MEET CHHAVI RAWAT, INDIA’S FIRST WOMAN SARPANCH:

Chhavi Rajawat (42), hails from the quaint hamlet of Soda in Rajasthan, completed her high school education from Rishi Valley School in Bengaluru. She went on to pursue graduation from Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi, and later an MBA from Balaji Institute of Modern Management Pune in 2003. Later on she worked for over 10 years with the Times Of India, Airtel and the Carlson Group of Hotels. Little did she know that destiny had different plans for her.

Chhavi would often visit sods to spend time with her grandfather, Brij Raghubir Singh, who held the position of a sarpanch for three terms until 1990. She was no less than the daughter of the village. In 2011, their village was hit by a severe drought, the farmers incurred huge losses, the groundwater was unfit for drinking, and the entire village was dependent on just the monsoon.

That’s when she stepped up and decided to take control of the power, it wasn’t an easy road, gender biasness prevailed but she had her ambition clear, and she became the first woman sarpanch at the age of 30! Chavvi’s plan covered the areas of cleanliness, sanitization, she promoted girl child education, moved to building schools, opened banks in the villages, and created awareness among the villagers about certain policies and their rights.

Under Chhavi’s dynamic leadership, Soda had a complete transformation - from being backward to now being called a ‘model village’. She has been elected as an Aspen Fellow, and was also a part of the World Economic Forum India Summit 2012, as co-chair. Chhavi was also awarded the title of Young Global Leader by WEF in 2012. She has also won the Yuva Award and has been recognised as a Young Indian Leader by CNN.