Manju Devi, the otherwise reluctant pradhan (head) of the picturesque Phulera village, is now a woman on a mission to resolve all the grievances that the fictitious village –– of The Viral Fever’s (TVF) successful OTT series Panchayat –– faces. The endearing series that began in 2020 brought to the fore the common tale of husbands of women heads of Gram Panchayats running the show, and so, Manju Devi (played by Neena Gupta) in season one cooks and cleans her house, and is referred to as Rinki ki mummy, while her husband (played by Ragubir Yadav) assumes the seat of the Pradhan, much to the shock of city boy Jeetu, who has just joined as panchayat secretary.
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Now, Manju is assertive, as she thunders, “Hum hain Pradhan, kholiye ise (complaint box), hum sabki shikayatein door karenge (I am the head of the panchayat, open this complaint box. I will resolve everyone’s grievances)” in part one of Asli Pradhan Kaun, a three-part web series –– which is an extension of Panchayat –– produced by the team at TVF, in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), in a bid to “strengthen genuine women leadership in local governance.”
The first episode of Asli Pradhan Kaun? released on March 4, and showed Manju effortlessly moving beyond her previously symbolic role as the head of Phulera’s gram panchayat.
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A MoPR official said, “Within 48 hours of its release, Asli Pradhan Kaun? received more than three million views which demonstrates the wide public interest in rural governance issues. MoPR reaffirms its commitment to championing true leadership and eliminating proxy representation, thereby strengthening the foundation of grassroots democracy in India.”
MoPR secretary Vivek Bharadwaj told HT, “This is our contribution towards promoting genuine women leaders to realise the Prime Minister’s dream of women-led development.”
Actor Faisal Malik, who plays the role of Prahlad chacha (uncle) in the show, said, “As an actor I feel this series is well made and it is an encouraging step (on making issued-based series ).”
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TVF president Vijay Koshy said: “We are especially excited as this marks our first-ever collaboration with the Government of India, and we see it as an opportunity to create impactful content that resonates with audiences nationwide. Through these sketches, we hope to inform and inspire audiences while staying true to our signature style of storytelling.”
The episode was uploaded on the TVF YouTube channel, four days after the ministryreleased a report by an advisory committee headed by former mines secretary Sushil Kumar titled “Transforming Women’s Representation and Roles in Panchayati Raj Systems and Institutions: Eliminating Efforts for Proxy Participation”. The committee said that although there are over 1.45 million women elected representatives (WERs), constituting approximately 46% of the total elected representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), prevalence of patriarchal norms, limited enforcement of legal safeguards, and socio-cultural barriers have hindered women’s effective participation and leadership.