FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE OF WOMEN SARPANCHES:

A STUDY ACROSS THREE STATES OF

CHATTISGARH, MADHYA PRADESH AND MAHARASHTRA

Submitted By

CHANDAN MINHAS (24008)

RANJEET KOLARKAR (24028)

ORGANISATION TRAINEESHIP SEGMENT

PRM 2003-05

Submitted To
Prof. Ila Patel
PRAKRITI, NAGPUR

INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT, ANAND

2004

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
 We are grateful to the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) and our OTS
Co-ordinator, Prof. Jayant Negi, for providing us with the opportunity to conduct this
study. We would also like to express our sincere gratitude to our faculty guide, Prof. Ila
Patel, for guidance and valuable suggestions in preparing the report.

We wish to thank our host organisation, Prakriti, for giving us an opportunity to

work with them and for providing us all the needed support. We would like to mention
our gratitude towards Ms. Shobha Sakharwade, Secretary of Prakriti for providing
necessary advice and support. We would also like to mention the efforts of our reporting
officer, Ms. Suvarna Damle, who was always there to lend a helping hand, was open to
all suggestions, and provided valuable guidance and useful insights which helped us in
the preparation of the report. Our special thanks to both of them for arranging our trip to
Sevagram and Pavnar and providing us with a life time opportunity of meeting Ms.
Medha Patkar. We would also like to thank the all the Panchayat Sakhis of Prakriti who
accompanied us to the villages, and helped us in conducting the survey.

We take this opportunity to convey our sincere thanks to Administrative Officer of

Prakriti, Mr. N.M. Vyas and Canteen in-charge, Ms. Usha Gupta for providing us required
support during our stay in Prakriti.

Last, but not the least, we thank all the employees of Prakriti for giving us their
support and making our stay a memorable and educative one.

Chandan Minhas (24008)

Ranjeet Kolarkar (24028)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Students Name : Chandan Minhas (24008) and Ranjeet Kolarkar (24028)
2. Organization : Prakriti, Nagpur

ii Kolarkar and Minhas

3. Reporting Officer : Ms. Suvarna Damle, Project Co-ordinator, Prakriti, Nagpur
4. Faculty Guide : Prof. Ila Patel
4. Project Title : Factors Affecting Performance of the Women sarpanch: A Study
Across three States of Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra

Objective: (1) To examine the factors that affect the performance of women sarpanches, and (2) To assess
effectiveness of 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act in ensuring greater and meaningful participation of
women in local governance.

Scope: The study covered a total of 123 villages in nine districts of three states of Chhatisgarh (Durg and
Rajnandgaon), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat, Chhindwara and Mandla) and Maharashtra (Akola, Bhandara,
Chandrapur and Nagpur).

Methodology: In-depth interviews, using a questionnaire prepared by Prakriti, of women sarpanches facing
or having faced no-confidence motion, Article 39 or Article 40. In addition to this, we had discussions with
Prakriti staff to get insight into major types of problems faced by women sarpanch.

Sources of data: (1) Primary sources: Women sarpanches facing or having faced no-confidence motion,
Article 39 or Article 40. (2) Secondary sources: Literature pertaining to the subject, reports of similar
studies done earlier and other such literature available in the library of Prakriti.

Major Findings: (a) Eighty percent of the women sarpanch interviewed were new to the political field (b)
More than 50 percent women sarpanch said that their Panchayat work is affected by the domestic chores.
(c) The percentage women sarpanch saying that they derived benefit from training programs is highest in
Maharashtra (72 %) and is lower in Chhatisgarh (35.29 %) and Madhya Pradesh (38 %). (d) Again the
percentage of women having complete knowledge about Panchayat laws is highest in Maharashtra (60 %),
followed by Chhatisgarh (41.17 %) and Madhya Pradesh (25.64%). (e) Percentage of women sarpanch who
would like to resign is lowest in Maharashtra (5%) while it is similar in Madhya Pradesh (20.51%) and
Chhatisgarh (20.58%). (f) Middle aged women, in the age group of 31 – 50 years are more prominently
present in politics. (g) Education level of women sarpanches in Maharashtra and Chhatisgarh is higher as
compared to that in Madhya Pradesh. There appears to be a direct relation between education, literacy and
knowledge about Panchayat laws. (h) Cases of allegation of corruption on women sarpanch are more in
Chhatisgarh then in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. (i) The proportion of women sarpanch who said that
the gram sachiv is not co-operating is higher in Maharashtra. (j) Percentage of women sarpanch willing to
re-contest is highest in Maharashtra.

Conclusion: Major factors that affect the performance of a woman sarpanch are (a) lack of Inclination
towards local politics, (b) support from the members of family (c) Male resistance, (d) non-cooperation by
gram sachiv, (e) lack of information regarding Panchayat, (f) availability of time out of domestic and
agricultural work, (g) shyness of a woman which restricts her from expressing freely in the meeting in front
of other males, and (h) poverty, caste, illiteracy and other cultural inhibitions.

Recommendations: (a) Charges in no-confidence motion should be investigated, (b) women sarpanches
should not be subjected to no-confidence motion during their first term as sarpanch, (a) raising general as
well as political awareness among rural women,(b) gender sensitisation, of those in power, about the issues
of women’s development and rights, (c) training programs for women sarpanch so that her dependence on
gram sachiv or other local bureaucracy is reduced (d) making women financially independent by moves
such as transfer of land ownership, enabling her for self-employment, (e) participation and involvement of
Universities and Research Institutions for preparing a proper plan of village development involving women
(f) provision of financial resources (g) non-governmental organisations have an important role to play in
the empowerment of women through Panchayati Raj Institutions, and (h) there has to be support system for
women sarpanch which will guide them in their time of crisis.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………………...ii

iii Kolarkar and Minhas

Executive Summary …………………………………………………………………….iii
List of Tables ……………………………………………………………………………vi
List of Figures ………………………………………………………………………….vii

ANNEXURES
I: Questionnaire ………………………...………………………………...….53
II: List of Women Sarpanches Surveyed …………………………………....58
III: Panchayat Sakhi Programme ……………………………………………75
IV: The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 ………………….……..77
V: Panchayati Raj Act ………………………………………………………88

iv Kolarkar and Minhas

 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Geographical Area of Study..............................................................................ix

Table 2: Number of Respondents – State-wise................................................................x

Table 3: Problems faced by Women Sarpanches......................................................xxxii

Table 4: Status of Knowledge related to Panchayat.................................................xxxv

Table 5: Political Will of Women Sarpanches.........................................................xxxvii

v Kolarkar and Minhas

 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Structure of Local Self Governance.............................................................xiv

Figure 2: Age wise Distribution of Women sarpanch cross the three states.............xxx

Figure 3: Nature of Constituencies Contested by Women........................................xxxi

Figure 4: Comparison of education level of Women sarpanches across the three

states...............................................................................................................................xxxi

Figure 5: Comparison of Knowledge about Panchayat Laws across three states xxxiv

Figure 6: Political Experience of Women sarpanches...........................................xxxviii

vi Kolarkar and Minhas

1. INTRODUCTION
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) – the grassroots units of self-government –
have been proclaimed as the vehicles of socio-economic transformation in rural India.
Effective and meaningful functioning of these bodies would depend on active
involvement, contribution and participation of its citizens, both male and female. But
women are marginalized in all sectors, including political one. Women in general and
rural women in particular continue to constitute the single largest group of disadvantaged
group of citizens in India, who neither have access to power structure nor any other
effective method to overcome their age-old inequality and subordination.

For true equality to become a reality for women, the sharing of power on equal
terms with men should be the major strategy so that they can play an effective role in
decision making process especially in areas where various policies have direct bearing on
their well being. This realisation has led to constant search for evolving a set of strategies
for participation of women in decision making positions at all levels in rural areas, and
for capacitating and empowering them to play their role effectively in rural politics.

In a path-breaking move, the 73rd Amendment of the Constitution reserved 33

percent seats for women in Panchayats (refer to annexure-IV for the details). But the
issue is whether the women in the rural areas are ready to come forward and take up the
leadership to work for the betterment of the rustic rural women folk. Will it be possible to
generate enough women political leaders in the rural areas for the new task as per the
reservation? Even if they are ready, how many of them are aware of the new Panchayati

vii Kolarkar and Minhas

system? Are they really equipped to comprehend the problems of the villages? Are they
in a position to propose suitable solutions to solve them? What is the level of their
equipment in governing themselves if power is given to them to govern themselves and to
administer development in the villages on their own?

In order to address the above questions, Prakriti started its Panchayat Sakhi
programme in 1999 – 2000. (Refer to annexure-III for the details). The present study was
undertaken to have a better understanding of the factors which affect the performance of
the woman sarpanch so that the Panchayat Sakhis of Prakriti can be trained accordingly
and the programme can be implemented effectively. This study forms the basis of a
similar study which the organisation plans to conduct in future on a larger scale. The
findings of the study shall be used to publish a booklet for the women sarpanch to
provide them with all the information viz. Panchayat Laws, how to approach higher
authorities in case of Article 39 or 40, basic economic understanding of the Panchayat
functions, etc. The booklet shall help in bridging the information gaps which currently
exist amongst the elected women representatives.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The following are the specific objectives of the study:
a) To find factors affecting performance of the woman sarpanch
b) To understand the role assumed by the women sarpanches in the gram Panchayat
c) To identify the current sources of information used by a woman sarpanch
d) To gauge effectiveness of 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act in ensuring greater
and meaningful participation of women in local governance
e) To understand difficult situations faced by the women sarpanch.
f) To record the strategies adopted by the women sarpanch to combat the crisis.
g) To recommend necessary changes/requirements for empowerment of women
sarpanches through Panchayati Raj Institutions

3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY

viii Kolarkar and Minhas

 Our study was limited to the geographical area of operation of Prakriti. We
conducted survey of women sarpanch in nine districts spread across the three states of
Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Geographical Area of Study

Chhatisgarh Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra

Durg Balaghat Akola
Rajnandgaon Chhindwara Bhandara
Mandla Chandrapur
Nagpur

4. METHODOLOGY
4.1 Primary Data
For studying the factors affecting the performance of women sarpanches and
develop a better understanding of the ground realities, survey methodology was chosen
so that we can have direct interactions with the women sarpanches. The survey was
conducted in nine districts of the three states of Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra. All these districts are the ones where Prakriti has implemented its
Panchayat Sakhi programme.

Ms. Suvarna Damle, the Project Co-ordinator of Panchayat Sakhi programme of

Prakriti, prepared the questionnaire used for the survey. The questionnaire attempts to
capture demographic information, knowledge about the Panchayat laws and work, crisis
situations faced and steps taken by the respondent to counter such situations of crisis.
Open-ended questions were used in the questionnaire to gather such information.

ix Kolarkar and Minhas

 The sample, as chosen by our Reporting Officer, consisted of those women
sarpanches who have faced any one of the following.
(1) No-confidence motion
(2) Action under Article 39 or 40
(3) Extra-ordinarily difficult circumstance

The sample size consisted of 123 respondents from the three states with state-wise
break-up as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Number of Respondents – State-wise

State Number of Districts Covered Number of Respondents

Chhatisgarh 2 34
Madhya Pradesh 3 39
Maharashtra 4 50

The questionnaire used for the survey and the details of the sample are shown in
the Annexure I and II respectively.

Target villages, for primary data collection, were identified based on the data
collected from the Panchayat Samiti offices. Only those village Panchayats where a
woman sarpanch had faced either a no-confidence motion or an action under Section
39/40, were selected for the study. Data from primary sources was conducted by
administering the structured questionnaire to the women sarpanches of the selected
villages.

4.2 Secondary Data

Secondary data was collected from various internet, journals, magazines, reports
on similar studies done earlier and literature, on the subject, available with Prakriti’s
library.

