TIRUPATI: Yekollu sarpanch, who took over the reigns of the village a year ago, decided to transform it into a model village. Now, the collective efforts of villagers and sarpanch Blessy have won the Child-friendly Grama Panchayat Award from the Central government. Yekollu panchayat, which secured the unique tag of a child-friendly grama panchayat, is now the third panchayat in the State to achieve the distinction since 2014.
Yekollu of Doravarisatram mandal (earlier in Nellore and now in Tirupati district) has a population of 3,800. The Centre will present the award to the Yekollu panchayat in New Delhi at the National Panchayat Raj Day celebrations to be held on April 24. Based on the village population, the panchayat will be given a cash reward of `8 to 16 lakh.
Speaking to TNIE, Blessy said, “Immediately after I became the sarpanch, a dumping yard was constructed and we created awareness on sanitation among the villagers to segregate dry and wet waste at source. We urged them not to dump garbage on open sites in the village.”“We are also making manure at the dumping yard. We have prevented garbage menace and eliminated harmful settings in the village and turned them into a safe space, which is one of the indicators of a child-friendly panchayat,” the sarpanch said.
“We have evolved a special action plan for health and education of children in the village. To eliminate malnourishment, nutritious food is being supplied to every child through anganwadi. We are identifying school dropouts and educating their parents to send their wards to school to ensure there are no dropouts in the village,” she added.
The young sarpanch said their rigorous awareness sessions to educate uneducated parents, prevented child marriages and child labour in the village. Also, with the help of medical authorities, the village immunised 100 per cent of all children aged below six with vaccines. In addition, 3,000 saplings were planted to improve the village’s green cover, Blessy said.
100% YEKOLLU CHILDREN IMMUNISED
With the help of medical authorities, the village immunised 100 per cent of children between 0 and 6 years with vaccines. To eliminate malnourishment among children, nutritious food is being supplied to every child through anganwadi centre, Yekollu sarpanch Blessy said