Participation of Women

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) included a provision for a 33% reservation of seats for female
politicians in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
Our research team focused on the socio-economic and political profiles of elected women representatives in local
governance to identify limitations or obstacles hindering full empowerment.

Conducting situational analyses(including socio-economic profile, political profile and awareness level) amongst
women representatives
Studying the levels of participation of women representatives
Highlighting issues on which women take more interest
Assessing changes taking place at the local level due to women in PRIs
Investigating factors affecting participation of women in PRIs
Determining the initiatives required to enhance the effectiveness and level of participation of women in PRIs

The awareness level of all Panchayat members was very poor regarding the importance of womens reservation
in Panchayat Raj Institutions, as well as regarding laws pertaining to women, financial aspects of the Panchayat
and issues to be addressed by PRI. Most women expressed the need for capacity building in terms of better
education and focused training on Panchayat functioning.

or sustainable economic and social development to take place in any country, it is necessary that

people participate in the political process.

In a country like India, where social orientation is based on class, caste and gender, the
picture of deprivation and inequality is appalling. The women are not considered as a social
group. They are either included with men or totally ignored. In post-independent India, the
Sarada Act provided an impetus to the battle for the rights of Women. The passing of the
Hindu Code Bill, 1955 and the provision of equal rights for women in the Constitution of India
improved the status of the women.

In June 1954, the first post-war all-India organisation of Women, the National Federation of
Indian Women (NFIW) was formed in view of impending socio-political issues. Later, the
73rd constitutional Amendment Act (1992) created space for women in political participation
and decision-making at the grass root level by providing that 1/3rd of the seats would be
reserved for women all over the country. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA),
1992 says- It provides reservations for women in PRIs set up in two ways; for the office of
the members and for that of the chairpersons. As per the clause (2) and (3) of article 243(d),
not less than one third of the seats meant for direct election of members at each tier of the
Panchayats are to be reserved for the women

Gandhi wanted a Women Head of the State

In his scheme of the democratic government, Gandhi wanted a humble or as he put

it, rural president as the ceremonial head of the Indian state, so that even the
humblest and lowliest could feel that Swaraj (self rule) had come to them.
Greater participation of women in politics was viewed as dependent not just on fulfilling the
law, but on assuring principles, democratic and meaningful administration of government.
Women needed to know where and how to direct their concerns so that solutions were found
to the problems women faced.

Status and Quality of Women participation in Panchayati Raj System

According to the Ministry of Panchayati Rajs mid-term appraisal of the State of the
Panchayats 2006-07, No less than 10 lakh women are in our Panchayati Raj institutions,
comprising 37 per cent of all those elected and rising to as high as 54 per cent in Bihar,
which has 50 per cent reservation for women.
Increased political accountability to women comes out only from increasing their numbers
amongst decision-makers, although this is necessary and important. It must also be linked to
improved democratic governance overall, understood as inclusive, responsive and
accountable management of public affairs.

Participation in the Gram Sabha

Participation has been taken as a vital index for the women members to assess their
empowerment in Panchayati Raj Institutions. According to the 73rd Amendment (Part IX), a
Gram Sabha may exercise powers and perform functions at the village level as provided by
laws enacted by its state legislature

Encouraging Community Participation in Gram Sabha

Elected representatives are expected to create an enabling environment for the local
community, and especially women, to participate in Gram Sabha meetings, raise questions,
interact and present their opinions. In a study, conducted by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj,
showed the attendance in Gram Sabha meetings, which is an important indicator of the
quality of women representatives' participation. The study showed a low participation of
women citizens in Gram Sabha meetings, suggesting low levels of mobilisation by elected
women representatives.

Interaction with Government Officials

According to the statistics and data (Ministry of Panchayati Raj) the womenfolk participate in
the gram sabha meetings; however, there persists hesitation when it comes to interaction
with the officials about there problems or developmental works. Sometimes gender disparity
becomes a hindrance towards putting forward their view point.

Participation in Community Mobilisation

Effective participation is not adequately reflected in statistics on meeting attendance, but
may also be tested by evaluating the elected representatives in terms of their articulation,
openness to discussions, adopting issues and generally solving problems of the community.
They are more effective when they succeed in mobilising the community about various
developmental issues and thus, create awareness among the people. A study on the allIndia level on community mobilisation on health-related issues showed that the total of 43
per cent of women representatives and about 47 per cent of men reported taking part in
health-related campaigns.

