At 21, Reshma is youngest head of panchayat body in country

At 21, Reshma is youngest head of panchayat body in country

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kottayam:31.12.2020

Reshma Mariam Roy (21) of Cpmmunist Party of India (Marxist) became the youngest head of a local body in the country when she took charge as president of Aruvappulam grama panchayat in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district on Wednesday.

Born on November 18, 1999, Reshma was 21 years and 42 days when she achieved this feat. She had turned 21 a day before the deadline for filing nominations for the local body polls on November 19.

Speaking to TOI after assuming office, Reshma said she has several development plans in mind for the panchayat. The major one is constructing a bridge across a rivulet that divides the panchayat into two. “The medical college hospital is on one side of the rivulet and the people from the other side of the rivulet have difficulty in reaching there. Along with the local MLA, I will make efforts for the bridge,” she said.

She is also planning to speed up construction of the Ayurveda hospital in the panchayat and upgrade it to a hospital with beds. Encouraging farming among residents and addressing issues faced by farmers due to wild animals are also among her priorities.

“I am happy that I am taking up this responsibility on the 50th anniversary of SFI, the organisation through which I became a public worker,” she said. Reshma was an active SFI member while doing her BBA from VNS College of Arts and Science in Konni. She is the district secretariat member of the SFI and district committee member of the DYFI.

The LDF has got nine members in the 15-member panchayat council. The post of president was reserved for women and there are five CPM women members, including Reshma.