Patel village goes for Dalit sarpanch again

Vijaysinh Parmar TNN Manekpar (Jamnagar district): A Dalit couple — Devji Chavda and his wife Nanuben — resident of a small village Manekpar in Dhrol taluka in Jamnagar has been crafting a unique story of village development. And, they were rewarded for their efforts by Manekpar villagers when they decided in 2006 that rather than holding the next gram panchayat elections, they will unanimously co-opt Devji Chavda as village sarpanch, even if it was a general seat then. Hardly 10 per cent of the population of this Patel-dominated village are Dalits. Nanuben Chavda was the village sarpanch from 2001-2005 from a reserved seat. She, along with her husband Devji, did a commendable job during this period. Their efforts gave the entire village a facelift. Better availability of water and improving finances swung the people’s opinion in the couple’s favour. “When we selected Devji as our sarpanch our relatives asked us: ‘Why did you select a Dalit as sarpanch?’ We have full faith in him, we told them. He has done a firstclass job, even exceeding our expectations. And, if a person is doing such good work for the development of village we should not hold any prejudice against him,” says Haribhai Patel, a villager. Devji Chavda, a class 12 pass, is keen to improve the conditions in his village. There are currently 26 check dams around the village. “Earlier, Manekpar was one of the many village that battled water scarcity round the year. We had to rely on government tankers. But after we implemented a watershed project, water is easily available and the villagers’ income increased by more than 100 times,” says the proud sarpanch Devji. Devji also lays stress on the issue cleanliness in village. “Our village has 100 per cent sanitation. We won the ‘Nirmal Gram’ award in 2007.” Over the years, the semi–arid Manekpar has become a lush green land as the Dalit couple work hard to maintain around 2,000 trees planted in the village. Villagers also enjoy modern amenities, every single corner of the village has been lit up by street lights. “Mostly, a sarpanch relies on the talati for village development programmes. But, I get personally involved in all the developmental projects, as a sarpanch’s personal attention make a lots of difference,” says Devji. Villagers of Manekpar, hailing from different communities, have also witnessed a social transformation. “I remember, when I used to go to a shop as a child, the shopkeeper did not been take the money from me directly as I am a Dalit. But today, the perception of the people has changed, says Devji. Now, social equality is part our village development story. During social events everyone is invited, irrespective of caste and community’’ says Devji. When Devji head for 32 people who had to migrate for work to cities or near-by village, he made plans to get them employment in the village itself.