Odisha Panchayat Elections: PhD Candidate Promises To Be Voice Of Neglected Women

Paradip: As campaigning for the forthcoming three-tier panchayat elections in the state intensifies, some candidates have become the talk of the town for their educational background and professional careers.

Nibedita Priyadarsini, a Congress candidate for Zilla Parishad zone-1 of Jagatsinghpur district’s Kujang block, has won hearts of the locals for choosing politics to serve the people over her comfortable professional career.

A PhD in Sociology from Pondicherry Central University, Nibedita chose politics as the medium for promoting inclusive development at the grassroots level.

Her brush with politics started while pursuing M Phil and PhD in Pondicherry Central University where she was elected student representative. Before Pondicherry, she had pursued Masters in Sociology from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, where she was working as a guest faculty before taking the political leap.

Daughter of an anganwadi worker mother and farmer father, Nibedita said, “My humble family background and education has inspired me to work for the welfare of people who have been fighting for justice since ages. Getting justice still remains a struggle for people belonging to Scheduled Caste communities, particularly Dalits, and I hope to stand up for their rights.”

The young educationist’s political pitch comes from her academic background. Her interest lies in gender studies, political sociology, rural development and Dalit studies. Her PhD research was on “Marginalization to Representation: A Sociological Study of Dalit Women Leadership in Rural Odisha”.

Her area of research for the topic were the villages in her panchayat, Nibedita told OdishaBytes. She jumped into the political arena  with hope and confidence that she can stand up for them and raise her voice for justice when the time comes.

The aspiring ZP member’s day begins at 7 am, when she and her team of five set out on a door-to-door campaign to listen to the grievances of the electorate, said Nibedita.

“We start early and meet members of every household in a given village but I don’t pitch my agenda. I listen to their grievances and their needs, and return with a promise that if I win, I will be their voice.”

“The journey has not been easy for me as a girl and more so belonging to the rural community. I have come this far with the motivation to work for the communities victimised by socio-economic vulnerabilities,” she said.

“I consider this (contesting in ZP elections) as a learning opportunity as it would provide me with the much needed exposure to the field realities revolving around Panchayati Raj Institutions,” said Nibedita.

About choosing Congress, which has near-zero presence in the state, she said politics is just a medium for her to serve the society, particularly, women. “There has been a rise in women crimes and those at the grassroots level fail to get justice as they do not have a leader to share their woes with, I hope to be that leader with whom they can share their troubles,” said Nibedita.

With a teaching background, she hopes to play the role on the political field too and win hearts.

“I strongly believe that we can transform the lives of the communities through proper implementation of existing rural development programmes and revitalising the existing institutions. We don’t need any further schemes but what we really need is an alternative approach developed through participatory democracy. Together we can alter the development narrative at the grassroots while making it all inclusive,” she said.

“This is the time to give back to the society, which made me a responsible citizen,” said Nibedita, who has served as a guest faculty in Utkal University.