5. LIMITATIONS

x Kolarkar and Minhas

 a) Due to paucity of time, we were not able to triangulate the primary data collected
by us. Thus we had to take the responses of the women sarpanches as genuine,
whereas there is a possibility of doctored responses by the women sarpanches.
b) Non-response errors due to lack of interest of respondents was another limitation
faced by us. The women sarpanches facing action under Section 39 or 40 were
hesitant to disclose the issues completely as they feared that this might bring bad
reputation to them.
c) Survey conducted only in those districts where Prakriti is functioning, hence the
findings of the study cannot be generalised to other parts of the states under study.
d) Sample consisted of only those women sarpanches who have faced no-confidence
motion or action has been taken against them under Article 39 or Article 40.
Again due to paucity of time, we could not interview either women who have not
faced any crisis situation or men sarpanches.
e) Cases where husband of the sarpanch would take the centre stage and not let the
woman sarpanch respond. Thus in this sense the responses were biased as we
could not get the views of those women sarpanches.

6. PHILOSOPHY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ: THE SEARCH FOR

SWARAJYA
6.1 Philosophy of Panchayati Raj1
Mahatma Gandhi’s vision was that democracy through people’s participation
could be ensured only by way of ‘gram Swarajya’. He wanted gram Swarajya in villages
where there will be a village republic and the people themselves would do the
management of the affairs of the village. They would elect their president and the gram
Sabha of the village would take common decisions unanimously. According to Gandhiji’s
gram Swarajya, “every village should be a democracy in which they will not depend even
on their neighbour for major needs2. They should be self-sufficient. For other needs,
where co-operation of others would be essential, it would be done through mutual co-
operation. It will be Swarajya of the poor. No one should be without food and clothing.

1
Joshi R.P. and G S Narwani, Panchayat Raj in India: Emerging Trends Across the States. New Delhi.
Rawat Publications. (2002).
2
Gram Swarajya, October 2000.

xi Kolarkar and Minhas

Everyone should get sufficient work to meet one’s necessities. This ideal can be achieved
only when the means of production to meet the primary needs of life are under the control
of the people. True Swarajya cannot be achieved by power to a few people. People should
have the capacity to prevent misuse of power. People should have capacity to get hold of
power and regulate it.”

“How to give power to people” has been an issue of concern and debate in our
country. India, as a welfare state, has to discharge multifarious functions. If the central
and the state governments alone discharge all functions, efficiency cannot be ensured.
Hence, it becomes essential to decentralise powers and responsibilities to local bodies,
which may plan programmes as per the local needs and aspirations, as well as execute
them efficiently with the help of local people. The late Prime Minister of India, Lal
Bahadur Shastri, was also of the opinion that “only the Panchayats know the needs of the
villages and hence development of villages should be done only be the Panchayats.
Prosperous people in the villages should ensure that powers given to Panchayats are used
in the interest of the poor. The Panchayats are the foundation of democracy and if the
foundation is based on correct leadership and social justice, there can be no danger to
democracy in this country. Efforts should be made that the institutions established for
community development and Panchayati Raj, after independence, are used for
establishment of real democracy and improving economic and social conditions of the
people.”

After independence, many functions were included in the state list, consequent to
the objective of a welfare state as enunciated in Article 38 of the Constitution of India.
Besides law and order and public administration, many welfare functions like education,
health and family welfare, transport, social security, agriculture extension, animal
husbandry, irrigation and power, urban development, rural development, poverty
alleviation and employment generation, population control, pollution control and
environment regulation, etc., became the concerns of the states. Consequently, many new
departments were created, resulting in huge expansion of the service cadre and
bureaucracy. Therefore, it became essential to decentralise the powers, especially relating

xii Kolarkar and Minhas

to the social services sectors and welfare functions. Moreover, it was also necessary to
consult people for whom such schemes were being implemented.

6.2 Swarajya through Panchayati Raj

It was also laid down in Article 40 of the Constitution that “the state shall endow
such powers and responsibilities to the Panchayats so as to make them institutions of self-
government”. In pursuance the Directive Principles also, it was conceived to de-centralise
powers and functions to the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).

When five-year plans were launched, community development in rural areas was
being done through bureaucrats who were not conversant with the local needs of the
people. People’s participation was missing. The Balwant Rai Mehta Study Team
recommended the association of people’s elected representatives for effective rural
development, which led to the establishment of Panchayati Raj in 1959. The then minister
for Community Development, S K Dey, announced that “Panchayati Raj as we now
visualise will, therefore, mean progressive increase in competence from the ground
upwards and corresponding transfer of responsibilities from the Centre to the ground. If
one wishes to climb higher, one must reduce the burden of avoidable weight on his
shoulder. In order to function at the level, our Centre must be relieved of responsibilities
such as can be discharged by the Panchayati Raj Institutions along the line – the Zilla
Parishad, Block Panchayat Samiti, Panchayat, associate voluntary institutions and the
individual families. Panchayat Raj will, thus grow to a way of life and a new approach to
government as against a unit of government. It will bring about a complete link up of our
people from the gram Sabha to the Lok Sabha.”

In a democracy, the decision-makers should use their powers, as far as possible,

with the consent and understanding of all concerned. By way of Panchayati Raj, people
participate more and more in politics and administration. The key to the success of
democracy lies where more and more strength is given to people’s elected bodies at the
district, block and village levels. At the village level, even the poor people, including the
SCs, STs, women and other marginalized sections of a community get a chance to

xiii Kolarkar and Minhas

participate in the administration of the village. Thus, Panchayati Raj is a system, which
ensures people’s participation at the lowest levels. It is democracy at the base level. The
structure of local self government which exists in India is described in the Figure 1
below.

Figure 1: Structure of Local Self Governance

7. PANCHAYATI RAJ: A HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Panchayati Raj System in the country is not uniform and varies from state to
state. In many states, the gram Sabha, which is a collective body of the people,
constitutes a foundation in this structure. Besides, there is normally either a three-tier
Panchayat structure at the village, Block and district levels or a two-tier structure; some
states have only a single-tier Panchayat at the village level.

xiv Kolarkar and Minhas

 Presently, 16 states and Union Territories (UTs) have the three-tier structure while
five states and UTs have the two-tier system and eight states UTs have a single-tier
structure. The North-eastern states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland have the
traditional council of village elders.

However, many discrepancies have crept into these grassroots institutions making
them into mock units. Even where these institutions functions, they were dominated by
economically and socially privileged sections of rural societies and were utilised to serve
the class and sectoral benefits of the vested interests. Various committees have been set
up by the government from time to time to suggest a modified scheme of Panchayati Raj
Institutions.

7.1 Various Committees on PRIs3

(a) Balwant Rai Mehta Committee
Balwant Rai Mehta Study Team was appointed in 1957 to study the Community
Development and National Extension Services Programme especially from the point of
view of assessing the extent of popular participation and to recommend the creation of
institutions through which such participation can be achieved.

While recommending the Constitution of statutory elective bodies with the

necessary resources, power and authority devolved on them and a decentralised
administrative system working under their control, the study team also recommended that
the basic unit of democratic decentralisation should be located at the block and Samiti
level. The study team envisaged directly elected Panchayats for a village or a group of
villages, an executive body called Panchayat Samiti for a block with directly elected and
co-opted members and an advisory body called Zilla Parishad at the district level
constituted indirectly mainly through ex-officio members from the lower tier and others
with the collector as Chairman. Based on the broad suggestions of the study team, most

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xv Kolarkar and Minhas

of the country was covered with Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) in the succeeding
decade.

(b) Ashok Mehta Committee

As PRIs came to be dominated by the privileged sections of the society, it limited
the utility of Panchayati Raj for the common villager. In view of this, a 13-member
committee headed by Shri Ashok Mehta was set up in 1977 to suggest measures to
strengthen PRIs.

The committee recommended a two-tier set up i.e. at district level and mandal
level, covering the population of 15,000 to 20,000 and suggested the abolition of block as
the unit of administration. The Committee also suggested holding of regular elections,
compulsory items of taxation in their jurisdiction and transfer of land revenue collection
to them. It also felt that a Constitutional provision was necessary to strengthen PRIs. The
main recommendations of the Committee were considered at the Conference of Chief
Ministers in 1979, which favoured the continuance of the existing three-tier system. They
favoured a model Bill that the states would adopt and enact with such modifications as
considered to suit the local needs.

(c) Dr. G V K Rao Committee

Recognising the fact that an integrated concept for growth and poverty alleviation
which continue to be one of the principal areas of emphasis in the Seventh Plan, the
Government appointed a 12 – member Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. G V K
Rao in 1985, to review the administrative arrangements for rural development and
poverty alleviation programmes.

The committee recommended that the district should be the basic unit for policy
planning and programme implementation. The committee also called for regular elections
to the PRIs.

(d) Dr. L M Singhvi Committee

xvi Kolarkar and Minhas

 To review the functioning of PRIs and to suggest measures for their revitalisation,
a Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. L M Singhvi was formed in 1987. It
recommended the re-organisation of villages to make village Panchayats more viable and
suggested more financial resources for these institutions.

(e) Sarkaria Commission

The Sarkaria Commission on Centre – State relations also noted that many of the
local self-governing bodies were not effectively functioning mainly because the elections
to these bodies were not held regularly and that supersessions of these bodies were taking
place on flimsy grounds. The commission felt that there was a need for uniformity of law
in the States regarding holding of periodical elections and supersession of Panchayati Raj
bodies.

7.2 Bills and Amendments Regarding Panchayati Raj4

(a) The Constitution (Sixty-Fourth Amendments) Bill, 1989
The Bill provided for constitution of Panchayats in every state at the village,
intermediate and district levels with the exception of states, which have a population not
exceeding 20 lakhs, where states may not constitute the intermediate level. It also
proposed that the Legislature of a state may, by law, endow the Panchayats with such
powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of
self government. The Bill also provided for appointment a Finance Commission to
review the financial position and vested interests in the Election Commission, the
superintendence, direction and control of elections to the Panchayats. The Lok Sabha
passed the Bill. Unfortunately, this Bill could not be enacted, as the Rajya Sabha did not
approve it.

(b) The Constitution (Seventy-Fourth Amendments) Bill, 1990

The Bill provided for a gram Sabha in each village. It also proposed constitution
of Panchayats at village and other levels; direct elections to all seats in Panchayats at the

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xvii Kolarkar and Minhas

village level, and to not less than 50 percent of seats in Panchayats at other levels. It also
recommended conferring powers and authority (including the power to levy, collect and
appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees) on local authorities, constitution of a Finance
Commission to review the financial position, fixing tenure of five years for local
authorities and holding elections within a period of six months in the event of dissolution
of any such authority.
The Bill was introduced in September 1990. It could not be taken up for
consideration. With the dissolution of Lok Sabha, the Bill also lapsed.

(c) The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendments) Act, 1992

Immediately after assumption of office by the present Government, Honourable
Prime Minister and Minister for Rural Development, Shri P.V. Narasimha Rao, decided to
draw up a fresh Constitutional Amendment Bill for PRIs. The Constitution (Seventy-
Second Amendment) Bill, 1991 that was accordingly introduced on the 16th September
1991 was referred to a Joint Committee of Parliament consisting of thirty members of
Parliament drawn from both the Houses in December 1991. The Joint Committee after
detailed deliberations presented its report to Parliament in July 1992. Taking into
consideration the consensus evolved during the meetings of the Joint Committee and also
the points raised by the various leaders of different political parties during the debate held
in December, 1992, necessary amendments were brought in by the government and the
Constitution (Seventy-Second Amendment) Bill was passed with near unanimity by the
Lok Sabha on 22nd December, 1992 and by the Rajya Sabha on 23rd December, 1992.
With its ratification by 17 State Assemblies, it has emerged as the Constitution (Seventy-
Third Amendment) Act, 1993 and came into force from April24, 1993.

