B ox . Panchayati Raj training for illiterate women Innovative modes of communicating the strength of the Panchyat Raj system The story of two villages, Sukhipur and Dhukipur are unravelled through a cloth ‘ phad ’ or a scroll (a traditional folk medium of story telling). Village Dhukipur (sad village) has a corrupt Pradhan (Bimla), who has spent the money received from the panchayat for building a school, on constructing a house for herself and her family. The rest of the villagers are sad and poor.
On the other hand, Sukhipur (happy village) has a content populace as the Pradhan (Najma) has invested rural reconstruction money in developing good infrastructure for her village. Here the primary health centre is functioning, it has a ‘pucca’ building and also has a good road so that buses can reach the village. Pictorial pictures on the ‘ phad ’, accompanied with folk music were useful tools to convey the message for able governance and participation. This innovative method of story telling was very effective in bringing awareness to unlettered women.
Most importantly the campaign conveyed the message, that it was not enough to merely vote, or to stand for election, or to win. But important to know why is one voting for a particular person, what are the traits to look for, and what does he or she stand for .The value for integrity is also emphasised through the story and song media of the ‘ phad ’. This training programme was conducted by Mahila Samakhya, an NGO working towards Rural Women’s Empowerment.