sarpanch and ward members unanimously. 

They decided to make Puli Sunitha the sarpanch and six other women - P Srilatha (upa sarpanch), Sura Vijaya, Konda Srilatha, R Shailaja, P Swarupa and Veeraveni Vanitha - ward members. Since no other candidates have filed nominations, these women may be considered to have been elected unanimously. 
“We thought spending money on elections and fighting among ourselves would be waste of time. 

We decided we will field and elect women directly. We believe they (the seven women) will perform well and will bring in transparency and accountability. I am sure they will make us proud,” said a villager.  Speaking to Express, Sunitha, the ‘newly-elected’ sarpanch said she would try to live up to the villagers’ expectations. “I am aware of their needs. I will try to solve them. I will work in coordination with all ward members,” she said. Since the elections in Kalvapalli have been unanimous, the village will likely get a sum of `25 lakh for developmental activities.  The TRS government has announced `10 lakh while the local MLA has promised `15 lakh.