Meet Jabna, India’s Youngest Sarpanch Who Banned Public Drinking

At 22, Jabna became India’s youngest sarpanch. She was elected to lead Tharjun village in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi.

When she was 22, Jabna Chauhan became India’s youngest sarpanch. She was elected to lead her village of Tharjun in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district.

(Photo: The Quint)

In the final episode of ‘Me, the Change’ podcast, we spoke to Jabna Chauhan about her life. She came from a poor family in Tharjun, Himachal Pradesh. In a village with barely a handful of women who studied after school, she became one of the few to attend college. Now, at 25, she has been the sarpanch of Tharjun for more than three years.

Listen to her story:

Jabna was felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh, under the Swachh Bharat initiative, for her work towards cleaning up Tharjun.

She was also felicitated by actor Akshay Kumar at the premiere of Toilet - Ek Prem Katha.

“In Himachal’s hilly areas, what happens when a girl gets her period? They keep her separate and isolate her. When we’d gone to the hills, and I had my period, we had to find a similar place for me. It happened with my friends a lot.”

Jabna Chauhan, Sarpanch, Tharjun

Fighting for Women’s Right to Education

Jabna had to battle both social and financial barriers to become one of the first few girls from her village to go to college.

“It was a huge thing, me going to college. People used to give us a lot of grief about it, even when we were young. My father got married 2-3 times and didn’t have kids from his first marriage. So people would talk and gossip a lot. In my village, people usually get married when they’re 18-19.”

Jabna came from a poor family and going to college meant walking 18 kilometres every day.

“The way villagers treat girls is very different. Usually when (girls) they turn 16-17, they want to get girls married off. So that was when I joined college. And in time, when they saw I’d joined a newspaper and was meeting famous people, they wanted to send their own daughters to college as well. So, now if you see, in my panchayat, the maximum number of girls have gone to college.”

The Taboo on Menstruation

“When we’d gone to the hills, and I got my period, I was told to stay in a gaushala till my period got over,” she said.

“When it happened with my friends, I told my friends’ parents that what they were doing was wrong. They would put their daughters in the shed with cows when they began menstruating, and I’d say, ‘How can you do this? They’re human.’”

Tradition Can Be Changed By Fighting It

Jabna’s decision to attend college and contest elections for her gram panchayat didn’t go down well with everyone. Her decisions often triggered controversy, but that didn’t stop her from achieving her goal.

“Many things change only when you make the effort. If you’re an example and do something first, then people will think that they too can be like you. And it’s visible. Especially among the girls in the village. The biggest change I’ve seen in my village is people’s mindset towards women. In fact, all the change and growth is pointless if we can’t change our mindset. It’s our mindsets that need to be changed. If we don’t learn and grow, what’s the use of development?”

Jabna Chauhan

Death Threats for Banning Public Drinking

One of the first regulations Jabna implemented after becoming the sarpanch was ban public drinking. As a result, people threatened her, and even protested outside her home.

“Many people would be drunk all day. I promised to end alcoholism. It was a big challenge. The moment I put the regulation into effect, I started getting threats from people. People would threaten me, speak outside my house, etc. I told them, ‘If you want to kill me, go ahead. But that regulation stays.’ There will always be more girls like me born in India.”

Jabna Chauhan