The Act is extremely important for political empowerment of women, SCs and
STs. Not less than one-third of the total membership of the Panchayat body has been
reserved for women (including that of SCs and STs) and these seats may be allotted by
rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat. The idea behind this move is to enable
more women to enter the political stream and create a “Critical Mass”
The salient provisions of the Act are as follows:

xviii Kolarkar and Minhas

• There shall be a gram Sabha in each village exercising such powers and perform
such functions at the village level as the legislature of a State may provide by law.

• Panchayats shall be constituted in every State at the village, intermediate and

district levels, thus bringing about uniformity in the Panchayati Raj structure.
However, the States having a population not exceeding 20 lakhs have been given
the option of not having a single Panchayat at intermediate level.

• While the elections in respect of all the members in Panchayats at all levels will
be direct, the elections in respect of the post of Chairpersons at the intermediate
and district levels will be indirect. The mode of elections of Chairperson to the
village level has been left to the State Governments to decide.

• Reservation of seats for SCs/STs has been provided in proportion to heir

population at each level. Not less than one-third of the total membership has been
reserved for women and these seats may be allotted by rotation to different
constituencies in a Panchayat. Similar reservations have been made in respect of
the office of Chairpersons also.

• The Act provides for a uniform five tear terms for PRIs. In the event of
supersession, election to constitute the body should be completed before the
expiry of six months from the date of dissolution.

• The State legislature has been given the power to authorise the Panchayats to levy,
collect and appropriate suitable local taxes and also provide for making grants-in-
aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of the State. In addition, a
Finance Commission has to be constituted once in every five years to review the
financial position of the Panchayats and to make suitable recommendation to the
State on the distribution of funds between the State and the Local Bodies. The
Central Finance Commission shall also suggest measures necessary to augment

xix Kolarkar and Minhas

 the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources for the Panchayats
in the State. Thus, a large amount of assured funds will flow to the Panchayati Raj
bodies, which in turn will strengthen peoples’ involvement in the planning
process.

• Besides providing for finance, the Act also indicates a set of items in the Eleventh
Schedule of the Constitution, which may be entrusted to the Panchayats in
addition to any other schemes for economic development and social justice by the
state governments.
• To ensure continuity, it has been provided in the Act that all the Panchayats
existing immediately before the commencement of the Amendment Act will
continue, till the expiry of their duration unless dissolved by a resolution to that
effect passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State. The State legislatures have
also been given time up to a maximum of one year from the commencement of
this Amendment Act to bring in necessary amendments to their Panchayat Acts so
as to confirm to the provisions contained in the Constitution.

• Rural development programmes in general, and the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana (JRY)
in particular will get a boost as a result of this Act. The basic principle of JRY is
that the gram Panchayats, which gets an assured allotment under the program, will
decide on the schemes to be taken up in their village. With an elected body at the
Panchayat level responsible to the electorate, the will of the people will find
greater reflection in the implementation of JRY program. The enhancement of the
outlay for rural development to Rs. 30,000 crores in the Eighth Plan assumes
much wider significance in the context of this Act. While the Panchayats will now
have a regular existence like any other democratic institution enshrined in the
Constitution, they will have adequate powers and finances to implement the
economic development programs meant for the people.

8. Rural Women and Panchayati Raj Institutions5

5
Mukherjee, Neela “Rural Women and Panchayati Raj Institutions.” Kurukshetra 43(3). 1994

xx Kolarkar and Minhas

8.1 A Historical Account
The one important theme on which the recent debates on Panchayati Raj seem to
be revolving around is the participation of the women in the PRIs. Such participation, in
turn, has been dealt with at two levels, namely i) the representation of women in the PRIs
either as members or as functionaries, and ii) the substance and effectiveness of such
representation.

In the beginning when the Panchayati Raj was introduced in India in 1959, very
few women contested or got elected. The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) had
recommended that decides the 20 members of Panchayat Samiti, there should be two
women “who are interested in work among women and children” as co-opted members. A
similar provision was suggested with regard to village Panchayat.

Following this a few states did make provisions for women’s representation, the
Maharashtra Zilla Parishad and Panchayati Samiti Act of 1961, provided for the
nomination of one or two women to each of the three bodies, in case no woman was
elected. As it happened, out of total 320 women representatives of the Panchayati Samitis
and Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra in 1978, only 6 were elected members. In many parts
of India women were recruited to Panchayati Raj by co-option rather than election.

The co-option as a principle, however, was highly questionable both in theory and
practice. Not merely is it undemocratic but also smacks of protectionism as if women are
weaker and incapable of fighting the elections. In practice, the co-option or nomination
had meant sheer patronage of the dominant political or social group and the women who
got nominated had practically no information on Panchayats or any experience in
working for women and children; they were not expected to either. The women’s
representation became one of tokenism and proxy and ended as a near total failure.

There were other states that did not straight away adopt co-option but resorted to
it, when women did not come through ordinary elections. The danger in this was that it

xxi Kolarkar and Minhas

often descended, in practice, to co-option, as women were not normally encouraged to
come forward to contest elections.

Some states had, hence, given up nomination or co-option and resorted to

reservation as the only way of making sure that women were represented in the
Panchayati Raj. In Andhra Pradesh since 1986, reservation of 2 to 4 seats (or 22 percent
to 25 percent) was provided for in the gram Panchayat, with 2 women to be co-opted in
Panchayat Samitis, in addition to elected women members. In Karnataka, by the Act of
1985, in the Mandal Praja Parishads, 25 percent of the total number was reserved for
women; out of these, one seat was reserved for women from scheduled castes/tribes.

It is now commonly agreed that even this reservation principle was not adequate
partly because the number is still small. It is not enough to make them feel empowered to
be active and articulate members in the village context. Secondly, even though it is based
on an elective process, it seems that the capable and active women do not get chance to
participate in political process through these reservations. It is the women relatives of the
sarpanches or other influential members in the villages who are chosen for this. Capable
women are discouraged from contesting elections. This is partly due to the possibility of
women being co-opted and thereby leaving the general seats as male preserve.

The demand for reservations for women in adequate proportion in various

representative bodies at different political levels – local, state and central as a way of
ensuring women to enter these bodies, has thus been persistent. This is particularly put
forward by women who have made it to politics and even the central legislature; it
thereby shows the various odds against which they had to struggle, before reaching where
they are. The women’s movements in general, as also many social scientists are not too
agreed on the merits of the reservation proposal, particularly for the state and central
bodies. However, by and large, there is a consensus on the need for such a reservation or
quota at the local government level. The traditions and conservatism of rural areas,
patriarchal nature of the family, the lack of education and access to information and
media, the poor exposure to outside world etc. make the women of rural areas, even more

xxii Kolarkar and Minhas

powerless and unequipped, than the urban women. Reservation and quota may be the
only way to ensure the presence of women in Panchayati Raj bodies. This is why, starting
as early as 1976 with the publication of report of the Committee on Status of Women in
India (CSWI) there has been a demand or the representation of women in the Panchayati
Raj by reservation rather than nomination.
Another type of representation of women in local government seems to be what
the Committee on Status of Women in India recommended. It suggested the
establishment of statutory all-women Panchayats at the village level, with autonomy and
resources of their own for the management and administration of welfare, and
development programmes for women and children, as a transitional measure. This
recommendation has never been adopted statutorily anywhere, though such all women
Panchayats have emerged in some places for a short while.

This idea of an all women Panchayat is no longer projected as a statutory

provision. While its emergence so far has only been coincidental and not always too
complimentary, it may also lead to a marginalisation of women and not be integrative.
The recommendation, however, clearly pointed out the deficiencies in the working of
present Panchayats, their patriarchal domination and the negligence of issues concerning
women.

It has also been felt that mere representation of women in the committees at the
lower level is not enough. If the representation has to be meaningful enough to bring
about the development of women and children, a more effective way would be to
guarantee women’s emergence as the sarpanch of the village. Occupation of such
positions is necessary if women have to be represented at the higher-level bodies like
Zilla Parishad, where the composition is on the basis of offices held at lower levels. Data
is lacking for many states in India. However, it is commonly known that there were very
few instances of women occupying the position of sarpanch of the village.

As an outcome of the shift of emphasis of women’s programmes from welfare to

development, the Government of India (GoI) prepared a policy document, viz., the

xxiii Kolarkar and Minhas

National Perspective Plan (NPP) for women 1988-2000 A.D., on the basis of which,
implementation strategies and precise measures to make the system more responsive to
women’s needs would have to be operationalized. The NPP was guided by those
constitutional principles and directives that are relevant to the economic development and
integration of women into the mainstream of the economy; with equity and justice for all
women as individuals; who have a right to human dignity in a society where culture, class
and caste tend to discriminate against gender. As an outcome of aggressive perusal of the
NPP’s recommendations the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act 1992 has reserved 33
percent seats for women in Panchayats and one-third offices of chairpersons of
Panchayats at all levels shall be reserved for women.

8.2 Representation of Women in Panchayat before 73rd Amendment

Andhra Pradesh Mandal Praja Parishad, Zilla Praja Parishad and Zilla Abhivrudhi
Sameeksha Mandal Act, 1986 had a provision of reservation of a minimum of two and a
maximum of four seats for women in gram Panchayat and some percentage in Mandal
Praja Parishad and Zilla Praja Parishad. Some percentages of the posts of chairperson of
Zilla Parishad were also reserved for women. Himachal Pradesh Panchayat Act also had a
provision of 25 percent reservation for women. The Karnataka Zilla Parishad Taluka
Panchayat Samiti, Mandal Panchayat and Naya Panchayat Act 1983 had a provision of
reservation of 25 percent of seats for women at Zilla Parishad and Mandal Panchayat
levels. One seat each in Mandal Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat was also reserved for
SC/ST women. Kerala Panchayat Act had provided 30 percent reservation to women in
Panchayats. Madhya Pradesh Panchayati Raj Adhiniyam 1990 had provided 20 percent
reservation for women at the village level, 10 percent each in Janpad Panchayat and Zilla
Parishad. Among them at least one seat was reserved for SC/ST women. The Maharashtra
Panchayat Act had made a provision of 30 percent reservation for women. Orissa
Panchayat Samiti Act 1991 reserved not less than one-third seats for women including
SC/ST women. Besides, either chairperson or vice chairperson will be woman. West
Bengal Panchayat Act also had a provision of not less than one-third seats for women at
different tiers of the Panchayat. The Panchayat Acts of the rest of the states had provided
berth for women either through co-option or nomination.

xxiv Kolarkar and Minhas

 The above brief discussion about women in Panchayat gives an idea of women’s
representation in different tiers of the PRIs across country. Maharashtra, Kerala,
Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Orissa and the states
which had given comparatively more berths to women in different tiers of Panchayat than
the other States. Orissa is the only State, which introduced not less than one-third
reservation for women in Panchayat when the idea for giving this much of reservation for
women at national level was merely being debated.

8.3 Need for Reservations for Women in India

Not only are reservations unusual in the world context, it is also surprising that
they appeared in India at all. Judging from accounts of the passage of the legislation, it
appears that the political elite installed quotas in the absence of an organized movement
devoted to this goal. Reservations in India did not emerge out of a typical historical
pattern (of industrialization, urbanization, the entrance of women into the formal wage-
earning sector, and their subsequent demands for political representation), nor did the
Indian women’s movement push the formal political sector for the quotas. Indeed, the
women’s movement in the early 1990’s was primarily mobilizing around issues of dowry,
rape/sexual harassment, and prohibition. Using direct action techniques and other
informal strategies, women tended to push civil and political institutions to uphold their
own laws. They were not challenging the gender ratios of those institutions, and they
were certainly not demanding formalized entry into those institutions. Finally, the fact
that the reservations would apply to Panchayati Raj Institutions makes their appearance
even more striking. In the vast majority of rural areas, women rarely exercise power in
the formal political sphere, but rather express their authority and power in the more
informal spaces of the home, the commons, and community associations.

