BHUBANESWAR: Stepping out from the comfort of a well-paid corporate job, a woman from the city is contesting as a corporator candidate in the urban polls to raise awareness on the importance of participation of women in the electoral process.
Pranay Manjari Samal, in her 40s, has jumped into the fray leaving her job at an architect firm. She aims to encourage at least 1,000 women to come forward and join politics. Besides, she wants to change the narrative that politics is not for good people.
Samal is contesting the polls from Ward 9 as an independent candidate. With a diploma in architecture from Women’s Polytechnic here and construction management from National Institute of Construction Management and Research, New Delhi, she was serving as the CSR head of a Mumbai-based architect company for the last 12 years. She, however, quit the job last month to take a plunge into politics as a corporator candidate.
An active social worker, Samal said the plight of women, child labourers and the problem of people that she came across during her visits to the rural areas of the State during the Covid-19 pandemic compelled her to join politics.
Samal said she strives to empower women to be the real decision makers in the electoral politics and local governance system. She strives to improve drainage system, sanitation and education for children in her locality. With no financial support, Samal has taken the route of crowd-funding to take forward her election campaign, and generated around Rs 1.15 lakh through it.