Chhavi Rajawat

Chhavi Rajawat was the Sarpanch of her village Soda, 60 kilometres (37 mi) from Jaipur. Though holding an elected post, Chhavi is not affiliated to any political party. The Panchayats are officially supposed to be non-partisan and Panchayat elected representatives thereby, do not fit into the bracket of mainstream politics.^[1] She has been reported to be the youngest person to hold the office of sarpanch.^[2]

Chhavi Rajawat
Rajawat in 2012
Sarpanch
Preceded by	Narendra Singh Rajawat, Harsh Chauhan
Constituency	Soda
Personal details
Born	4 January 1977 Rajasthan
Residence(s)	Todaraisingh, Rajasthan

Early life

Rajawat was born in Jaipur, Rajasthan. She is from a small village called Soda in Malpura tehsil, but belongs to a wealthy and nobility linked family.Tonk district. She is an alumna of Rishi Valley School, Mayo College Girls School and Lady Shri Ram College^[3] and holds an MBA from Balaji Institute of Modern Management Pune.^[4][5]

Personal life

Rajawat divides her time between her village, Soda, and Jaipur where she lives with her parents. She also tends to a hotel owned by the family and the numerous horses that are part of her riding school. ^[6][1]

She studied at Rishi Valley School in Andhra Pradesh; Mayo College Girls’ School in Rajasthan and Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi. After her MBA from Sri Balaji Society Pune, she worked for companies such as the Times of India, Carlson Group of Hotels, and Airtel. Today, she is the sarpanch (elected head of the Village Council) in Soda village, Tonk district, Rajasthan and is the first woman sarpanch in India with an MBA degree.^[3]

Career

Rajawat left her corporate job and city life to help develop rural India. She became the sarpanch (head of a village) of Soda, a village sixty kilometers from Jaipur, Rajasthan. Her grandfather, Brigadier Raghubir Singh, had been sarpanch of the same village twenty years prior to Rajawat's elections. After becoming sarpanch, she has implemented many projects for the village successfully such as rainwater harvesting and installing toilet facilities in most homes.^[7]

Her leadership has extended beyond infrastructure. Recognizing the pivotal role of women and youth in rural development, she launched several initiatives aimed at empowering these groups. She organized skill development workshops for women, providing them with opportunities to learn new trades and become financially independent. These workshops ranged from tailoring and handicrafts to digital literacy, equipping women with skills that could enhance their livelihood.^[8] The Times of India, a leading English newspaper in India, credits her as the changing face of rural Rajasthan.^[1]

On 25 March 2011, Rajawat made a well-received address to delegates at the 11th Infopoverty World Conference held at the United Nations.^[9]

The former and late president of India APJ Abdul Kalam honoured her with an award at the Technology Day function at New Delhi.^[10] She was also honoured as a "Young Indian Leader" by IBNLive.^[11]