CONCLUSION
However, women members of Panchayats needed to be educated and informed about
politics: their rights, the nature of Indian democracy, policies and programmes for women
and the underprivileged and voting rights. Women's centres and other organisations can
serve as catalysts to mobilise women and help solve political dilemmas.
There are several challenges still that the women are facing in the local governance system.
Rural women were particularly vulnerable as a group because of strong traditional values
maintained in rural areas, patriarchal families, lack of women's education and access to
information, poor exposure to the "outside" world and lack of power.
A combination of constitutional provisions, government policies, social action and self
awareness among rural women will eventually result in Indian women becoming part of the
mainstream political power sharing and decision-making

Gender equality and gender equity are emerging as major challenges in the global development
debate.
Womens participation in political processes is important for strengthening democracy and for their
struggle against marginalisation, trivialisation and oppression. Emergence of women as a strong
group would change the prevailing political practices, the nature and content of debates in the
legislature and womens issues can be taken care of from the feminist perspective both in policy
formulation and implementation.

Although the new Constitution through various Articles (Art. 14, 15, 23, 29, 30, 42, 45 etc.) did
guarantee equal rights for women, Indian women continue to remain oppressed and struggle over
everything from survival to resources. While women have made considerable progress in some areas
such as education and employment, they continue to be subjected to the influence of the existing
patriarchical attitudes in Indian society. The dilemma for Indian women today is that despite the
liberal provisions of the Constitution and various laws, serious inequalities remain.6 In fact, right
from the days of the freedom struggle the Indian women have been consistently encouraged to take
part in active politics. But due to the vitiated political milieu, resulting from increasing politi-cisation
and criminalisation of politics, the level of political participation of women has been adversely affected
despite the fact that there has been a marked increase in the level of literacy and political awareness
among women.

Encouraging Community Participation in Gram Sabha

Mahatma Gandhi also believed that full and balanced development of the nation and establishment of
a just society is possible only when women participate actively and fully in the political deliberations
of the nation. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee on Panchayati Raj System emphasised that rural
women should not become mere beneficiaries of development but should be made equal partners in
its affairs as contributors

India is perhaps the first country to recognise this social fact underlined by Lenin on the International
Working Womens Day in 1921,8 and to have taken concrete measures to draw women into leadership
positions and thereby into politics by giving them one-third reservation in what may now be called the
third tier of governancethe Panchayati Raj.

Another positive impact of the grassroot level experiment is the increase in the female literacy rate.
Studies reveal that after two years of their election to PRIs, many women demanded literacy skills and
also felt the need to educate their daughters. Issues in which women representatives generally take
interest are drinking water supply, primary health, child care, public distribution system and
environmental protection. One quality observed among women representatives is their patience to
hear the problems of the public. They also work in adverse circumstances. It has been observed that
women representatives are honest and accurate in presenting issues to the decision-making bodies
and authorities. Women would bring new ideas in local governance. They believe in a sustainable
development and their emphasis is on natural resources management. Women representatives
working at the grassroot level also believe that communal harmony is an important element of
development and they strive to achieve this objective. Another promising fact is that they do not
indulge in corrupt practices.

Womens participation in panchayats provided opportunities to women to participate in the decisionmaking process. Womens participation proved to be the most effective instrument in bringing about a
change in their way of life in terms of economic well-being and adoption of new technology.

In general, participation at local level can be viewed from two anglesquality and quantity. As far as
the qualitative aspect is concerned, there are three levels of quality of participation: passive
participation, active participation and decision-making participation.

But women representatives lack this aspect of qualitative participation. A constitutional provision is
only a necessary step which should be followed by effective measures for womens upliftment in the
rural areas. To make womens participation in society and politics a reality, enormous work remains to
be done, given their present socio-economic conditions.

Women representatives have some individual weaknesses:

Illiteracy and low education levels of the majority of the women elected to the PRIs.
Overburdened with family responsibilities.
Introversion due to the lack of communication skills.
Poor socio-economic background with which the women have come into the system and poor
capacity building.
Patriarchical system indirectly controls and directs their participation.16
There are some other limitations regarding womens qualitative participation in PRIs:
Male family members and also leaders from the caste group/community come in the way of the
affairs of the Panchayats.
Indifferent attitude and behaviour of officials working in the system.
Misguidance by the local bureaucracy.
Apprehension of no-confidence motion by the other elected members of the system.
Mounting pressure from the political party which has vested interests in the gender reservation for
positions in the PR system.
Steps taken by the Government

In keeping with its past and present policy objectives, the government has launched a number of
programmes focused on empowerment of rural women. In 1998, a scheme was started that aimed at
empowering women in rural areas. It was called Swashaktithe Rural Women Development and
Empowerment Project. In 2001, the government launched Swayamsiddhathe Integrated Women
Empowerment Scheme that aims at holistic empowerment of women through awareness generation.
In 2002, Swadhar was launched to make rural women economically strong. Under the Ninth Plan
(1997-2002), Empowerment of Women became one of the nine primary objectives of development.

