KOCHI: Stepping down from the post of Kadamakudy panchayat president, Shalini Babu is quite contented about how her decade-long political life has fared so far. Completing a series of developmental projects and initiating a few path-breaking schemes, the 46-year-old claims to have had a fruitful time serving people. Not in the upcoming election fray, the Communist Party of India (CPI) member is now staring at an uncertain but exciting future.
Living in a rented house with her son who is currently pursuing under graduation, the former housekeeping supervisor of a private hospital has already started the hunt for a new job. “I know it is not going to be easy. I have only graduated high school and past my prime. I have worked in housekeeping for almost two years at a hospital. But now, even for the post of a cleaning staff, many institutions have hired candidates with under graduate qualification,” she said.
Shalini successfully contested to the civic body polls back in 2005 as a rookie politician. After taking a break of five years, she returned to the fray in 2015. In between, she lost her husband Babu, a party worker in 2014 to a heart attack.
“It was a tough time. He was the one who brought me into politics. But we never dreamt of any administrative position while venturing into public life. I became a recluse after my husband’s death, it was the sheer motive to serve people which brought me back. I was hoping to serve my post with a small job. But the president’s position was an unexpected one and I couldn’t continue with my job thereafter,” said Shalini.
Her hopes of living in her own home will be a reality soon. “When preparing the beneficiary list of the first phase LIFE Mission, I didn’t have a ration card and was ineligible for the scheme. The area where I live suffered a lot of damaged during the flood of 2018. However, after that, I was allocated a small piece of land in Alangad with the support of a church. A private group has started construction as well,” she said.
Shalini points to her many achievements during her five-year term as president. “We managed to improve infrastructure in the islets that form Kadamakudy panchayat and increased the quantity of cultivable pokkali farm fields from 60 acres to 200 acres,” she said. Her tenure also saw the preparatory works for public crematorium and steps to improve drinking water connectivity in the area.