In fact, women appear to prefer informal political spaces over formal institutions.
As Amrita Basu (1992) highlights in Two Faces of Protest, adivasi women in
Maharashtra were able to better exercise their political power in direct action

xxv Kolarkar and Minhas

organizations6. Free from having to tailor their language or action to mainstream politics,
the women were able to mobilize quickly and use spontaneous tactics (even songs!) to
carry out their political agendas. She contrasts the freedom of informal politics with the
constraints of formal politics, by giving the example of women belonging to the
Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal. There, women felt stifled by the
political organization and structures, which tended to reinforce or reshape dominant
social patterns, thereby relegating women to lesser work and fewer leadership
opportunities. They did not offer women the space for spontaneous action, for unusual
tactics, or for placing their agenda on the table. Basu’s work helps explain why perhaps
the thrust for women’s reservations did not come from women themselves.

So, where did the impetus for reservations for women come from? Some have
argued that the political parties, who approved the 73rd amendment in record time, were
motivated by noble intentions; they wanted to “strengthen the position of the poor and
weaker sections in rural India”7. However, the truth is that the majority of (if not all)
political parties supported quotas for women, because they did not expect women’s
participation to be empowering. Instead, perhaps they assumed that women would take
on a passive, subdued role in the formal political sector. This weak presence would
enable parties to easily dominate the representative and forward their own agendas `
through them.

There is certainly historical and contemporary evidence to support this

speculation. In two very different contexts (the nationalist movement of pre-Independent
India and Japan of the late 1970’s), Partha Chatterjee and Susan Pharr describe how
women’s roles in formal political spheres took on a subordinate, ‘traditional’ character.
As Chatterjee describes, during the nationalist struggle, “woman” was essentially equated
with “nation” and represented the values of “self-sacrifice, benevolence, and devotion”8.
Central to this idea were the contrasts between the material and spiritual, Western and

6
Amrita Basu, “Two Faces of Protest: Contrasting Modes of Women’s Activism in India,” Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1992.
7
Hoshiar Singh, “Constitutional Basis for Panchayati Raj in India,” in Asian Survey 34, September 1994.
8
Partha Chatterjee, “The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post-Colonial Histories”, Princeton:
University Press, 1993.

xxvi Kolarkar and Minhas

Indian, modern and traditional, and men and women. Because women were
representative of the true India – of its spiritual, traditional world – they were invited to
participate in the Independence movement, but only as long as their involvement did not
threaten the prevailing notions of femininity. Women could not break from their ascribed
feminine roles, nor empower themselves through the movement, for to do so would be to
contest the value of the Indian nation as a whole. Similarly, in Japan, Pharr depicts
another example of “presence without empowerment” in her study of Japanese women
politicians. She labels them “neo-traditional activists,” as their entry into politics, their
understanding of their political role, and their political causes/ideologies all depend upon
a male figure (typically a father, brother, or husband) 9. While neither Pharr nor Chatterjee
are speaking about women in the context of PRIs, their insights into “presence without
empowerment” help explain what may have motivated those who supported the
emergence of reservations in India.

8.4 Status of Women in Panchayats – Post 73rd Amendment Act10

The 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution for the first time in the history of
Indian polity, provided for a minimum number of seats and political offices in the
Panchayats for women. The available data in respect of the first post 73 rd Amendment
Panchayat election in the states shows that, of the total number of 29.2 lakhs elected
representatives of Panchayats at various levels, about ten lakhs are women. A large
majority of them were elected for any political representation for the first time. Again, 9.2
lakhs of these women representatives were elected to the village Panchayats itself.
Similarly, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe members accounted for 3.65 lakhs and
2.50 lakhs respectively.

There are some disabilities like illiteracy, family responsibilities, poverty, lack of
experience and exposure, awareness and communication skills which are more
pronounced in case of women as compared to men, as inhibiting factors for effective
participation of women in the decision-making process at the local level. In a male-
9
Susan Pharr, “Political Women in Japan: The Search for a Place in Political Life”, Berkeley: University
of California Press, 1981.
10
Report of The Working Group on “Decentralised Planning and Panchayati Raj Institutions for the Tenth
Five Year Plan” (2002-2007)

xxvii Kolarkar and Minhas

dominated society, the idea of political empowerment of women was bound to face
opposition. Even the women in the rural areas were not initially very confident of their
abilities to assume leadership in the Panchayats.
The leadership that emerged after Panchayat elections had to cope with several
problems due to their traditional, social conditioning. Entrenched rural power structure
was reluctant to share power with newly emerging groups. Nomination of women
relatives for seats reserved for women in the Panchayats was a common occurrence.
Many of these women, who never ventured leaving their homes, contested the polls with
their campaigns run by husbands or other family members. Caste equations, money and
muscle power were also used to ensure victory in several cases.

There were several instances where the elected women Chairpersons, particularly
at the village Panchayat, had to depend exclusively on their family members in
performing their official duties. Many of these women members and sarpanches did not
know the nuances of Panchayat administration and had to depend on their men for
transacting official business. In fact, a number of instances have been reported where the
husbands or brothers of the women sarpanches had, on behalf of and with their tacit
approval, presided over the Panchayat meetings and took part in the deliberations. Even
the officials working at the village level are also not favourably reconciled to working
under the control of women sarpanches.

The situation is, however, not very disappointing in the case of higher level
Panchayats. With a few exceptions, women and members of the marginalized groups who
are relatively literate and have either political ambitions or family history of political
participation, volunteer to contest the elections and participate in the political decision
making process of these Panchayats. Nevertheless, these women had also to depend on
their own family members, relatives and friends for electioneering.

One of the significant achievements of the provisions of the 73rd Amendment Act
concerning reservation of seats and political offices in favour of women and the
disadvantage sections of the rural community is that it had improved their awareness and

xxviii Kolarkar and Minhas

perception levels and has created an urge in them to assert their rightful share in the
decision-making process at the local level. Social change in rural India is already
perceptible. There is a greater urge among the weaker sections to improve their
educational, social and economic status. They have begun to realise that political
empowerment in the ultimate analysis holds the key for their social and economic
betterment. The ultimate hope for these groups lies in their ability to build coalitions that
support processes that lessen the disabilities, which plagued them.

9. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

We have analysed the primary data collected and compared the data across the
three states based on various factors, findings of which are given below. The comparison
have been made to understand if any possible differences exist in the demographic
profile, literacy levels, severity of the problems faced by the women sarpanches of the
three states. An attempt has also been made to find any variances that might exist
between the respondents of the three states, in terms of knowledge about Panchayat
Laws; non-cooperation by government officials and training received by the respondents
regarding Panchayat. We find that statistics of Maharashtra depict a better position of
women sarpanches there as compared to the states of Chhatisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. A
look at the figures below would help in better understanding of the situation prevalent
across the three states.

(a) Age wise distribution

Among our sample of women sarpanches, we can notice from Figure 2 that
majority of them are in the age group of 31-40 and 41-50. This shows that younger
women seem to be more preferred for politics since most of these women were propped
up by the villagers for contesting the elections.

We can see from Figure 2 that in all the three states, the percentage of women
sarpanch in the age group of 61 years and above, and 20-25 years is negligible. Whereas
the percentage of women in the age group of 31-40 and 41-50 years is considerably high.

xxix Kolarkar and Minhas

This is probably due to the fact that women in age group of 20 – 25 years are having
more family restrictions. Women in age group 40 – 50 years mostly have someone (either
a daughter or a daughter-in-law) to share their domestic work load and hence are able to
devote more time to Panchayat work.

Figure 2: Age wise Distribution of Women sarpanch cross the three states

100% 2.94 2.56 0

6
5.88 10.26
80% 23.52 28 61 and above
20.51
51-60
60%
41-50
41.03 40
40% 61.76 31-40
26-30
20% 17.95
26 20-25
5.88 7.69
0% 0 0
CG MP MH
CG – Chhatisgarh MP – Madhya Pradesh MH – Maharashtra

Moreover middle-aged women are supposed to have gained more credibility and
are found to be well accepted by the village community, as compared to the young
women.

(b) Nature of Constituencies

Not even one of the women sarpanches interviewed by us had contested from a
general seat not reserved for woman. Thus we can say that the women’s participation in
the political process does not reflect empowerment of women, rather women are made to
contest only to mechanically fulfil the requirement set up by the Constitution. And the
dominant male in the village politics choose only such women who they feel can act as a
dummy sarpanch.

During our survey of women sarpanches, we also noticed that among the women
sarpanches, 98 of them who had been elected for the first time have gained considerable
knowledge and experience in the political field after working for two years as sarpanch or

xxx Kolarkar and Minhas

member. Thus we can say that reservation is helping those women, who earlier had a
desire to enter into politics but were not able to do so because of various reasons.

Figure 3: Nature of Constituencies Contested by Women

GENERAL
100% 7.7
14.3
15.4 30
80%
OBC
17.6
60%
32
17.6 64.1 ST
40%
10
20% 23.5 28
12.8 SC
0%
CG MP MH

CG – Chhatisgarh MP – Madhya Pradesh MH – Maharashtra

(c) Education

Educational qualification might not seem to be an important factor for entering

into politics, but it is certainly important factor when it comes to finding the performance
of a woman sarpanch. Although, there are few exceptions where an illiterate woman
sarpanch has performed her duties well.

Figure 4: Comparison of education level of Women sarpanches across the three states

100%
25.64
80% 38.23 44
10th and Above
60% 23.07
6th to 9th
40% 38.23 32 Upto 5th
41.02
Illiterate
20%
17.64 16
5.88 10.25 8
0%
CG MP MH

CG – Chhatisgarh MP – Madhya Pradesh MH – Maharashtra

The percentages of literacy level depicted in the graph above are based on the
findings of our survey. It shows that the percentage of illiterate sarpanches is very less.

xxxi Kolarkar and Minhas

Figure 4 clearly depicts the poor state of women education in Madhya Pradesh. The
percentage of women sarpanches who are matriculate, or have received education more
than that, is fairly low at 25.64 percent as compared to the states of Maharashtra and
Chhatisgarh.

(d) Problems Faced by Women Sarpanches

1. Allegations of Corruption
For a woman sarpanch, it is obvious that she has to face numerous problems since
she heads a village institution which used to be headed by men. The problems faced by a
woman sarpanch include allegations of corruption, non-cooperation by the government
officials, including the triple burden of work.

Table 3 lists the various problems as faced by the women sarpanches during their
tenure as sarpanch. These problems are as reported by the women sarpanches themselves.

Table 3: Problems faced by Women Sarpanches

Srl. Description of the problem Percentage (%)
No.
01 Allegation of corruption 52.0
02 Non-cooperation by gram 52.0
sachiv/government official
03 Unable to perform effectively due to 43.4
excessive burden of work

In the cases of allegations of corruption over the women sarpanch, we found that
they were a result of an attempt to remove the woman from the post of sarpanch. Women
are made to contest elections by the male members of the village, who are also active in
village politics, when the seat of sarpanch is reserved for woman. Once the woman
becomes sarpanch, these same male members then expect that the woman sarpanch
should act as per their wishes. All is well till the time the woman sarpanch yields to their
demands. Once she starts opposing or taking decisions on her own, these male members

xxxii Kolarkar and Minhas

then put all their might to see that the woman is removed from the post of sarpanch.
Allegation of corruption on woman sarpanch is one such tool used by these members to
meet their goal.

The percentage of women sarpanch who have faced allegations of corruption is

high in all the three states, highest being in Chhatisgarh (72 percent). When the women
sarpanch does not act according to the wishes of Panches who have vested interest, they
try to search for reasons to bring in no-confidence against the sarpanch. And when they
are unable to find any valid reason for bringing in no-confidence motion, they accuse the
sarpanch of having pursued corrupt practices.

