MTech-qualified opt for sarpanch's post in Panipat

Mukesh Tandon

Panipat, November 3

Instead of joining jobs in the fields of engineering and management, several youths of the district have decided to be sarpanches to undertake the overall development of their respective villages.

Kirandeep Kaur of Mahamadpur village has an MPhil degree. She didn’t join as a teacher and chose to serve the people of her village. Similarly, Anupreet of Faridpur village and Monu Nandal of Dahar village in the Panipat block have done MBA, while Sonu of Kabri village is an MTech in applied geophysics.

“I have been working for a multinational group in Bengaluru at a package of Rs 12 lakh per annum. But, I quit the job to enter into the village politics after the government announced to give reservation to the OBCs,” said Sonu, new sarpanch of Kabri village.

Youngest among five brothers, Sonu said he set a goal to make his village clean and green, and his first priority was to dump garbage scientifically and set up a digital library in the area. He left the job just 20 days ago, but the villagers accepted his vision and voted for him, he added.

Monu Nandal, the new sarpanch of Dahar village, said he pursued MBA to set up his own business, but some prominent elderly residents suggested him to enter into politics for the development of his village.

“The Dahar panchayat is said to be the richest in the district as it has a good land bank and a huge financial balance. I have set a target to manage the development funds as well as to raise the earnings of the village panchayat by using all the infrastructure,” Monu added.

In a close contest in Garhi Bhalor village, Shalu won by just one vote. Meanwhile, both candidates Amit and Rakam Singh got equal votes (302) in Khalia Majra village, but the former won the election by a toss.

As many as 84% villagers have voted to elect their sarpanches in the district today. At 89%, Sanauli Khurd witnessed the highest voting, followed by the Panipat block (86.7%). The Israna block witnessed the lowest voting at 79.9%, Samalkha 83.8%, Bapoli 84.3% and Madlauda 83.2% in the district.

The result was announced late at night. According to information available, there are 31 sarpanches in the district who are graduates/postgraduates, 43 Class XII passout, 86 Class X passout and the rest have cleared Class VIII. The average age of the elected sarpanches is 37 years old, while that of the panches is 33 years old.