Tribune News Service
Bathinda, August 25
Fifty-year-old Murti Devi’s is a classic example of ‘it’s never too late to learn’. The victory in the recent panchayat elections has also made it possible for her to defeat the bigger “foe” of illiteracy that she had been associated with for the past five decades.
Elected to the panchayat at Jalal village in Bhagta block, Murti Devi has just started signing her name. She is one among the over 800 panchayat members in the district who have made it successfully despite being illiterate.
Panchayat Department officials say there are many panchayat members who are trying to rid themselves of the ‘angutha chhap’ (somebody who cannot even sign) tag.
Taught by a retired teacher, she says it is never too late to learn reading or writing. “I have got an opportunity to do something for my village. Learning to write my name is the first step. I want to read my name on the foundation stones that I will be laying for development works,” she avers.
There are as many as 805 illiterate sarpanches and panches elected from 294 panchayats in Bathinda district. There are only two post-graduate panchayat heads: Gurlabh Singh of Dhelwan and Gurtej Singh of Bhaini Chuhar villages.
"Learning to sign their names is their first step towards ensuring the progress of their villages,” says an administration official.
The constituency of Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluke, who is a matriculate himself, boasts of just one graduate sarpanch among the 45 panchayats in his segment.
Data procured from the district administration mentions that 63 sarpanches did not know how to read or write. Therefore, it seems, the political masters of all parties do not encourage educated persons to become part of planning in the state.
The Bathinda block has the highest number of illiterate sarpanches with 19 of them dependent on others to read official documents. Nathan block has the least two illiterate sarpanches.
Twentyseven sarpanches did not study beyond Class II while 90 are matriculates. Fiftysix sarpanches have passed Class V while 41 have cleared the Class VIII.
Talwandi Sabo block has 137 illiterate panches while Bathinda block has 135. There is some saving grace as well: Nirpinder Singh, a panchayat member of Jawahar Nagar village in Rampura block, represented by Maluka, is an MBA.
link : first published :http://www.tribuneindia.com/2013/20130826/punjab.htm#13
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