Chhavi Rajawat – Sarpanch, Village Soda, Rajasthan | Entrepreneurship, Corporate Speaker in India
Chhavi Rajawat is the sarpanch of her village Soda, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Jaipur. Though holding an elected post, Chhavi is not affiliated to any political party. The Panchayats are officially supposed to be non-partisan and Panchayat elected representatives thereby, do not fit into the bracket of mainstream politics. She has been reported to be the youngest person to hold the office of sarpanch.
Focused on social development and working with the belief of making a difference in the lives of people, Chhavi speaks about empowering oneself, setting a goal and striving to achieve it. She also talks about the importance of giving back to the society.
Her goal is to make Soda a model village by pursuing a holistic, sustainable and gender-balanced development that can easily be replicated in other villages. During her first term, Chhavi was successful in bringing transparency into the council office, electricity to the village and water to a drought-hit region.
She is also credited with constructing many roads to connect village Soda with the main roads and other villages, opening a bank and introducing a waste management project among many other accomplishments. Her focus during the second term is on improving the quality of education and thus bridging the gap that divides rural and urban India.
