At 21, the youngest sarpanch of Maharashtra, Yashodhara Shinde

Yashodhara Shinde-Narwadkar, 21 was elected as the youngest sarpanch in Maharashtra of Vaddi village in Sangli district on December 20. She is also a fourth-year medical student at the New Vision Medical University, Georgia.

Yashodhara Shinde, 21, aspired to become a doctor and was pursuing the medical course in Georgia, but fate had something else in store for her as she returned to her village in Maharashtra, contested the sarpanch election, and won it too.

She now plans to work for the betterment of her village Vaddi in Miraj tehsil of Sangli district and also complete her education online.

Talking to PTI, Shinde said she wants to make women self-reliant, introduce e-learning and other educational tools for students, help children adopt good health habits, and contribute towards the betterment of youth’s aspirations and welfare of the farmers’ community in the village.

“I have been pursuing the MBBS course at the New Vision University in Georgia. Currently, I am in the 4th year, and one-and-a-half years of the course is still left to be completed,” she said. “When elections were announced in my village, locals wanted someone from our family to contest for the sarpanch’s (village head) post. A decision was taken to field me for the position.

Staff Reporter