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Chhavi Rajawat, graduated with honors in English Literature from Lady Shriram College, New Delhi. She then followed it up with Business Management in Marketing from Pune. She worked in the corporate sector from 2003 till 2009-a time during which she undertook myriad roles in media, hospitality, and telecom industry. In February of 2010 Chhavi won the elections at the Village Council and was elected head of the Village Council of Soda. Chhavi's initiative in becoming the "Sarpanch" has been to bring in holistic development in her village thereby making it a model village, the development work of which could then be replicated in other villages in rural India. The objective singularly is to empower the people so that they continue to grow and thrive even after Chhavi is long gone. To accomplish her goals she is actively seeking support from the government as well as non-government sector including corporates, NGOs, individuals, etc. Chhavi has been travelling in the hope of garnering support in the form of funds or adoption of projects for many of her projects, fighting adversities along the way and surging forth in a singular goal of empowering the people of her village, thus paving a way for self-sustained and empowered Soda even after her tenure comes to an end. Chhavi's tenure as "Sarpanch" is of five years. In the two years and Nine months thus far as 'Sarpanch' Chhavi has been able to bring some semblance into this largely underdeveloped area by: raising funds to de-silt the village reservoir to conserve rain water and provide safer potable water to the villagers; increase the duration of supply of electricity from four hours intermittent supply to almost 16 hours per day; introducing solar electrification in hamlets deprived of build roads connecting village Soda with the main roads and other villages; introducing banking by opening a branch of the largest national banks in Soda; raising funds to construct toilets and make Soda free from open defecation; introducing alternate sources of income through self-help groups which grind spices, pulses and train in tailoring; opening a computer lab with the support of SAP; introducing certified training program for the unemployed graduates on soft skills and holding various other training and career guidance programs; plantation and cleanliness drives with village volunteers. She received the Young Indian Leader Award by CNN-IBN in 2010 and the Young Global Leaders award by the World Economic Forum in 2012 and the Karamveer Puraskar in 2012. She is a Fellow of the fourth class of Kamalnayan Bajaj FellowshipFellows and the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
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