Nitin Jugran Bahuguna
January 16, 2005
When Pushpa Rana was elected gram pradhan (village council head) of the Attakfarm panchayat in the hill state of Uttaranchal in north India, she vowed to work for the betterment of her community. To keep herself well informed, she made frequent trips to the block office to find out about all the development schemes earmarked for her panchayat (village council).
But whenever she visited the block office, neither the Block Development Officer (BDO) nor the other staff would offer her a chair (they remained seated themselves). Finally, one day, she gathered up her courage and asked the BDO: “Sir, should I get my own chair the next time I visit the block office?” The embarrassed BDO got the message and immediately offered her a seat.
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