You educate a woman, you educate a generation

Picture: Pallavi Thaku

Pallavi Thakur (pic), the youngest woman to be elected as a sarpanch in Punjab, has taken it upon herself to stem the tide of Covid in and around her native village of Hara falling in Sujanpur assembly seat. She is the same woman who made headlines when she received a call from PM Narendra Modi in April last year on the occasion of the National Panchayati Raj Diwas.

The ‘youngest woman sarpanch’ tag is official as it has been given to her by none other than the Punjab Government on January 13, 2019, at a function organised in Gurdaspur. Thakur has already made a name for herself while working in the field of health, education, women empowerment and identifying sources of fresh water in the underdeveloped and underprivileged Dhar block. Underprivileged, because when it comes to developmental initiatives, officials for some inexplicable reason, look the other side. In February this year, Thakur was felicitated by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for working tirelessly on the concept of ‘Har ghar paani, har ghar safai.’

Not the one to rest on her laurels, Pallavi has now joined hands with sarpanches of adjoining villages to fight the scourge of the virus. “Our challenges are immense. Across the globe, the spread of Covid-19 continues to cause disease, death and disruption. It has pushed even the most advanced health systems to the brink. There should be no illusions at all whatever be a country’s transmission rate. We should sit together and formulate short, medium and long-term strategies. The three things that need to be done immediately are: control and suppress the spread of the virus, strengthen and maintain health services and support each other to stay safe, healthy and well,” she quipped.

These days this village head is busy educating people of her area, particularly the womenfolk, about the benefits of getting vaccinated. “I tell people that it will be the vaccine in the ultimate analysis that will help us shun the masks. It will also help them reconnect with family and friends,” she says. Thakur displays a lot of maturity when she says, “You educate a man, you educate a man. You educate a woman, you educate a generation. It is a man’s world out there and our women have to be strong. Whenever you see a successful woman, look out for three men who are going out of their way to block her,” she said. That is some food for thought !

Article Credit: tribuneindia