2. Non-Cooperation by Government Officials

Gram sachiv is a government official, who has responsibility of ensuring smooth
functioning of Panchayats, handling the official documentation and other related matters
of the Panchayat. He also has to assist sarpanches in their day-to-day operations. But
instead of being of some help to a woman sarpanch, this gram sachiv can become a
headache for a woman sarpanch in following manners.
(1) Concealing, from the sarpanch, the accounts of the Panchayat
(2) Concealing, from the sarpanch, income and expenditure details of the Panchayat
(3) Not properly explaining various circulars received from the government offices
(4) Adding his owns points in the Resolution passed in the gram Sabha, after the
sarpanch and other members of the Panchayat had signed on the Resolution

From Table 3, we can see that such cases of non-cooperation by gram sachiv were
reported by a very high portion (52 percent) of our respondents. The reason for non-
cooperation by the sachiv is either money or local politics. Most often, the gram sachiv is
found to be siding with male members of the Panchayat who are politically strong and
active in the village.

xxxiii Kolarkar and Minhas

 3. Increased Burden of Work
Many women sarpanches (44 percent) agreed that their Panchayat work was
affected due to their domestic work or responsibilities of agricultural work. Table 3 gives
the percentage of women sarpanches who responded that their Panchayat work was
affected by their daily chores. This shows that the increased burden of work (domestic,
agricultural and political) is one of the major problems encountered which affects the
Panchayat work, as perceived by the women under study. Although 56 percent of our
respondents agreed that their Panchayat work was not affected by their domestic duties,
but these women sarpanches also agreed that they would have been able to discharge
their responsibilities better, if they had some support in the domestic sphere.

(e) Panchayat related Information

1. Information on Panchayat Laws

During the study, it was noticed that those women who have been elected for the
first time in the Panchayat were having incomplete knowledge about the Panchayat. By
incomplete we mean that these women sarpanches are not aware of the details of
Panchayat Act, the powers of the Panchayat, the powers of the sarpanch and other such
things. And in general, women are bit hesitating during their first term on the Panchayat.

In our survey of women sarpanches, we could find only a few cases where the
women were elected to the Panchayat for second or third term. The good thing about
those women who have served for more than one term is that they have evolved
themselves over the years and have become politically conscious.

Figure 5: Comparison of Knowledge about Panchayat Laws across three states

xxxiv Kolarkar and Minhas

 100% 4
17.64 Nil
80% 33.33
36 Incom plete
60% 41.17 Com plete
41.02
40%
60
20% 41.17
25.64
0%
CG MP MH

CG – Chhatisgarh MP – Madhya Pradesh MH – Maharashtra

The percentage of women sarpanches having education up to middle school or

more was lowest in Madhya Pradesh while the same in Chhatisgarh was 77 percent and
76 percent in Maharashtra. From Figure 5 we can see that the awareness about Panchayat
laws is much better in Maharashtra and Chhatisgarh. This shows the relationship between
the literacy level and the awareness about Panchayat laws. This is because women who
have received good education are not dependent upon others for their information
requirements. Educated women get information related to Panchayat laws by reading the
“Panchayat Adhiniyam” and magazines like “Panchayika” and “Panchman”. Women who
are illiterate are dependent on others for the requisite information.

Table 4 shows the status of knowledge, among women sarpanches, about various
aspects related to Panchayat.

Table 4: Status of Knowledge related to Panchayat

Srl. No. Description Percentage
01 Operation and maintenance of Panchayat 7%
accounts
02 Income sources of Panchayat 32%
03 Taxes that can be imposed by Panchayat 15%
04 Various schemes of government 79%

2. Operation and Maintenance of Panchayat Accounts

It is clear from Table 4 that the percentage of women having knowledge of
Panchayat accounts is only seven percent, which is quite low by any standards.

xxxv Kolarkar and Minhas

The reason for this is that all the financial matters are handled either by the gram
sachiv or by some male member of the Panchayat. Hence a woman sarpanch does
not get opportunity to get to know the operations of Panchayat accounts.

3. Income Sources of Panchayat

The percentage of women sarpanches having knowledge about the sources,
from which income can be generated for the Panchayat, is very low (32 percent).
The reason for this is also same as mentioned under point 2. Their knowledge
about taxes that can be imposed by Panchayat is also very low, only 15 percent of
women sarpanches responding that they have the knowledge of the same.

The women sarpanches are kept uninformed about the financial matters by
the male members since the male members have vested interest in the money that
is generated by the Panchayat.

(g) Training on Panchayat

The percentage of women sarpanch who think they have benefited from training
is less in Chhatisgarh (35 percent) and Madhya Pradesh (38 percent) than in Maharashtra
(72 percent) because in Maharashtra, the state government has allocated money
separately and special efforts are made to impart good training. Whereas in Madhya
Pradesh and Chhatisgarh, there has been no such effort on the part of the government and
therefore, the quality of training imparted is low. Overall, in the three states, only 50
percent of the women sarpanches surveyed agreed that they had been in a better position
to perform Panchayat duties after attending Panchayat related training.

(i) Political Will of Women Sarpanches

Among our sample of 123 women sarpanch, we found that very few had re-
contested for the post of sarpanch. We asked our respondents about their willingness to

xxxvi Kolarkar and Minhas

re-contest the elections, and the responses that we got from them are shown in Figure 10,
below. Amongst the women sarpanches who were willing to re-contest, said that even
though they were willing to re-contest, the final decision shall be taken by their husbands.
Still others said that the decision to re-contest would depend more on the availability of
reserved seat in the constituencies.

Table 5: Political Will of Women Sarpanches

Srl. No. Description % of women
Sarpanches
01 Willing to re-contest 49%
02 Wanting to resign 15%

From Table 5, we can see that not even 50 percent of women sarpanches are
willing to re-contest for the post of sarpanch. This indicates to a number of problems
faced by a woman sarpanch. Merely holding the post of sarpanch does not guarantee
empowerment of women. There are a number of factors, which affect the performance of
women sarpanch. These factors are discussed in detail in the following section. On re-
contesting in the next Panchayat elections, there is not much difference in the opinions of
women sarpanches in the three states. We found that in Maharashtra (58 percent),
Madhya Pradesh (44 percent) and in Chhatisgarh (41 percent) of the women sarpanches
agreed that they will re-contest. But almost all of these women said that there decision of
re-contesting would be depending on the approval from their husbands or other male
members of their family.

It was surprising to notice that in spite of the problems being faced by the women
sarpanches, the percentage of women who wanted to resign at any moment during their
tenure was very less, lowest in Maharashtra (5 percent).

The reason being given by the women is that now that they have become the
sarpanch, whatever may be the reason, they would not succumb to the pressures and
resignation would mean that they have yielded to the difficulties and have accepted the

xxxvii Kolarkar and Minhas

fact that they cannot handle the village affairs. They say that this would bring bad name
to them as well as their family.

(j) Political Experience of Women sarpanches

The women sarpanches who have been elected to the post of sarpanch or member
of Panchayat for the first time were not well aware of the details of Panchayat Act, the
powers of the Panchayat and other such aspects of the Panchayat. When these women
sarpanches were asked about the work of Panchayat, many of them mentioned some
development activities, namely construction of roads, building ponds, provision of water,
etc., as the work of Panchayat. But they could not tell the various laws relating to the
Panchayat. Their understanding of Panchayat’s functions is limited to one of discussing
and reviewing the problems of the village and passing proposals for its development.
Only few sarpanches knew about the functions of the Panchayat.

Figure 6, given below, shows the proportion of women having varying degree of
political experience.

Figure 6: Political Experience of Women sarpanches

9% 2%
2%
7%
New
Mem ber Previously
Sarpanch Previously
Mem ber of Mahila Mandal
SHG Mem ber

80%

CG – Chhatisgarh MP – Madhya Pradesh MH – Maharashtra

From Figure 6 it is clear that 80 percent of our respondents were elected to the
Panchayat for the first time and were not having any previous experience of Panchayat.

9.1 Factors Affecting Performance of the Women sarpanch

xxxviii Kolarkar and Minhas

(a) Inclination
Rural women may not be properly motivated and/or not able to undertake
additional work of Panchayats given their workload. In our study, we found that 80
percent of women have not assumed the post out of their own willingness. Had there been
no reservation for women, they would not have even thought of becoming the sarpanch.
Further, they have been facing problems without any reason. Their first priority remains
household work and they look after the Panchayat work only after that. Rural women
perceive Panchayat work to be the work of men and lose interest for not being able to
influence decision making in Panchayats to their favour.

Shobha Selokar was sarpanch of village Eklari of Bhandara district of Maharashtra.

She was not interested in participating in the village politics. Since the seat of sarpanch
was reserved for women, she was made to contest elections against her wish. Although
she got elected and later also became sarpanch. During her tenure, a false complaint of
charges of corruption during road construction work against her de-motivated her
further.

(b) Family Support

For a woman sarpanch to function effectively, it is imperative for her to have the
support of the family, an understanding husband, and someone to share the household
work. Without these pre conditions, even if she is literate, inclined to do Panchayat work,
and has information, she shall not be able to function properly and do justice to the post
of sarpanch.

Vishwasabai, a sarpanch of village Saaja of Durg District in the state of Chhatisgarh

was not having any support from her family. As a result, she could not sustain herself
in the village politics and, in less than six months, was removed from the post of
sarpanch by the village level politicians.

(c) Male Resistance

xxxix Kolarkar and Minhas

 It is not possible to expect encouraging response from men folk concerning
women’s rights and privileges, especially in a male-dominated society. The men are used
to seeing and interacting with men in Panchayats and with the coming of women
members, the men have to accept them and interact and listen to them. If men do not treat
women with respect and discount their presence in Panchayats, then the very act of
including women members will not have much meaning. Men should be able to
appreciate that women are able to understand village issues and are capable of doing
much more in the socio-political life of the villages. An existence of male resistance is
evident from all the case studies presented in section 10 of the report.

Sunanda Bhavsagar, a sarpanch of Koshti village of Bhandara district in Maharashtra

was facing opposition from male members of the Panchayat. Moreover, she also did
not have support from the female members of the Panchayat. She got a chance to
become sarpanch as the seat was reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) woman and she
was the only elected SC women in the Panchayat. On one of the Independence Day
function, the male members plotted against the sarpanch and hoisted the flag early in
the morning, even before Sunanda could reach the venue. Later a police complaint was
lodged against her stating that the sarpanch did not attend the flag hoisting ceremony.
This clearly shows that the male who were earlier dominating the village politics are
not ready to accept a female sarpanch dictating terms to them. Hence they had resorted
to ‘dirty politics’ to remove the woman sarpanch.

(d) Non-cooperation by sachiv and Panches

This has been an important factor affecting the performance of woman sarpanch.
In 51 percent of the cases panches and sachiv have demanded money from the
government grants and women sarpanches has not accepted their demands, they have got
together to bring no-confidence motion and remove the sarpanch. They always try to
have such a sarpanch who would agree to their demands and keep giving them some
percentage from government grants.

xl Kolarkar and Minhas

Surekha Jhot, an ex-sarpanch of Yendli village of Akola district in Maharashtra faced a
similar situation during her tenure. Initially, due to ignorance, she used to pay the
sachiv as per his demands. But with better understanding of the Panchayat work, she
started refusing to pay bribe to sachiv. This enraged the sachiv, who in connivance
with the local political leaders brought a no-confidence motion against Surekha. Thus
we can see that the government bureaucracy, instead of lending a helping hand to
women sarpanches, is trying to exploit the situation.

(e) Lack of Information

During the survey of women sarpanches, we found that most of them do not have
complete information regarding Panchayat laws, various schemes of the government and
the financial affairs of the Panchayat. The information is provided to them by the gram
sachiv who decides on his own free will what information to give and what not to.
Generally women do not have access to magazines and newspapers. The information
provided in the training programmes for women sarpanches is usually superficial and
does not help much in handling the affairs of the Panchayat.

