When the Sarpanch is a fine artist

 

 

 

 

 

Those who stay in city may visit a village to get fresh air for a while. But staying in rural areas for long time can never be the dream of any urbanites citizen. He or she knows the problems of rural area. One can never find the comfort, the convenience, in a village, that is found in the city. However, a well-settled highly-educated Archana Khobragade chose to stay in Katlabodi in Katol taluka and deicided to make it look beautiful. Archana Khobragade has taken over as Sarpanch of this small village. Katlabodi, a village 45 km away from Nagpur, is the only one in Maharashtra to have all members of the Gram Panchayat as women. All the eight members got elected unopposed. They chose Archana Khobrade, a meritorious student of Master of Fine Arts (MFA) as their leader. Pallavi Ishwar Ramgunde became Deputy Sarpanch. Surekha Ram Markame, Asha Sudhakar Walke, Alka Naresh Kokurde, Shilpa Rahul Irpachi, Sanjana Sudhakar Khandate, Karisma Rahul Bhad are the other members. Katlabodi village has 70 per cent tribal population. With a thought to develop the village, Khobragade adopted it. These tribals are landless and they are without their proper earning sources. “I decided to start a readymade garment project with a view to provide a financial source to these families who live as wage labourers. A women’s co-operative society having 59 members was formed,” Khobragade informed ‘The Hitavada’.

 

Khobragade has donated her one-acre land to this organisation. She pushed the people to propose a project that was worth Rs 5.5 crore. She followed up the case and got sanctioned it through the Department of Social Welfare. Unveiling the plans further, Khobragade said, “Now 75% of the construction has been completed and a readymade garment will be manufactured in next 4 months. One woman from each household in Katlabodi will be employed in this readymade garment project which will automatically increase the minimum income of each household. We want to empower all women in this village, for which we will hold programmes like ‘Haldi Kunku’, birth anniversaries of Savitribai Phule, Rajmata Jijabai, Ahilyabai Holkar, Ramai Ambedkar to involve women population in our cultural activities.” Along with women, Khobragade has thought of the development of children. There will be various workshops aimed at the personality development of children, such as children's theatre workshops, various traditional sports events like Kabaddi etc.