Hinal, the 25-year-old sarpanch of Siswa village in Borsad town of Anand district in Gujarat, Nisha and 10 of their friends meet every weekend to debate over the nitty gritty of running the village administration. The all-girls panchayat was appointed last month as part of the Samras scheme introduced by chief minister Narendra Modi a decade ago. Under it, as many as 254 villages have entrusted their panchayats entirely to women. The goal, say government representatives, is to avoid inter-village enmity; an inescapable outcome of election politics. The idea has found its fans. All-women panchayats have increased from 20 in the last elections to 254. On December 29, elections were held in 10,405 villages across Gujarat, of which 2,147 opted for Samras. All members were elected unopposed. Siswa stands apart on a more interesting count. All 12 grampanchayat members are college-going girls, aged 19 to 26, excited at the thought of improving the fate of 7,000 fellow villagers.

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