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Meet The Girl Who Left High Paying IT Job Offers To Fight Panchayat Polls In Her Village

She could have been living a comfortable life in a city with a good salary and a fancy lifestyle. But she decided to stand for her village panchayat elections instead. Here is all you need to know!

Meet The Girl Who Left High Paying IT Job Offers To Fight Panchayat Polls In Her Village

She could have been living a comfortable life in a city with a good salary and a fancy lifestyle. But she decided to stand for her village panchayat elections instead. Here is all you need to know!

Almost every engineer has dreams of getting into an IT giant with a good income and a comfortable lifestyle. Anshu Arele, a 22-year old engineer, was also offered a similar opportunity when she got job offers from big companies like Infosys and IBM.

But that would have been too conventional. And Anshu wasn’t conventional by any means. So she didn’t take up any of those job offers and chose to stand for Panchayat elections in her village Bhind instead. It was a risk well taken as she actually won!

panchPhoto: www.ifad.org

This IT graduate from Rustamji Institute of Technology in Tekanpur near Gwalior, is now a member of the district panchayat.

“Trust me, this is much better than working at Infosys or IBM. This is a platform that will allow me to raise the voice of my village. I want to change the image of a backward Bhind,” she told TOI.

Her parents were not very open to her decision as they believed that such elections are very tough and can be provocative and complicated. But all set to follow what she believed in, Arele went ahead and contested the elections with a bow and arrow as her symbol. Interestingly, that was the same symbol her father had used when he had fought the same elections in 2009.

“He won, but was declared defeated as the election results were manipulated. I did not let the same thing happen this time. After dilly dallying, the district administration declared me victorious on February 9,” Arele told TOI.

In the Chambal region, where women mostly stay at home and men have been dominating politics and all other fields, Arele’s victory has been an amazing beginning of a new era where women are set to play a crucial role.

We wish Arele congratulations on her recent success and hope for a brighter future for Bhind.

And while you are marveling at Arele’s guts in taking on this tough job, here is another amazing women sarpanch who has changed the fate of her village in Haryana.

Like this story? Or have something to share? Write to us: contact@thebetterindia.com, or connect with us on Facebook and Twitter (@thebetterindia)

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