Padmini Tandon was a sarpanch of Koliyapuri village in Durg district and was holding
the post for the first time. During the very first month of her as sarpanch, she was
made by the Panchayat members to carry out the work on village pond, without getting
the resolution for the work passed in the gram sabha. Padmini was not aware of such
requirement for carrying out work of Panchayat; neither the sachiv brought this to her
notice. And based on this incidence, the Panchayat members filed a case against her
and removed her from the post of sarpanch.

(f) Lack of Time

One of the major stumbling blocks in women’s participation in Panchayats is
time. We observed from the field situations that rural women have, in general, little time
in their daily activity schedules. Right from early morning till late night, they take care of
their children, sweep and clean their homes, walk long distances to fetch water, fodder

xli Kolarkar and Minhas

and fuel wood, send children to school, take care of livestock, help in farm activities and
do all kinds of miscellaneous things which are important to keep a household going.
There is little time left to do the Panchayat work.

(g) Shyness
Having secluded themselves from the society, especially the men folk, they face
difficulties interacting with the men in office and in public life, after being elected as
sarpanch. But the post requires interaction with men at various levels and their inhibition
prevents them from interacting with men without any reservation and expressing their
opinion frankly.

(h) Poverty
Because of the reservation for SC/ST/OBC for the post of sarpanch, in many
villages, such women who are not financially sound have come to hold the offices. They
are there just because there was no option left for someone else to become the sarpanch.
These women give more priority to going on daily wage labour rather than looking after
the Panchayat work. Even if they are removed through no-confidence motion on false
allegations of corruption, they do no fight any case because of paucity of time as well as
resources.

Ranjanatai Pawar, sarpanch of Dahatonda village in Akola district of Maharashtra

seemed to be least interested in Panchayat related work. She was more concerned with
looking after agricultural work. She got a chance to become sarpanch as the seat for
sarpanch was reserved for ST woman. She preferred to concentrate on agricultural
work because by doing so she could at least ensure food security for her family.
Moreover, meagre compensation that she used to get from post of sarpanch was not a
factor strong enough to motivate her to put in more efforts in local governance. All the
Panchayat related tasks were performed by the sachiv.

(i) Caste

xlii Kolarkar and Minhas

 In case of woman of Scheduled caste, the caste factor plays a significant role in
hampering her from performing the duties of sarpanch. The panches of higher caste do
not co-operate with the sarpanch and lack of co-operation by Panches is a serious
problem for the woman sarpanch.

Sumatai Dupare was sarpanch of Baranj Mokasa village in Akola district of

Maharashtra. Being a woman belonging to Scheduled Caste, she had to face lot of
resistance from higher caste members of her village. Even the sachiv, who belonged to
higher caste, used to insult Sumatai at the Panchayat meetings.

(j) Literacy
Most of the rural women are either illiterate or have received only primary
education. Those who become sarpanch have not done any work of reading or writing
since marriage. They face problems in conducting official operations especially matters
like reading, writing and written endorsement. Their outside knowledge is also limited as
compared to men because their movements are mostly restricted to areas in and around
the village.

Vishwasabai, an illiterate woman of village Saakri, district Durg in Chhatisgarh, was

elected as sarpanch on a seat reserved for a Scheduled Tribe (ST) woman. She found it
difficult to operate in Panchayat as she was unable to understand the procedures and
the nitty-gritty of the Panchayat. The deputy sarpanch, a male from the village, used to
take her thumb impression on the official papers, without properly explaining the
details of the same. Thus Vishwasabai was acting as a dummy sarpanch while all the
decisions were taken by the deputy sarpanch, on the pretext that the sarpanch is
illiterate.

(k) Restricted movement

In the villages, women do not travel alone either on their own vehicle or public
transport. Some male member of the family usually accompanies them. They have to take
permission of their husband or in-laws if they want to go to police station or court. If they

xliii Kolarkar and Minhas

go along with any other male apart from family member they run the danger of facing
character assassination.

(l) Cultural Inhibitions

The cultural inhibitions accompanying women’s participation often pose a major
problem during joint sessions of men and women held in the villages. Rural women do
not speak in public in the presence of the elder male members of their family. It
constrains the women from expressing their frank opinion on many matters. For example,
in many villages, women have expressed their difficulties faced due to the drinking habits
of men. This makes their life difficult and they are under constant threat. But such matters
always remain hidden due to lack of courage on the part of women to raise these issues in
public meetings.

During our interactions in the three different states of Chhatisgarh, Madhya Pradesh
and Maharashtra, we noticed that the women sarpanches in Maharashtra were more
vocal in expressing their views and showed more interest in participating in village
level politics. The women sarpanches in Madhya Pradesh were comparatively less
interested in participating in village level politics. This can be attributed to the fact that
the social conditions in Maharashtra had been less patriarchal and there has been a
history of women being active in social work in Maharashtra.

10. CASE STUDIES

Presented below are some of the cases of women sarpanches who, despite having
faced adverse situations, have overcome the crisis either on their own or with help of
some external support. The case studies also aim to bring out the various political, social
and economical difficulties faced by the women sarpanches. After going through the case
studies we can understand that a proper support system is essential for better performance
of women as local leaders. Through these case studies, an effort has been made to present
an overall picture of the condition of women sarpanches in the area of study.

(a) Vijaya

xliv Kolarkar and Minhas

 Age: 37, Village: Kukda Jagat, District: Chhindwara
She has done M.A. and was the most educated and active sarpanch whom I met
during the survey. She had to face lots of problems in the beginning. In the very first
gram Sabha meeting held by her, there were men smoking bidi in front of her, giving
abuses and maintained no decorum. She also had to face non-cooperation by sachiv and
Panches. But she did not give up and dealt with it strictly. As a result of the strictness
shown by her, the attitude and manners of the people started changing. But obeying the
orders of the female was hard to tolerate for some of the Panches and they bought no
confidence motion against her. The reason given was that the sarpanch acts autocratically.
The motion was defeated. She also had to face problems because of political reasons. She
belongs to BJP and there was congress government in the state. Her husband is also an
active BJP worker. Because of her being from BJP, none of the works related to the
Panchayat of her village used to be get done in the Block and Districted offices. She
attended the three day training programme conducted by the state government but feels
that the programme was of no use and thinks that training should be for at least three
months.

(b) Sarita Khandeka

Age: 38, Village: Sakeri, District: Balaghat
She belongs to Scheduled Tribe and became sarpanch for the first time in 2000.
She had to face no-confidence motion twice. Panches had not been co-operating with her
ever since the beginning of her term. She told us that she used to give some percentage of
the Panchayat money to the Panches. Once a construction work worth Rs. 60,000 was
sanctioned for the Panchayat and the Panches demanded Rs2000 per Panch. There were
twenty Panches and giving Rs 2000 to every panch would leave only Rs 20,000 for the
work and it would not be possible to complete work in Rs 20,000. She did not give
money and had to face no-confidence motion. In order to defeat the motion and get the
requisite number of Panches on her side, she had to bribe the Panches.

The second time she had to face no-confidence motion because of the fraud
committed by the sachiv. A construction work of the Panchayat was going on. Her

xlv Kolarkar and Minhas

daughter was ill and she had to remain in hospital for three days to look after her. The
sachiv committed fraud in her absence and by colluding with the Panches put the blame
on her and no-confidence motion was brought against her which led to her removal from
the post. But she fought a case against the removal and was given stay orders by the
District Collector.

(c) Mirobai Armo

Age: 35, Village: Katra, District: Mandla
She belongs to Scheduled Tribe and is illiterate. She was completely dependent
upon sachiv for doing Panchayat work. But the sachiv did not co-operate at all. She went
to district Panchayat office to complain against sachiv. She had a letter with her with
signatures of other Panches. But when the investigation team came to the village to
enquire about the sachiv, the Panches said that they did not sign the letter and the
signatures were forged by the sarpanch. She was arrested under Article 420 and later on
had to make a public apology that she shall not repeat it again. Thereafter, sachiv made an
allegation against her saying that she is not adivasi. A case was registered against but it
could not be proven that she is not adivasi and was acquitted. The case ran for here years
and she had to face violence and mental torture which was all done on the orders of the
sachiv.

(d) Hirobai Salame

Age: 33, Village: Singhamedi, District: Rajnandgaon
She has studied till 8th class but has no knowledge about the Panchayat laws. She
lacks self-confidence and is hesitant in interacting with other people. She faced no-
confidence motion on the charges of corruption but has no knowledge of the intricacies of
the case. All the Panchayat work is handled by her husband and she is simply there to
sign. She fought elections because there was female reservation for the post, otherwise,
her husband would have fought the elections. Majority of women sarpanches are like that
only with no information and no inclination to do something.

(e) Aruna

xlvi Kolarkar and Minhas

 Age: 36 years, Village: Jevra, District: Durg
Aruna was the first woman sarpanch of the village Jevra. She is affected by polio
in one of her legs and it is difficult for her to walk. She is unmarried and stays with her
brother in the village. She was pushed by the Panches into contesting for the post of
sarpanch since the post was reserved for woman. During her tenure as sarpanch, Aruna
used to convene gram Sabha in open space under a banyan tree of the village. This was
an innovative way adopted by her to facilitate attendance of more villagers in the gram
Sabha.

The Panches were having a vested interest in making Aruna sarpanch; they
thought that Aruna being a handicapped woman would act accordingly to their wishes
and would not protest to any wrong-doings of the Panches. On being elected as sarpanch,
Aruna did not act as per the wishes of the Panches and then the Panches started torturing
her. Aruna had to face opposition from the Panches at each of the meetings. Aruna also
had to face verbal abuse at each of the meetings. She also had to face opposition from the
Panches in all the developmental works she intended to carry out.

She, being a handicapped woman, had to go to the Panchayat Samiti along with
some male member of the village. The Panches then started spreading rumours about
character of Aruna. In the end, Aruna was tortured to such an extent that she decided to
resign from the post of sarpanch after four years.

(f) Baby Jagnit

Age: 35 years, Village: Kardi, District: Bhandara
Baby Jagnit was encouraged to compete for the post of sarpanch as the post was
reserved for SC woman. Her husband has a small cloth shop in the village and also has
two acres of land. Earlier she was not interested in Panchayat related work, but gradually
she developed the liking for it. Kardi is a large village having population of around 6000
people and the Panchayat is also having a high income of around four lakhs rupees. She
had to face opposition from male members of Panchayat from the beginning.

xlvii Kolarkar and Minhas

 Panchayat had taken up construction of road in the village, under Jawahar Rozgar
Yojana. For the purpose of this construction work, the Panchayat requested all the
encroached shop owners to remove their shops till the time road construction is
completed. All the shop owners, except one, obliged and removed their shops
temporarily. This arrogant shop owner did not remove his shop and was not allowing the
construction work of the road. When the sarpanch went to this shop owner, the shop
owner physically assaulted sarpanch. sarpanch lodged a police complaint against the shop
owner. Jagnit feels that the shop owner could do such an act because she was not having
good support from other Panchayat members.
Even after this incidence, we noticed that Jagnit was regularly going to the
Panchayat and performing her job. On asking her, she said that she was now even more
inclined to work as sarpanch.

(g) Suma Arun Dupare

Age: 31 years, Village: Baranj Mokasa, District: Chandrapur
Suma Dupare, the sarpanch of Baranj Mokasa, belongs to Scheduled Caste and
could become sarpanch only because the seat for sarpanch was reserved for SC woman.
Suma and her husband are landless and have to weave and sell bamboo baskets for their
livelihood.

According to Suma, there is widespread castesism in the village and those

belonging to upper caste are not willing to accept a Scheduled Caste woman as sarpanch.
And due to this reason, the Panchayat members of upper caste oppose Suma in the
Panchayat. The gram sachiv is a woman but she does not support Suma as the gram
sachiv belongs to upper caste.

Once, Panchayat members asked the sarpanch to pass and sanction certain work
in the village. But Suma did not agree to their request. These members then locked Suma
inside the Panchayat office, while she was sitting in the office, and was pressurised to
sign on the documents. Fortunately, Suma’s husband called up the police and the
members opened up the office before the arrival of the police. Even though Suma lodged

xlviii Kolarkar and Minhas

a complaint against those Panchayat members, the police did not take any action against
the culprits.

