Born in Chhapra Salimpur village of Haryana, Neeru Yadav completed her master's in science in 2013.
After her marriage, she moved to Lambi Ahir village in the Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan and pursued a career in rural politics.
In 2020, she became the first woman sarpanch after winning the panchayat polls with 1,240 votes.
The 33-year-old is known for her innovative approach to rural development and relentless pursuit of women's empowerment.
For instance, she encouraged the village girls to participate in hockey.For this, she hired a coach to train the girls and distributed hockey kits to them using her salary of two years.
In an interview, she mentioned that she was a hockey player in her teenage years but did not pursue a career in sports. Today, she is lovingly known as ‘Hockey Wali Sarpanch’.
The girls' hockey team of Lambi Ahir village went on to win at the panchayat and block levels. They also competed at the district level competition. Today, Neeru dreams of taking her team to the nationals.
Besides, she also started a Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) – Sachhi Saheli Mahila Agro Producer Company Limited – in January 2023 to help farmers get fertilisers, seeds and other agriculture-related products at subsidised rates.
She went on to renovate and digitalise the local government school to provide an enhanced learning environment to rural kids. She also partnered with the State Bank of India (SBI) to promote financial inclusion among the villagers.
In 2022, she was awarded the Shiksha Shree Award by the Rajasthan government. She was also felicitated by UNICEF and the Panchayati Raj Department, Rajasthan, at the Women's Political Participation for gender equality programme in 2022.