She strives to change a village’s face

Patna: After successfully playing the roles of a fashion designer, teacher and school principal in the past, 39-year-old UshaKumari is now all set to play the role of mukhiya of RaghunathpurKararipanchayat in Begusarai district in a bid to give a vigorous push to development in her ‘sasural’. She was elected to the post a few days back. Usha first thought of changing the system for the good of the people by contesting panchayati raj polls in 2015.Her husband’s grandfather Shivshankar Prasad had been elected to the Lok Sabha from Khagaria in 1971, her raison d’être for foraying into politics.
Getting married after graduating in botany (honours) from Chennai College, she landed in Patna and did her PG diploma in fashion designing from Patna Women’s College. She had earlier been a model for some designers in Chennai. She started her own boutique and also completed BEd course on the advise of her husband Pinak Pani Prashant.
She took a break from work after her daughter’s birth in 2001. But as her daughter grew up, she joined DPS, Patna as a teacher. She taught there for eight years, before moving on to Birla Open Minds. Her last stint in teaching was the role of a headmistress in Takshila School of Begusarai.
In 2014, she quit her teaching job to take up fashion designing once again by opening a boutique. However, the fire to do something for her village kept burning. She surprised everybody, especially her father-in-law, a retired Armyman, when she announced her decision to contest the panchayat election this year.
“People in Raghunathpur panchayat were sceptical when I filed my nomination papers for the mukhiya’s post. But soon, they changed their opinion. I convinced them about my dedication and sincerity to serve them by giving development a big push, and they finally elected me their mukhiya,” said a jubilant Usha.
She is well aware that after taking the plunge in public life, managing her personal life will be tough. “But I am confident of taking care of my family, including my two kids, and, at the same time, dedicate myself for development of the village,” says Usha. “Today, people and politics are her priority; words and actions, her currency,” says her proud husband Pinak.