Shalini Gupta,
Head, Domchach Block Panchayat, Jharkhand
It was a new idea of governance for the bureaucracy but not for people who had their own system of local governance. I see the bureaucrats get offended by representative like me asking them to get things done. Being a woman representative is another disadvantage.
I struggled for more than a year to convince the block development officer and other officials that we were elected and had to fulfill people's aspirations. However, panchayatiraj has has opened up space for women leadership.