Smashing stereotypes is the first woman chowkidar of Punjab, Kuldip Kaur!

Kuldip Kaur (55) has been working as the chowkidar at Bangiwal village near Nakodar in Jalandhar district, Punjab since 2008. She is one of only two women among the 13,500 chowkidars appointed by the government to guard 13,000 villages of Punjab. The other is Razia Begum, who guards Bir, 15 km away from Bangiwal, who came into the profession a year or two after her.

Kuldip’s world turned upside down when her husband who was the night guard of the village before her died due to heart attack. Kuldip was offered his job as a relief. Being a mother to eight children she had no choice but to take the job. Today, she doesn’t regret her decision. In fact, she feels this job has given her a new identity.

As a single mother and someone who has never been to school, Kuldip’s dream is to provide her children with the best of the education. For this, she has been performing her duty with dedication and honesty for more than a decade now. Even during the pandemic, she continued her work and helped in sensitising people by shouting ‘ghar vich raho’ meaning stay at home.

When she was asked about the fears of guarding the village all alone at night, Kuldip laughed and told Tribune India, “I wasn’t scared of this job when I first accepted it. But yes, my kids were a little scared and even used to visit me late at night to check if I am okay.” She further added, that over the years the fear of her kids regarding her safety has vanished. “They now call me a superwoman!” she quips.

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