There is a need to empower rural women to enhance their quality of participation. The awakening of
women in India towards a society where justice and brotherhood prevail, can best be achieved by
woman-to-woman contact. The cultural patterns of Indian society are such that social progress among
women can be promoted effectively though the medium of personal relationship among them. It is
women who can inspire confidence and offer stimulus for social change especially among their sisters
in the rural areas. Hence, effective leadership among women must come from the ranks of women
themselves. Their qualitative participation can be achieved through training besides of course the
literacy educational programmes. Mahila Mandals could be activated for this purpose where women
could learn skills and acquire confidence. Links have to be strengthened between the village and the
bureaucracy at the lower level. Special programmes on the role of women in PRIs, on rights of women
and procedures should be prepared and highlighted through the mass media so as to make women
aware and improve the quality of their participation in the socio-political system. The commitment to
political empowerment must be supplemented by a new conceptualisation of womens role in the
economy of India. The government (Ministry of Women and Child Development) should take the
responsibility to make the rural women aware about their rights and responsibilities.

Low Status and Morale: Need of UpgradationMost of the women in rural areas feel inferior to male
members of family/Panchayats. This attitude needs to change to make women as part and parcel of
the family as well as Panchayats. They should retain their confidence level.22 There is another major
problem with the women representatives. Women hailing from SC and ST categories may find it
difficult to mix with representatives of general categories. To cope with this problem, it is necessary to
inculcate confidence among them and to bring attitudinal changes through training in the psyche of
the upper classes. Stern action should be taken against such persons who foment communal feelings.

The programmes of free universal education upto the age of 14 should be vigorously implemented.
The courses of studies should inculcate the values of gender equality, self-respect, courage,
independence etc. which would help to develop the personalities of girls/ women.

Women representatives in PRIs must be trained in the art and science of decision-making so that they
are not influenced by extraneous factors. They must develop leadership qualities. They should discuss
among other women and take their opinion.25 All women members of Panchayats and other

executive bodies must be trained and empowered to exercise their authority. Particular attention must
be paid to the development of inter-personal communication skills among the community leaders.
Efforts are required to elicit participation of women by establishing links between the elected
representatives and the development functionaries.

Lack of Interest and Knowledge: Need of Enthusiasm and TrainingWomen lack interest in PRIs on
account of the lukewarm attitude to PRIs by the Union and State governments. They must generate
enthusiasm within themselves by making a goal and attach themselves to the altar with a spirit of
dedication and reverence

No Forum to Exchange Ideas: Need for All Women ForumElected women representatives of three
tiers should meet once in three months and formulate integrated plans. In this way, they would be
more participative while deliberating on important issues.28 The empowerment process requires
social change by organising and mobilising the womens groups for struggle. Mahila Mandals should
be formed in all the villages and get the full support of the National Commission for Women (NCW)
and other womens welfare-based NGOs.

Women MLAs and MPs should visit frequently the elected representatives of PRIs to solve the
problems faced by the rural women members. They should encourage them to take decisions
independently.

Empowerment has multidimensional focus and its success depends on environmental forces in a
given society. For that, a healthy environment is a must for womens empowerment at the grassroot
level. Drawing lessons from experiences and case studies at the local, national and international levels
is important.

In the end, it can be said that 33 per cent reservation for women in PRIs is a good step but it should be
supplemented with effective measures that ensure the qualitative aspect of womens participation. As
the India Panchayati Raj Report 2001 reveals: Womens expectations and hopes for a greener,
cleaner, responsive and representative politics have gone up. They will send out more clearly and
energetically the message of womens empowerment and social development. For that reservation
needs to be accompanied by considerable amount of affirmative action programme.30 To influence
and lead effectively, women representatives must develop and use legitimate power (authority). To
empower is giving women the capacity to influence the decision-making process by integrating them
into our political system. Hence empowerment of rural women can be made possible not only through
reservations but it also requires removal of the causes of disempowerment whether social, political or
psychological. n