A 21-year-old student from Pune, Maharashtra, suddenly found herself contesting for the sarpanch elections in her village, after returning from medical training in Georgia.
Yashodhara Shinde had always aspired to become a doctor but fate had something else in store for her. Upon contesting for elections, she did win the seat to become the village head at the age of 21.
She now plans to work for the betterment of her village Vaddi in Miraj tehsil of Sangli district and also complete her education online.
In an interview with Press Trust of India, Shinde said she wants to make women self-reliant, introduce e-learning and other educational tools for students, and contribute towards the betterment of youth's aspirations and the welfare of the farmers' community in the village.
21-year-old medical student becomes sarpanch
One may wonder how did Yashodhara wind up in the political circle? "When elections were announced in my village, locals wanted someone from our family to contest for the sarpanch's post. A decision was taken to field me for the position. I got a call from my family and I returned, contested the election and won," Shinde said.
The student said her main focus will be to address the issues of women and make them self-reliant. She further added that women must get an equal chance to show what they are capable of, and she would like to make them educated and independent and not rely on their male counterparts. "I would also like to work towards the construction of toilets in the village and facilitate easy availability of sanitary napkins for girls and women," she added.
Shinde also said she will work with the youth on the development agenda of the village.
"In the village, 70 to 80 per cent of the population is into agriculture and I would like to work for their sustainable development," she said.
Voting for 7,682 gram panchayats in parts of Maharashtra was held on December 18.
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