Mayatai Sorte

Mayatai Sorte

Born in a small village in Maharashtra to a lower caste family, Mayatai Sorte was surrounded by poverty and the taboos of untouchability from the beginning. During her childhood her father got married for the second time and as a result both Maya and her mother suffered. Maya, herself got married at a young age and soon had her first child. A childhood event which sticks in her mind was when her beloved grandfather passed away and she wasn’t allowed to attend his funeral. This was due to the fact that her grandfather was from an upper caste family. This gave her the impetus to fight against gender and caste-based discrimination within her society. Mayatai dreamt of a life where everybody was treated equally. Mayatai decided to enter Politics and play an active role in creating change. She resumed her formal education whilst looking after her young son and stood for the Panchayat Raj elections. Slowly, Mayatai gathered strength and became noticed within the community for her progressive stance. She started working on developing essential resources for the village and installed a bore well, better roads and electric supply. These amenities had only previously been available in the residential areas for the upper castes. Through her good work, she gained support from the village and encouraged all of them get involved. Mayatai is credited for bringing upon a positive change in her society and remains a role-model for others.
Mayatai’s courage to fight against ration shop owners who swindled villagers by hoarding grain earned her respect amongst the villagers. Today, she has successfully improved educational standards, infrastructure and basic facilities for her village with proper utilization of government funds.
Quote:“Over the last few years, I have slowly managed to strengthen my knowledge and build my constituency. I have undertaken several small, but important development works in the village. As a woman I am capable of bringing my family forward and same stands for bringing my society forward. When a woman is a judge, she treats everyone equally and that’s why I am proud to be a woman.”