There was also an attempt by the Panchayat members to remove Suma from the
post. They moved a no-confidence motion against Suma and the motion was passed. But
Suma could not be removed from the post as there was no other woman SC member of
the Panchayat. The members have not stopped giving trouble to Suma and they oppose
every decision taken by Suma. Even after facing difficulties, Suma wants to contest again
even if the sarpanch’s post is not reserved for SC woman.
(h) Fulabai Ramsumer Kevat
Age: 48 years, Village: Kapsi, District: Akola
Fulabai was Panchayat member for previous three terms and thus was having
good exposure to the Panchayat. She belongs to minority community of the village, but is
respected by the entire village for her courage and helping nature. As the sarpanch's seat
was reserved for women, the Panchayat members and villagers wanted Fulabai to become
sarpanch.

After becoming sarpanch, the Panchayat members were demanding money, from
Fulabai, for liquor. In the initial days, she used to give them money thinking that these
members would help her in Panchayat. But later on, the members were demanding
money too frequently. Then she decided to stop giving money to the members. The
members got aggrieved and then started abusing Fulabai in the Panchayat meetings. But
brave Fulabai would not get frightened and instead faced the members’ wrath
courageously. The members then brought a no-confidence motion against Fulabai and
removed her from the post. Now Fulabai is more confident and wants to get elected as
sarpanch once again and teach those members a lesson.

Fulabai feels that the reasons put up in the no-confidence motion should be
investigated for authenticity because she was removed from the post of sarpanch because
of false reasons in the no-confidence motion.

xlix Kolarkar and Minhas

(i) Fulanbai Dharamdas Patil
Age: 45 years, Village: Khubala, District: Nagpur
Fulanbai is an illiterate and was sarpanch for two years. She herself was interested
and did not need any propping up to contest for sarpanch's post. When the sarpanch’s post
was reserved for woman SC, Fulanbai decided to contest for the post. Fulanbai was
elected and then the members of Panchayat made her sarpanch, thinking that this illiterate
woman would yield to their demands.

She was unaware about the Panchayat laws but then she took help of her son to
understand the various laws and aspects pertaining to Panchayat. Although being an
illiterate, Fulanbai was quite active and vocal. She always wanted to keep herself update
with the changes in rules and laws relating to Panchayat.

Those Panchayat members having vested interest in Panchayat then realised that
Fulanbai was incorruptible, and they were not able to eke out money illegally from the
Panchayat. These members then removed Fulanbai from the post by means of no-
confidence motion.

11. RECOMMENDATIONS
Women’s participation in the decentralised governance and development with a
few exceptions has been peripheral. At the time of election, they have been projected as
somebody’s mother or sister, wife or widow and not as people’s representative. But they
are very well aware of people’s problems. They have more clear idea of village
development then their male counterparts. So in the light of the new dispensation where
not less than one-third seats at different tiers of Panchayat are reserved for women, it is
important to discuss what should be the simultaneous empowerment strategy for making
them people’s leaders.

(a) Investigation of Charges in No-Confidence Motion

In almost 85-90 percent of cases of women sarpanches facing no-confidence
motion, it was noticed that the charges put against them in the no-confidence motion very

l Kolarkar and Minhas

trivial. The charges put were such as (i) the sarpanch acts autocratically, (ii) the sarpanch
is incapable of conducting meetings, and (iii) the sarpanch is being partial towards
particular wards in the village, in attending to the problems. These reasons are not
substantial so as to remove the woman sarpanch from her post. But these reasons are used
in no-confidence motion and the no-confidence motion gets passed against the sarpanch.
Financial handicap restricts the women from challenging these charges in the court.

(b) No-Confidence Motion should be brought in gram Sabha

Currently there is a provision of bringing a no-confidence motion against the
sarpanch, either in Panchayat or in gram Sabha. When the politically active members of
Panchayat feel that the woman sarpanch is not acting according to their directions, they
bring in no-confidence motion against her in the Panchayat. To make sure that the motion
in passed; they get the requisite members on their side either by bribing them or
pressurising them. Since it is the general public which elects the sarpanch, only they
should have the right to remove her.

(c) Awareness Generation

A large number of rural women are illiterate, ignorant and poorly informed about
ongoing issues, debates and reforms concerning the society in general and women in
particular. Therefore, the first strategy should aim at striking at ignorance by
dissemination of information and by raising general as well as political awareness among
the toiling rural women. They should be helped to attain knowledge and awareness of
their own self-personal needs, health issues, legal rights and society at large. The
realisation of their capabilities, potentialities and their role in the society would
strengthen their self image and would foster them with confidence to take action in life.
Besides general awareness, women need to be enlightened politically, not only about their
rights and duties, but also the nature of our Constitution, democratic processes and
values, working of democratic institutions, concept and relevance of Panchayati Raj
particularly the message of present Panchayati Raj and one-third of reservation of seats

li Kolarkar and Minhas

for women, various poverty alleviation programs and policies for women and weaker
sections.

NGO’s, women’s organisations and movements can adopt various strategies for
educating women on issues and problems concerning women and need to participate in
grassroots democracy. Already many women’s organisations like Prakriti, Vimochana
(Bangalore), Samta (Mysore), etc., are working in this direction. Mass media can play a
vital role in awareness generation. Women can be motivated and inspired to think, discuss
and act politically with the help of documentaries, television and radio spots on women’s
rights, achievements of All Women Panchayats in Maharashtra like transfer of land rights
to women in Vitner village (Jalgaon district), reduction in working hours of women by
providing facilities like installation of taps for drinking water, Gobar Gas Plants in
Metikheda village (Yavatmal district), construction of toilets for women, health centres,
schools, etc., advantages of participation of women in PRIs, facilitation and depiction of
successful stories of women members of Panchayat bodies in different parts of the
country. Audio, visual and print media can help in formulating positive public opinion
and creating a sympathetic atmosphere by dissemination of information on women’s
issues which in the long run may result in society’s recognition of women’s equality with
men.

(d) Gender Sensitisation

While it is extremely important to bring the women in the position of power for
social transformation it is equally necessary to sensitise those in power about the issues of
women’s development and rights. Attitudinal reorientation of administrative machinery at
village, block and district levels is of crucial significance as they are totally opposed to
strengthening the position of women. To bring about attitudinal change in the
bureaucratic officers training workshop should be organised where site officials get
opportunity to interact with women’s groups, legal activists as well as women members
of Panchayat bodies. Frequent interaction with them will bring attitudinal change in
bureaucratic officers. Police administration and legal system should be sensitised on
women’s issues to ensure gender justice.

lii Kolarkar and Minhas

(e) Political Training
There is a need for comprehensive and meaningful training programme for rural
women for performing their Constitutional duties and responsibilities as members of
PRIs. They are ill informed about powers, procedures and functioning of these bodies, the
kind of role they have to play and the problems they are likely to face in a male
dominated political institution. In Maharashtra, in Vidarbha and most of the remote rural
areas women did demand a training programme for effective participation in these bodies.
Training should aim at bringing about hidden qualities, generating self
confidence, self pride, development of communication skills and effective convincing
power for public interaction, forming opinion and articulating the same, raising an issue,
use of data and above all the leadership qualities to deal with powerful forces and vested
interests.

A training programme must bring within its fold both men and women to change
the patriarchal orientation in men and male institutions. Awareness generation that is
women specific will at best have limited impact and may even run the risk of gender
conflict. Not only this, gender perspective must be built into all training programmes.
Various studies have confirmed that elected/nominated or co-opted women members to
institution of Panchayati Raj usually belong to dominant classes and castes. They have
rarely been able to articulate, represent or project the interest of their gender. This is not
to say that women representatives on Panchayati Raj must be trained to take up only
gender specific issues. Such an orientation will divide and alienate. The more effective
approach is one when women are trained to take up all kinds of developmental issues and
integrate gender perspective issues wherever required.

In the view of family responsibilities, women in rural areas – particularly from

weaker section – cannot take time off to attend training programmes. Moreover, their
participation in training programmes is usually at the cost of daily wage and not attending
to their daily chores in their households. Training by mobile team coming closer to them,
rather than their going to headquarters, will be more beneficial. This is exactly what

liii Kolarkar and Minhas

Prakriti is doing through its “Panchayat Sakhi” programme, where Panchayat Sakhis
recruited by Prakriti visit the women sarpanch personally and try to solve their problems.
If the women are unable to participate, there is every livelihood of these positions in
Panchayat bodies to be cornered by rural elite. The very purpose of one-third reservation
of total seats for women will be defeated.

We lack infrastructure for providing training to such a large number of

PRIs/functionaries who have been elected under the new Act. Neither are there sufficient
numbers of NGOs nor government institutions to undertake this gigantic task. Therefore
more NGOs committed to this task have to be identified and encouraged. Departments of
Rural Development and Women and Child Development should allocate funds for
undertaking political awareness and training camps on the lines of awareness generation
and legal literacy camps. Additional allocations should be provided for spreading political
literacy and for preparing and developing training modules and manuals.

(f) Economic Independence of Women

Land plays an important role in the power structure in rural India. The ground
reality, as we have seen, is that women have no control over it. Without land ownership,
they are not safe even in their own households, what to say about village or block or
district affairs. It is surprising to note that the agricultural census does not have the
classification of women vis-à-vis others. It is well known that about 33 percent of the
rural population lives below poverty line. And a majority of them are women. If land is
transferred in their favour, they sustain their livelihood properly and organise themselves
to participate in village or block or district affairs through Panchayat.

g) Financial Resources
Finance is indispensable for any development. Lack of sufficient finance is one of
the serious problems facing PRIs in their development plans. The Act has made it
mandatory to establish finance commission at the state level for the allocation of funds to
the different tiers of Panchayat. Till today, the states were handling this subject based on a
formula, which gave weight to the different indicators differently. It allocated funds to

liv Kolarkar and Minhas

districts under the District Plan. The components of the formula are almost similar in all
the states. Total population, population of SCs/STs, small and marginal farmers,
agricultural labours, agricultural backwardness, irrigation backwardness, industrial
backwardness, backwardness in respect of roads and drinking water, incidence of
unemployment, etc., are the indicators of development. But the point to be noted here is
that it did not have a separate component for women. How shall we take care of their
backwardness? Women have an entirely different set of problems than men. Their
illiteracy, unemployment, mortality rate and intensity of poverty must be tackled
differently and not by clubbing the aggregates. Thus, women’s socio-economic
disabilities may be made a criterion for resource allocation to different tiers of the PRIs.

(h) Role of Non – Government Organisations

NGOs have shown their contribution in several aspects of development and their
contribution has been recognised at every level. Today, the NGOs are not unaware of the
changing scene at the National and International levels. They are playing the role of
educating the communities continuously and raising their awareness. In the present
context also, they have an enormous role and responsibility to play, which is mentioned
below:

1. NGOs can play a significant role in lobbying and advocacy with planners and
elected representatives for getting progressive rules made at the State levels
which are in accordance with the feelings of public; voluntary organisations can
do so because they have the strength and experience of interpreting the rules in
pubic interest and working as pressure or lobbying groups.
2. Provide easy access to the information pertaining to PRIs, role of women and
other issues connected with Panchayats.
3. Interpret and simplify various rules and regulations in regional languages
pertaining to PRIs.
4. Help in organising women at village, block and district levels. Provide the
platform for sharing their experiences with one another.

lv Kolarkar and Minhas

 5. The fifth major task is to educate and train the representatives elected by the
people in PRIs so that they may develop confidence and the skill to take their
own decisions, to make plans and to implement them
6. The sixth responsibility of the Voluntary Organisations is of enormous
significance: to work as a watch-dog of PRIs and keep an alert eye on working of
Panchayati Raj bodies, and to interpret them to keep the public aware of all the
development, so that no Panchayati Raj Institution may loose the objective of
public interest under any internal or external pressure. Such possibility always
exists in a democratic system; therefore the task of constant supervision becomes
very important.

