At 21, Reshma Mariam Roy is getting the kind of attention that many politicians could only dream of, even after years in office.
But this is quite understandable. After becoming the youngest candidate to contest in the recently local body elections, this BBA undergraduate is now also set to become the youngest to lead any local body in the State.
Having won from the ward 11 (Oottupara) of the Aruvappulam grama panchayat in Pathanamthitta, she will be appointed as the president of the local body where the LDF has captured power after a gap of two decades.
A decision to entrust the young woman the administration of this forest-fringe village was taken during a meeting of the CPI(M) area committee the other day.
When asked what it is like to be a panchayat president at such a young age, Reshma said she had been formally conveyed about the party’s decision only the previous day and hence a detailed plan of action for the panchayat would be charted out after due consultations with all stakeholders.
“All that I have with me is a set of principles. To make them practical, I will have to work hard day in and day out and take the support of experts,” she says.
Priorities
According to her, Aruvappulam panchayat requires a comprehensive development in its infrastructure capability. The concerns of farmers and Adivasi communities have to be addressed.
“Among the several projects that merit immediate attention, my personal priority is the construction of a new building for the anganwadi in my ward,” she adds.
Ms. Roy, an active member of the Students Federation of India, who passed out of the college earlier this year, turned 21 — the minimum required age to contest in an election — on November 18, a day before the last day for filing nominations. In the election, she won the ward, a sitting seat of the UDF, by a margin of 70 votes .
Ms. Roy now plans to pursue a degree in law through correspondence so as to manage her work hours along with higher studies. Her father Roy P. Mathew is a timber merchant and mother Mini Roy works at a college.
