From an electronic engineer in 2008 to becoming AAP’s face for Ward Dwarka A 36-S elections, this resident has come a long way in the last decade.
Madhuri Varshney, a resident of Ekta Apartments, Sector 3, Dwarka, is a busy person these days. She has been given a seat by Aam Aadmi Party to contest municipal corporation elections from Ward Dwarka A 36-S.
Campaigning for her party from dawn to dusk across her ward, which consists of about 200 societies in various sectors such as 3, 4, 5, 12, 13, 17 and 18, and three JJ Clusters in Sector 3, Varshney has come a long way from being an electronics engineer to AAP’s trump card for the polls.
City Spidey caught up with her during one of her campaigns to retrace her journey.
Varshney campaigning during a morning walk
“After returning from abroad from a career of an electronics engineer in 2008, I decided to serve the society. In 2009, I got elected as vice-president of the RWA of Ekta Apartments,” she recalls.
She quickly became popular in police-public meetings in those days for her efforts in helping the administration in maintaining security in the area. Varshney created a file with photos of residents, with present and permanent addresses, and domestic helps of her society.
“It was thrilling to represent the RWA at such a young age. I wanted to do something new at the time. I made different-coloured ID cards for maids, car cleaners and gardeners, so that they can be easily recognised. I also created a website for the RWA, which was a first of its kind in Dwarka,” she says.
In JJ Clusters in her area, her work with the Delhi government schools and for the under privileged has made her a known face, even among children. She has been teaching voluntarily in the schools. “With a smile on their faces, they introduce me to their parents and friends. That’s such a satisfying feeling!” she tells City Spidey.
Varshney with an elderly couple during a door-to-door campaign
Varshney has, however, worn several more hats. She’s worked as a social activist, promoted solid waste management in societies, raised voice for women safety and is a coordinator of School Management Committee (SMC) in 33 communities in Matiala Assembly constituency.
As president of Dwarka Forum, a residents’ body of several RWAs and social organisations, she helped bring the administration and the residents closer. Her idea to form WhatsApp groups with civic bodies brought the RWAs and the corporation officials together to help make Dwarka clean. A green initiative that involved composting and waste management also got a fresh impetus. She met the South Delhi Municpal Corporation’s (SDMC) commissioner under whose guidance the WhatsApp group was formed.
Varshney says, “I tried to introduce a model so that everyone could interact directly with the authorities. Residents sent photographs of garbage in the group and they were immediately cleared by SDMC. Moreover, composting cages were distributed to manage horticultural waste and other wet waste in the residential pockets.”
With her eyes set on infrastructure and increasing community participation in development work, Varshney says there are many areas, such as women empowerment,​ education​ system,​ primary health and zero tolerance policy, where work needs be done.
“I have only tried to show how a common man or woman can make a difference by working together with the system [administration],” she adds.
Varshney during a campaign
