Kanpur, Apr 5 (IANS): An 81-year-old woman will be contesting the upcoming panchayat elections from Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district to ensure better facilities and development of her village.

Rani Devi of Rudrapur Bail village in Chaubepur block of the district, said: "I decided to contest the panchayat to ensure development of my village. At this age, neither I have greed for any post, nor I am here to at the behest of any political party. I have decided on my own to contest the poll for overall development of my village."

She has filed her nomination papers for Block Development Council (BDC) member.

Rani Devi said: "My village does not have even basic facilities like a road network, proper drains and drinking water supply. Garbage continues to pile up, mosquitoes breed in stagnant water and overflowing drains are a common sight due to lack of arrangements for proper sanitation."

She said that most leaders "promise the moon" before the elections, but never come back after winning.

"If elected, I will also try to do a bit for the people of my age group."

Abhijeet, her grandson, who is helping her in the campaign, said: "We made several representations to people's representatives and government authorities, asking them to develop our village and solve problems by providing basic civic amenities but nothing happened."

The elections for gram, kshetra and zila panchayats will be held in the district in the first phase on April 15.

The counting of votes will take place on May 2.