Savitriben Patel, Gram Sathi (MeghaMuvadi, Block: Devgadh Baria, District: Dahod)

04Apr

By Anandi IndiaApril 8, 2021Articles and Blog, Stories from the field areas of Devgadh Mahila Sangathan and ANANDI organisation

Gram Sathi Savitriben Patel with Bijliben

The 65 year old woman Bijliben Baria of Megha Muvadi did not receive pension post the de-monetization. When Savitriben got to know about this, she quickly checked this on the internet through her mobile phone. She learnt that Bijliben’s pension was getting credited in someone else’s account. Frequent follow ups with the Mamlatdar office helped Savitriben in helping Bijliben receive the pension without fail. She also got Bijliben the pension which she missed receiving, which was nothing less than Rs. 13,000/- a huge amount for her.

Gram Sathi Savitriben Patel with a widowed woman

Often in the villages, widowed women are branded witch so that they do not inherit property or land. This was quite rampant in Savitriben’s village as well. There was no way for widowed women would get their share of property or land as per legal entitlements. Panchayat Secretaries were also of no use and mostly there were instances of them accepting bribes to the tune of Rs. 10000/-. When Savitriben came to know of such instances, she had made it her goal to help these women. So she lend her support to Savitriben Patel (Koli), a widowed woman of her village in getting her share of land, which has helped the widowed woman to a great extend. She could now live happily with help from government schemes and do not have to go to Surat to do labour work like earlier. Gram Sathi Savitriben has helped many women like this to have a respectful life.

Gram Sathi Savitriben Patel with women of MeghaMuvadi

Savitriben has worked a lot for the people of MeghaMuvadi, especially to get them rightful quantity of ration through the public distribution system. Around 28 families were not receiving ration as per their entitlement and when Savitriben came to know about this, she acquired list of BPL families from the Dy. Sarpanch and did her ground work. Once she had all the documents showing that these families are not receiving the ration, she approached Mamlatdar office, with the help and guidance from Lok Adhikar Kendra, which is run by Devgadh Mahila Sangathan and ANANDI. This way Savitriben helped the 28 families to live an enriched life.

Savitriben Patel with the enrolled students

Committee and always strive to make the Committee meet on a regular basis to resolve issues to school and education. Once when she got to know that three children from third and fourth standards are not attending school due to some reason, she quickly visited their parents and resolved the issue. She encouraged the parents to send their children to school, so that they can have a better opportunity in their lives.