Alms-seeker set to become sarpanch

Kollabavapuram, a remote village in Kurnool district, has got the distinction of unanimously electing its sarpanch even before an official notification for panchayat elections was issued. Seventy-year-old Pakkiramma, the only SC woman in the village, which is reserved for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, is set to be elected as the sarpanch of Kollabavapuram in Nandikotkuru mandal. The village has 200 families belonging to mainly three castes � Yadavs, Erukala (Scheduled Tribes) and the only one person belonging to SCs. So far, Kollabavapuram has been reserved for either STs or Backward Classes. But this time, to everybody's surprise, it is reserved for SCs in women's category. Pakkiramma, originally from Palamarri village, had moved to Kollabavapuram about 20 years ago along with her husband when her village got submerged due to the construction of Srisailam project. Now she is living alone in the village after her husband died. Her children left the village in search of livelihood. Since she is too old to work as a labourer, she leaves the village early in the morning for Nandikotkuru where she begs for alms at the bus station. Now, she is going to become the sarpanch of the village. She assures the villagers that she would strive for its development. K Sai Lakshmi and K Srinivasulu of the village say that the whole village is happy that the sarpanch post has been reserved for SCs. Otherwise, "factional fights would have erupted once again," they added. Tungani Rajkumar