Inspiration
Nauroti Devi’s amazing journey from a Stone-Cutter to a Computer-Educated Sarpanch
Here is the amazing first person account of a dalit woman who fought all odds to become not only the sarpanch of her village but also gained computer education and went to train more than 700 people in computers.
At the age of 74 Nauroti Devi is doing what women half her age have not been able to achieve. She has pushed the frontiers of what a dalit, uneducated woman can do with nothing more than sheer grit and determination.
Born in abject poverty in the Dalit community of Harmada village in Kishangarh Tehsil in Ajmer district of Rajasthan, Nauroti never had the opportunity to attend school or gain any formal education. As a young woman, she worked at a road construction site, cutting stones for a living.
“We faced a famine in 1981 and times were very difficult. I was working at a road construction site at the time, along with people from five different villages. There were 700 of us in all. After a few days we found out that the women in the group were earning Rs. 4 per day while the men were earning Rs. 7. Some of us were not even receiving this basic amount; the excuse was that our work was not up to the mark,” she recalls.
The first step at leadership
Nauroti enlisted the support of other labourers and decided to raise her voice against the wage discrepancy. Although an NGO came too her assistance, however, Nauroti led the campaign from the front and took the case to the Supreme Court.
“We won the case and this gave me tremendous self-confidence. But I couldn’t help thinking that in order to achieve what we did I needed help in learning the basics of the law, going through the documents, etc., from people who were educated. Otherwise, we would have given in to the injustices being meted out to us and continued putting our thumb prints on papers we did not understand. I felt I had wasted many years of my life because of illiteracy,” she says.
The Extraordinary Will to Learn
Inspired by the victory, and sensing the contribution of the educated in the victory, Nauroti decided to gain education herself she attend Barefoot College in Tilonia, located about 4 km from Harmada. She joined the 6-month-long literacy training programme, and with her quick learning skills, was working at the college in no time. Her leadership qualities enabled her to quickly gain the confidence of women from nearby villages. She started making them aware of their rights and worked to improve their lot.
“I also visited several homes, talked to young girls, and made sure they were admitted to schools,” she adds. It was during this period that she received training in computers which would go on to change her life and in turn many other lives.
By this time, word had spread about Nauroti and she had earned immense respect in the region because of her determined fights against any kind of injustice. It was during her stint at the Barefoot College that some people from her village requested her and she agreed to participate in the panchayat elections. She went on to win the elections and become the sarpanch of Harmada in 2010.
She dedicated her 5-year-term to the development of the region. She fought against the alcohol mafia and worked tirelessly to bring civic facilities like water bodies, toilets, houses and the installation of hand pumps to the village.
The life changing effect of Computer Knowledge
As sarpanch, Nauroti made excellent use of computers.
“Earlier, whenever we had to issue a notice that was to be sent to 10-15 places, we had to write the same thing over and over again. But I started typing such notices on the computer and taking out printouts. This helped us save hours of work. I can work on Word, Excel and I also know how to use the Internet,” she says proudly.
Her association with the Barefoot College continued as they helped Nauroti install a computer at the panchayat office. In fact she became so proficient at computers that she started giving lessons to the government panchayat officer. She used the power of the Internet to read up on women’s empowerment issues, find helpline information, learn about health issues, agriculture, rights of wage earners, etc. And in turn, she disseminated this knowledge among the villagers of Harmada panchayat.
“Impressed by my work, the panchayat secretary once asked me – ‘How did you learn to use the computer without having any kind of education?’ I just told him that while he and many others like him have the scope, opportunities and resources required to afford quality education, I had nothing but my strength and determination. I used these qualities. A computer is just a machine made by man – like trains, cars, etc. And because it is man-made, we can learn to use it if we want. That is what I had done,” says Nauroti Devi.
With age as she couldn’t keep up with the work, she stopped working in the fields and gained further computer training. In turn she started training other women and children from the village in computers. So far she has trained over 700 individuals at a nominal fee of ₹150-200.
After the Rajasthan Panchayati Raj Amendment Bill of 2015 fixed the minimum educational qualifications for contesting in sarpanch elections to Class VIII (and Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls to Class X), Nauroti Devi could not contest the sarpanch elections anymore.
“I was able to achieve what I did during my tenure, with the help of the local citizens. People started trusting me when they saw that I was working so hard for them, making them aware, and addressing their problems,” says Nauroti, who has no regrets.
Image courtesy: The Better India