On the International Girl Child Day recently, the District Collector of Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh took a decision that reminded the nation of the 2001 Anil Kapoor movie, Nayak! Recalling the good old movie, it portrayed the story of a common journalist who was made the Chief Minister of the state for one day and strived hard to remove corruption.
But that was reel and this here is real. To honor the wonderful young girls of the country, the District Collector of Anantapur, Mr. Gandham Chandrudu, launched the `Balike Bhavishyathu’ under which he decided that an adolescent girl between the ages of 11-16 would take charge as the District Collector of Anantapur on Sunday, 11th October’20, at 11 A.M.
The statement issued by him further informed about the kind of tasks that the “One Day Collector” would perform.
Collector’s Statement:
“All her decisions will be implemented with officials making arrangements for an inspection or visit to any place on ‘official’ visit”, stated Mr. Gandham Chandrudu. In a teleconference conducted on Saturday, DC Gandham Chandrudu asked all the district officers up to Mandal level to ascertain one girl in the age group 11-16 in their particular areas and allow her to take charge in the office.
This decision taken by the DC brought a surge of excitement amongst the citizens. They had only seen such a thing in movies before, but now they were going to get an opportunity to see it for themselves. The day finally arrived and the public collected around the Collector’s office and through a draw of lots in front of a battery of media persons, 16 year old M. Sravani’s name was announced. She was the chosen one, to become the DC of Anantapur,for a day. Up until the time her name was announced, she was quite nervous but as soon as it happened, she unflinchingly told the world about where her priorities lay as a “One Day Collector”!
Ms Sravani Takes the One-Day Job Seriously:
M. Sravani, the daughter of a farm labor, took in charge of the office of Anantapur District Collector on Sunday. She could not believe that her dream was coming true right in the moment!
A Senior Intermediate student of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) Garladinne , Sravani immediately took hold of the office and worked in a way that made the officials reckon that this is where she belongs! Wearing a cotton saree, she gave a strong speech, which stunned the entire gathering of prominent women from numerous NGOs at the Collector’s office. The clarity of her mind and the strength of her speech made her stand out gloriously. She made it very clear that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up so that no school or college dropout is left uneducated.
And then she added for good measure, “We have forgotten to care for the animals and keep our surroundings clean.”
‘Balika Bhavishyathu’ which means ‘Girl child is the future of the society’ was launched as a program for the first time in the history of Anantapur and its main focus was to generate awareness on the rights of adolescent girls in the society and provide them with the respect they deserve and their right place in the league.
In order to stipulate a kind of authenticity to the whole assignment, Ms. Sravani was presented with a file that sanctioned Rs. 25000 compensation to a woman, who was a victim in an SC/ST violence case. When presented with the file, Ms. Sravani read it entirely and finally put her signature on the dotted lines. This showed her enthusiasm in the office and the fact that she was into it, wholeheartedly. She didn’t wish to leave a single detail about the case she was given.
Other Girls Too Got a Chance:
Another young girl, K. Chinmayi, who is a student of 10th standard from Sarada School, took the position of ‘One Day Municipal Commissioner’ and came forward to tackle the various issues faced by adolescent girls in schools. “Menstruating girls sometimes find it difficult to find a sanitary napkin and the right place and atmosphere to dispose of the used one,” she said, showcasing her wish to install vending machines for sanitary napkins in schools to make school-going girl’s lives better.
Both, Ms. Sravani and Ms. Chinmayi inspected the sanitation in the city and the work of ‘Ward Secretariat’ in the first line area of Anantapur. They were accompanied by Municipal Commissioner PVVS Murthy. Ms. B Madhushree, daughter of a mechanic, was provided the role of Joint Collector Revenue, Ms. Sameera, role of District Revenue Officer, and Ms. Sahasra assumed office as Joint Collector Development.
