Setting an example

Jaswant Shetra
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, December 29

At a time when most of the villages are divided in groups owing to the panchayat elections, residents of Roomi village near Jagraon have set an example for the other villages by unanimously electing the village panchayat.

All members of Roomi village panchayat, falling under Mullanpur Dakha Vidhan Sabha constituency, have been elected unanimously. Three out of eight members of panchayat are women. Kuldip Singh has been elected as the sarpanch of the village while Balwinder Singh, Joginder Singh, Balwant Singh, Harpinder Singh, Gurmit Singh, Jaswant Kaur, Sukhwinder Kaur and Sukhjit Kaur have been elected as members of the panchayat.

The unanimous election of village panchayat bears much significance because Roomi is known for its factions. Earlier, the village was divided into three groups which had inclination towards different political parties. The supporters of these groups even used to clash with each other during Vidhan Sabha, Lok Sabha and panchayat elections in the past. However, now it seems that the villagers have left those divisions behind and decided to come together for the betterment of the village. According to villagers, some NRIs of the village and youngsters played active role in uniting residents for unanimous selection of panchayat members.

Though new village sarpanch, Kuldip Singh, is considered close to the Congress party but he claims that he sees the village as a unit. “It has been an honour to get elected as the sarpanch of the village unopposed. Whole village has shown faith in me. Meeting the expectations of people would be difficult, but I will leave no stone unturned,” said new sarpanch Kuldip Singh.

The new panchayat of the village was felicitated by senior Congress leader Major Singh Bhaini, who unsuccessfully contested last Vidhan Sabha elections from the Dakha constituency.

“One cannot have asked for more from the villagers. All villagers have come together to unanimously elect the village panchayat. People have done their job and it is now the responsibility of new panchayat to develop the village without any kind of discrimination,” said Bhaini.