Strange Sweepstakes
From
panchayat president to an
office sweeper that too of one's own offfice. The strange sweepstakes in the life of
Sujata Natarajan throw enough light on the fate of ordinary people who do not have a political base but get a coincidental brush with power. Sujata was selected from the chalookkonbam ward of the Neduvathur village panchayat in Kollam district five years ago. The 32 year old mother of two
children had plenty of luck from day one. Initially, it was her husband Natarajan whom the paarty had chosen to contest the election. However, during the panchayat wards delimitation, Chalookkonam was designated a reserved seat for women. Thus, sujata became a natural choice. She not only won the election, but even went on to head the Neduvathoor village panchayat as the president's post was again reserved for women. An agreement was reached whereby Sujata and another member shared the panchayat president's post for the five years equally. Sources said Sujata who had passed her 12th standard later completed a pre pimary teacher train ing course. But this was not enough to earn her a living. She eked out a
living by crushing road metal in quarries. That was when the long arm of panchayat raj came knocking at her door steps and catapulted her to the role of president of the village panchayat. However, once out of the president's post, Sujata was deprived of the honorari;lum she received from the panchayat. Now, she also struggled to meet the educational
expenses of her two children, a girl studying in gradeIII and a boy enrolled in grade I. Meanwhile, a vacancy arose at the Neduvathoor panchayat office for the post of last grade sweeper on a daily wage basis. Sujata, had no hesitation to take up the job. The money would cer tainly help her to raise the educational expenses of her children, she thought. Sujata has to clean her office in front of the same employees who had once addressed her as madam and some panchayat members who had been her colleagues in the last council. However, she brushes away the embarrassment, saying that she has given her best during her tenure without inviting any complaints. She further says that she hass no problems adujsting to her new job. A disciplilned connunist, Sujata refuses to speak more.
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