SNE NETWORK/NAWANSHAR/CHANDIGARH.
The Panchayat election campaign is going on in full swing in the state. At the same time, there is a village in Punjab where no voting has taken place till date for Panchayat elections. This village is Golu Majra in Nawanshahr district.
There are about 500 voters in village Golu Majra. In this village, since independence till date, in about 75 years, people have never had to vote to elect a Panchayat member. The elders of the village choose someone as their representative and he runs the Panchayat for 5 years. The Sarpanch and Panchs are announced by the elders of the village.
Former Sarpanch of the village Balveer Kumar told that 95 percent of the population in his entire village belongs to the Gurjar community and the remaining 5 percent people belong to the Dalit class. He told that the first Sarpanch of the village was Banta Singh. Every five years a new person is given the responsibility. The elders in the village sit together. The decision given by them is accepted by everyone.
Till date, there is only one family which has been getting the opportunity to be the Sarpanch for nearly 20 years continuously. Chaudhary Ram Das of this family has had his own status. He said that whatever basic facilities people need in a village, all of them are available there. This time Rekha Rani has been unanimously elected as the Sarpanch.