Dear Supporters and Fellow Citizens,
I am elated as I write this message to you. As you must have read in the news, the Women's Reservation Bill was approved in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha, after a 27-year-long wait. This means we can expect to see more women’s voices being heard in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in the future. As you can imagine, this personally means a lot to me as a young woman in politics. Your support to my campaign as a woman Sarpanch questioning the patriarchal practice of ‘Sarpanch Pati’ (which prevents elected women in villages from independently doing their official duties because their male family members take over). In my nearly 6 years serving as the twice-elected Sarpanch in Shadipur, Bihar, I must say that formal leadership positions not only benefit women, but society as a whole. A UN report found that there are 62% more drinking water projects in women-led panchayats than in the ones led by men! NEXT STEP: Share this petition so that more people join us in saying #NotoSarpanchPatiCulture.
While these incredible developments were unfolding at the national level, the media heard about our campaign and reached out to me for my views. I represented each one of you as I shared my opinion on local and national media. I was humbled and honoured by the opportunity to address national audiences through panel discussions on prestigious TV channels like India Today and NDTV. My quote made it to well-known print and digital publications like Deccan Herald, The Week, Times of India, and Economic Times to name a few.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
I am glad that India is ready to give equal opportunities to women leaders at a national level. However, our problem at the village level of ‘Sarpanch Patis’ drowning out the voices of elected women remains unaddressed. I am making every effort to meet Bihar’s CM and top ministers. I need your continued support.
Click here to spread the word to help me reach my goal of 10,000 signatures this weekend.
OR
Simply copy-paste the petition link and send it to your WhatsApp contacts. Change.org/NoMoreSarpanchPati.
Growing public support is the only thing that will improve our chances of being heard by the men in power. Together, we can ensure that the Bihar government issues orders to all its employees to stop entertaining any non-elected men and given elected female political leaders their due.
Thank you for all your support. Together we will win.
Love,
Dolly Sarpanch