After defeating his nearest politically-backed rival by 800 votes, Warghade went about charting his priorities. “I started by figuring out all the schemes we are entitled to. Then I figured out how to get them by applying for each one myself. After I had got my house in order, I set out to ensure everyone else also gets it.’’

ALL the while that he was frantically working on changing the face of the villages under him, the sabhapati of the Trimbak panchayat samiti was also spending a considerable time analysing the benefits of a standard village. For him, the road connecting Mumbai and Agra is probably the ultimate residential address. And if not a home bang on the highway, maybe one along the spanking new road connecting Trimbakeshwar with Vipasana haven Igatpuri.

Accordingly, roads and better connectivity featured high up on his list of things to do. The bumpy tracks between Rampada-Saralwadi and Dapore-Patilwadi slowly transformed into motorable roads, each linking remote hamlets with a better future.

Over a year after he took charge, the man on a mission has brought drinking water to homes in Kharoli, Taloga, Takeharsh, Dapore, Devgaon, Aswali and his own Pahine village. Community wells, drinking water schemes, low-cost housing have all reached communities that live up on the hills, isolated from ground realities a few km away.

But it hasn’t been easy for the fiery social worker. “The minute you get a post, the entire dynamics of your existence change,’’ he says smiling. “In my office, there would always been a dozen people milling around and each time I would have to buy them tea. I spend a large part of the money I earn on chai and food. It seems like nothing, but is a big expense. And often people are not just satisfied with tea, they expect an entire meal.’’

... contd.