Sushma Bhadu - A Leader who made a Difference.
- vaibhav Pawar
- Sep 5, 2020
- 4 min read
India – The largest Democracy in the world. A Land of rich heritage where we talk of prosperity and equality for every citizen. But are we really the strongest and the most ideal nation giving equal rights to all our citizens of our country.
It’s been 73 years since we became independent, yet the problem of grass root poverty and illiteracy remains unsolved. We may be proud of our place in the world, but are we really concerned about our women living in our homes. We talk of gender equality but look at our numbers, ironically, they have an altogether different story to say.
Thankfully, the awareness to women empowerment in today’s times is growing like never before. Be it the City or village, conscious efforts of brining a change are taken and…….the picture is not so dull.
We still have hope. And this video is dedicated to such a genius, who with a very little form of education has bought a path breaking change in the lives of countless women. Her passion and dedication to transform the lives of women in her locality has been applauded everywhere.
Sushma Bhadu; a seventh-class dropout had been living in the village of Dhani Miyan Khan of the Fatehabad District of the state of Haryana. Like every other lady, Sushma too had been working tirelessly for the well-being of her family. But Sushma was also concerned about the falling social status of the women in her society. The never ending family pressures on women, be it neglecting of girl child or the withdrawal of the right to education for females, the list was endless.
Sushma knew that she could not bring the change in the situation just by thinking about it. And therefore, she decided to take some bold steps. In 2010, She contested for the panchayat elections and was elected as the sarpanch of the governing body.
As a sarpanch, Sushma educated her team and the raised their voice against the age old purdah system also known as 'ghoonghat'. Look at Sita or any other goddess for that matter, none of them are in a ghoonghat then why these customs are applicable to us – this was the voice of Sushma’s team. This women brigade faced severe backlash for challenging the ancient traditions. But fuelled with zeal and a mission to bring a positive change, Sushma and her team, successfully stopped the purdah tradition and gave the women; the freedom they had waited for so long. Not so soon, the news spread like wild fire and more than 2000 women from over 25 neighbouring villages joined the movement and quit the ghoongat tradition.
As a sarpanch, Sushma also bought some great transformations in the smartest way one could every think of.
Killing the girl child in the mother’s womb was a rampant practise in the village. Sushma decided to stop these evil practise. And so this clever leader, started a system spying on people conducting such inhuman practises. She appointed informers and paid them a hefty amount of over Rs. 50,000 who provided a tip about the people who secretly conducted the sex determination tests and secret abortions. She also kept the local anganwadi and the health team on standby to take immediate actions. As a result, Haryana though being a state suffering from the lowest – female sex ratio, yet saw a hope due to the efforts of a decisive leader like Sushma Bhadu. The female count in the male-female ratio in her village has shown an increasing trend.
Though a 7th class drop-out, Sushma has been a strong promoter of female education in her village. Her team has created an impressive system of providing free education till class five to every girl child of the families who cannot afford to support their daughter’s schooling. This education package also includes the cost of the other expenses like books, bags, and uniforms. These efforts have contributed to stop the problem of illiteracy to a larger level.
Even before discarding the purdah system, Sushma Bhadu had managed to get a grant of over 10 Lakh Rupees for teaching sewing to the women. The Punjab National Bank was roped in to sponsor the training programmes for this movement.
Sushma Bhadu was awarded with the - Outstanding Women Leaders Panchayat Award for such noble contributions of women empowerment in her village.
As a Sarpanch, Sushma has also launched several cleanliness drives and sanitation measures within her village. Her efforts has transformed the face of the village and helped the village won –“Nirmal Gram Puruskar” by the Govt of India.
The Life and Struggle of Sushma Bhadu clearly states that change cannot be bought by mere talking and discussion at length. One has to get in to the mud and get the hands dirty all by self and that’s how great transformations happen.
Sushma Bhadu, can truly be called the Genius of her times. Right from rejecting the centuries old purdah system to creating a better place for women, Sushma Bhadu has not only awakened the genius within her self but has also managed to infuse the spirit of new awakening into every other women who has worked with her. Our channel salutes to the decisive leadership and indomitable spirit of Sushma Bhadu.
Do watch Sushma Bhadu's journey and get inspired:
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