Womens empowerment through

Panchayati Raj
Suppression of womens political rights is only another manifestation of the patriarchal
mindset which seeks to smother women from birth till death and contends that a
womans identity always derives from a man be it her father or husband.
A Panchayat, in the traditional sense, is a body of 5 elders of the village who help
resolve conflict amongst the villagers. Yet, women & lower castes were not allowed
membership of this body. In pre-independence India, legal provisions made it difficult for
women to participate actively in politics. For instance, the Bombay Village Panchayat
Act, 1920 stipulated that no female could become an elected member.
The Constitution of Independent India only spoke of local self-governing bodies in Part
IV, the Directive Principles of State Policy, and did not make any provisions for specific
reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
In the light of these historical circumstances, one can quite categorically say that the
73rdAmendment Act, 1992, mandating reservation in at least 1/3 rd of the seats of all
Panchayat Councils and 1/3rd of the Pradhan (head of the Panchayat) positions for
women, was a landmark for womens political empowerment. This was followed by the
74th Amendment Act, 1992, which established similar reservations in Nagar Palikas &
Municipalities. In addition, Bihar became the 1 st state to reserve 50% of seats for women
with Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan & Himachal Pradesh following suit.
Today, 54% of elected representatives of PRIs in Bihar are women.
Numerically, today India can actually boast that there are more elected women
representatives (EWRs) in India that the rest of the world put together. According to the
Ministry of Panchayati Rajs mid-term appraisal of the State of the Panchayats 2006-07,
there are about 10 lakh women are in our PRIs constituting about 37 % of all those
elected. Also, there are about 80,000 female Pradhans.
PANCHAYAT LEVEL

NUMBER OF

ELECTED

WOMEN %

District Panchayats

PANCHAYATS

REPRESENTATIVES

537

11,825

41

6,097

1,10,070

43

2,34,676

20,73,715

40

Intermediate
Panchayats
Village Panchayats

Source: M/o Panchayati Raj,(2005))

In a study by the Centre for Womens Development Studies 1999, it was revealed that
95% of women surveyed believed that they would not have been elected had it not been
for the reservation.
A nation-wide study on EWRs in Panchayati raj done by AC Nielson ORG-MARG for the
Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj in 2008 has revealed some interesting trends making a
strong case for reservation. Amongst the 1,039,058 EWRs, 4/5ths were elected from
reserved seats. Reservation was an important motivator facilitating first-time entry into
politics for nearly 83% of EWRs. Also, reservation was critical for the disadvantaged
groups as of the total EWRs 26% were Scheduled Castes & 13% were Scheduled
Tribes.
Ensuing progress towards political empowerment of women is also evident from this
study as a sizeable proportion of women surveyed perceived enhancement in their selfesteem, confidence, decision-making ability and respect within the family after winning
an election.
For Mamta, a 27-year-old Dalit woman pradhan from a village in Fulwari sharif, Bihar,
the provision proved to be a boon. As a woman who came from a Dalit community it was
a struggle against both caste and male domination, yet she managed to win both votes
and hearts amongst her people and today works for their betterment.

Despite these achievements, constraints to womens political empowerment remain

large and widespread.
The cases of politically motivated violence against women have seen an increase. They
are beaten, raped, or even murdered. They are also subjected to torture such as being
made to witness the murder of their children.
Women belonging to disadvantaged sections face double oppression. A tribal female
sarpanch was stripped while unfurling the national flag on 15 th August 1998 in
Rajasthan. In another case, a tribal women pradhan was stripped in a Gram Sabha
meeting in Madhya Pradesh as she was not consulting the leader of the dominant caste
before taking decisions. Also, it is commonplace to find a woman dalit sarpanch sitting
on the floor during a panchayat meeting while the upper caste men sit on chairs.
This gross violation on human rights & absolute humiliation is a product of the mindset
of cultural stereotyping which is unable to accept a woman exercising power in a male
domain, especially those belonging to disadvantaged communities.
Acceptability of women as elected representatives is also an issue. Male members try to
create hurdles in the smooth functioning of the Panchayat taking advantage of the
womans illiteracy or ignorance. Also, officials with whom the EWRs must work can act
as impediments in their work. For instance, Gayatri Devi, a panchayat samiti member
from Panchanpur village, Sirdala block in Nawada district (Bihar), who belongs to the
Musahar community, alleged that the bank officials in her block humiliated her when she
approached them for a loan. A way of ironing out this problem is to encourage EWRs to
use the Right to Information Act in order to hold government officials accountable for
delays in developmental work.
Another infamous subject is that of sarpanch patis, where the husband of the woman
sarpanch manages the affairs of the Panchayat and she is only a proxy candidate.
However, there is reason to be optimistic on this count as the AC Nielson ORG-MARG
study points out that this is a practice which is diminishing and women are depending
lesser on their sarpanch patis for decision making. A good way of reforming this practice
is to make training compulsory for all elected representatives (whether male or female)
of PRIs in order to help them discharge their duties more effectively.

There are two contentious practices which, however, can be resolved easily through
requisite legislation.
Firstly, the AC Nielson ORG-MARG study showed that about 87% of EWRs had
contested only once and only 14% had been re-elected. It was found on further analysis
that one of the foremost reasons for this was because of the practice of rotational
reservation of seats. Granting EWRs at least 10 years of continued opportunity by
extending the rotation term of reserved seats can give them help them negotiate their
political space in a better manner.
Secondly, some states now have laws mandating a two-child norm for members of the
Panchayat. This legislation is discriminatory against women as women are generally
unable to make their own fertility choices. This sort of a law will certainly discourage
women from entering the political fray & must be repealed.
Dissemination of information regarding their rights as well as duties is essential for
EWRs and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) should be encouraged to come
forward in partnership with the government in order to fill this void. In addition, EWRs
across different states should be encouraged to form associations in order to strengthen
womens political empowerment.
In conclusion, we must note that participation and representation is clearly different from
empowerment. An elected woman representative needs the requisite social space in
order to effect the changes that she desires. Reservation for women in Panchayati raj
bodies has acted as a catalyst in the process of womens political empowerment. In
order to further hasten this social change, the Womens Reservation Bill must become a
law without being diluted. Also, the onus is on political parties who must voluntarily
integrate more women in the political process whether as candidates or as voters.
We must remember that empowerment as a process is slow but self-perpetuating.
Providing women with opportunities and support systems (such as reservations & other
affirmative action) has the potential to put into motion a sustainable process for a
change in gendered power relations allowing them to slowly but steadily break the
shackles of existing boundaries.