(i) Support Services

In addition to these, it is necessary to provide certain support services to women
members of the Panchayats for strengthening their political empowerment. In the existing
political milieu money and muscle power plays a very vital role over local electoral
politics making elections extremely expensive, violent and corrupt. Women being most
numerous of deprived and weakest groups, will require greater assistance for canvassing,
travelling to different villages and mobilising political support for themselves. As PRIs
elections are being increasingly fought on party lines, political parties should create a
special fund for women candidates. Alternatively, local Mahila Mandals, Women’s
Organisations should raise resources to enable women candidates to contest and win
elections.

(j) Resource Centre

Information and access to information underpins the process of empowerment.
There is and urgent need for resource centre which should be equipped with educative
and informative material on various issues. It will not only be a common meeting place
for women for interaction and articulation of their views on women specific issues and
problems but will also add to general awareness, sustained political education and
training for exercising political empowerment effectively.

lvi Kolarkar and Minhas

12. CONCLUSION
Reservation under Panchayati Raj for rural women is in a state of vacuum at
present and the women are not adequately empowered to play an effective role because of
social, economic and political factors. After more than four decades of planning in India,
women are far below their male counterparts because they have not been involved as
participators and decision makers in governance and development. They have been in the
quagmire of literacy, poverty, unemployment and ignorance. The experiences gathered
about women’s participation in Panchayat shows that she has been projected as
somebody’s mother or wife or sister or widow and not as people’s representative.

It is of immense importance that women actively participate in the PRIs, which

are at present monopolised by men. This is not only for the sake of democratic principle
but also for their own sake to voice their grievances and assert their position to benefit
from issues which directly affect them and for which there are no appropriate forums to
seek redressal. Their participation would also help in bettering the condition of women
and improving their status in the society and hence add directly to the well being of
households in particular and that of the Nation at large.

To strengthen women’s empowerment, female literacy has to be promoted.

Education plays a vital role in enabling the castes and classes to gain entry into these
bodies. Panchayat structure gives opportunity to the educated elite among backward
classes to function on equal plane with representatives holding traditional high castes,
status and influence. Empowerment should be supported by the economic independence.
A crucial component to achieving economic independence is control on
productive resources, particularly land. Control over land through land titles to women
would only change power equations in favour of poor rural women, thereby positively,
contributing towards their empowerment. All these strategies would go a long way in
strengthening political empowerment of women in PR bodies. But the most crucial factor
for capacitating the PRIs and making these bodies’ vibrant institutions of self-government
is the political will. Political will to revitalise these bodies have been weakened by
bureaucracy, the vested interests and the traditional male-centred political power system.

lvii Kolarkar and Minhas

 In the existing political milieu and prevailing socio-economic structure, PRIs
cannot act as agent of social transformation unless government, NGOs and people
themselves are completely involved and committed to it and are in a position to curb the
growth of obstructionist and retrograde forces.

REFERENCES
1. Joshi R.P. and G S Narwani, Panchayat Raj in India: Emerging Trends Across the
States. New Delhi. Rawat Publications. (2002).
2. Kaushik Susheela, Women and Panchayati Raj. New Delhi. Har-Anand
Publications. (1993).
3. Singh Anil K. (1993), “Panchayati Raj Act: The Role of Voluntary Organisations”.
Search 8 (1 & 2). p51 – 54.
4. Hoshiar Singh, Constitutional Basis for Panchayati Raj in India, Asian Survey 34,
September 1994.
5. Amrita Basu, Two Faces of Protest: Contrasting Modes of Women’s Activism in
India. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992.
6. State Panchayat Acts: A critical review (1995), New Delhi VANI Publications.
7. Kumar Kirti, “Strategise for Empowerment of Women in PRIs.” Kurukshetra
43(3). 1994 p5 – 8.
8. Sen Aditya, “A Review of Women’s role in Panchayati Raj.” Kurukshetra 43(3).
1994 p61 – 63.
9. Mukherjee, Neela, “Rural Women and Panchayati Raj Institutions.” Kurukshetra
43(3). 1994 p9-11
10. Search, Vol. VII, Issue 1 & 2, 1998

lviii Kolarkar and Minhas

 ANNEXURE – I: QUESTIONNAIRE

FACTORS AFFECTING PERFORMANCE OF WOMAN SARPANCH

1. Personal Information
1.1 Name:
1.2 Age:
1.3 Educational Qualifications:
1.4 Marital Status: Married/Unmarried/Widow/Divorcee
1.5 Number of Children: Sons_______ Daughters ________
1.6 Category: (a) General (b) SC
(c) ST/NT (d) Others (Please specify) ___________

1.7 Land holding: (a) Landless (b) Less than 2 acres

(c) 2 to 5 acres(d) More than 5 acres
1.8 Sources of Income: (a) Agriculture (b) Livestock
(c) Agri. Labor (d) Non-agriculture
(e) Others (Please specify) ___________

2. Panchayat Information
2.1 Name of the village: Tehsil:
2.2 District: Phone:
2.3 Population of the Panchayat:
2.4 Number of members:
2.5 Were you elected to the Panchayat through reserved seat? Yes/No
2.6 If yes, then under which category? Women/OBC/SC/ST/General

3. Economic status of the Panchayat

3.1 Annual income from taxes:
3.2 Annual grants from various government schemes:
3.3 Any other:

4. Information for sarpanch

4.1 When were you elected as a sarpanch?
4.2 What was the reason behind your entering the politics?

lix Kolarkar and Minhas

 (a) Own interest (b) Pressure from husband/family
(c) Pressure from villagers (d) Motivation from some
NGO/Political party (e) Any other (Please specify) ___________
4.3 Were you a member of some NGO/Mahila Mandal/SHG, prior to becoming a
sarpanch?
4.4 Do you have information regarding the functioning of sarpanch?
(a) Laws related to Panchayat Yes /
No
(b) Law related to two children limit Yes / No
(c) Operation and maintenance of Panchayat accounts Yes /
No
(d) Income sources of the Panchayat Yes / No
(e) SGSY/JGSY/IAY/PMGSY/Swajal Dhara etc. Yes /
No
(f) Janpad and district level offices and its officers Yes /
No
(g) Police and court Yes / No
(h) Taxes that can be imposed by the Panchayat Yes /
No
(i) Law related to marriage, registration of birth and death Yes /
No
4.5 What are the sources from which you get information?
(a) Television (b) Radio (c) Newspaper
(d) NGOs (e) Government agencies
(f) Any other (Please specify) _________________
4.6 What are the constraints in getting information related to Panchayat?
(a) Resistance from male members of family/village
(b) Availability of time
(c) Prevailing social customs
(d) Attitude of people in general
(e) Any other (Please specify) _____________________

5. In the absence of above-mentioned information, do you face following problems?

Please tick the appropriate response.
(Mark your response as follows. 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Cant say, 4 –
Agree, 5 – Strongly agree)

5.1 There is a possibility of disciplinary action or losing the post due to

mistake in work
5.2 You have to waste lot of time and money in order to collect information
5.3 You have to face false allegations of corruption
5.4 There is a fear psychosis and you do not feel like working for the
Panchayat any more.
5.5 Your family life is affected
5.6 Your health is affected
5.7 Your livelihood is affected

lx Kolarkar and Minhas

6. Responsibilities of sarpanch
6.1 Owing to your being a sarpanch, which committees have you been appointed
for?
(a) gram Sabha committee (b) Co-operative society /
bank
(c) Block level committee (d) sarpanch sangh
(f) Others (Please specify) ________________

6.2 Which administrative work you have to do?

(a) Conducting gram Panchayat meeting
Yes / No
(b) Signing on the cheques / going through the cash books
Yes / No
(c) Allotment of contract through tender
Yes / No
(d) Preparing budget
(e) Granting approval for the expenses Yes / No
(f) Inspecting construction activities carried out by utilising government
funds Yes / No
(g) Signing on certificate
Yes / No
(h) Attending court cases
Yes / No
(i) Attending district/block level programs and meetings
Yes / No
6.3 Which non-administrative work you have to do?
(a) Arranging for the visits of bureaucrat, political leader, minister, etc
Yes / No
(b) Attending and addressing public meetings
Yes / No
(c) Campaigning for political parties Yes /
No

7. These are the difficulties faced by you while performing above-mentioned

administrative/non-administrative tasks. Please mark your response as follows.
(Mark your response as follows. 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 – Disagree, 3 – Cant say, 4 –
Agree, 5 – Strongly agree)
7.1 Because of lack of complete information, feel diffident while taking decisions
7.2 gram Sevak does not give complete information and many times, does not give
any information at all.
7.3 Over expectations of the villagers from the sarpanch
7.4 Non-cooperation by panch
7.5 Pressure by government and other male officers
7.6 Do not get time to perform Panchayat work due to excessive burden of
household work, work on the fields and family responsibilities

lxi Kolarkar and Minhas

7.7 Non-cooperation by the villagers and Panches because of you being illiterate
7.8 Non-cooperation by the villagers and Panches because of your weak economic
condition
7.9 You face problem because you are a dalit/tribal/woman

8. Communication with male counterparts and officers

8.1 What is the response you get from your male colleague/officer when you ask
for some information or help?

(a) A woman does not need all information. She simply has to
sign.
(b) Trust us. We will take care of everything
(c) These women do not understand anything, if we do not help
them they will not be able to do any work
(d) Any other (Please specify)

9. Carrying out the responsibilities of the sarpanch

9.1 Where do you have to face problems while carrying out the responsibilities of
sarpanch? (Mark your response as follows. 1 – Strongly disagree, 2 –
Disagree, 3 – Cant say, 4 – Agree, 5 – Strongly agree)

(a) Keeping every members preferences in mind, while taking

decisions
(b) Curbing corruption
(c) Choosing beneficiaries for the schemes and implementing the
schemes
(d) Understanding and operating financial aspects
(e) Facing natural calamities like drought, floods, etc.
(f) Work related to court and police
(h) Facing criticism
(g) Facing a no-confidence motion
(h) Working under pressures
(i) Fear of violence and anti-social elements
9.2 For the above-mentioned difficulties, what solutions have you identified?
(a) Document every information and keep the papers related to the
Panchayat at a proper place
(b) You have fixed a particular time/day for the work of Panchayat
(c) Try to increase your knowledge by reading books, newspapers and
communicating with others.
(d) You want to resign
(e) Take help from family members

10. Do you interact with women sarpanches of other villages?

Yes / No

lxii Kolarkar and Minhas

11. Were you given training by any NGO?
Yes / No

12. If yes, how helpful the training has been in improving your performance?

(1 – Helpful, 2 – Cant say, 3 – Not helpful)

13. What information do you think you need to function in a better way?

14. Did your post was endangered due to the law of limit of two children?
Yes / No

15. As a sarpanch, were you required to go to the court/police station?

Yes / No
16. What are your suggestions for a woman to be an efficient and effective sarpanch?
(a) Training for understanding of financial matters
(b) There should be a female gram – sachiv with a female sarpanch

lxiii Kolarkar and Minhas

 (c) All accusations should be properly investigated and perpetrators of false
accusations should be punished
(d) gram Sabha should not have the right of calling back the sarpanch
(e) Emergency facilities (phone, police assistance) should be available
(f) There should be a provision that a woman sarpanch should not be subjected to
no-confidence motion for five years
(g) sarpanch should get development funds on the lines of that available to MPs
and MLAs.
(h) Elected representatives should undergo a joint training soon after the
elections.

ANNEXURE – II: LIST OF WOMEN SARPANCHES SURVEYED

District: Mandla
State: Madhya Pradesh

Problems
Sr. No. Name Village Nature of Faced Remarks
constituency

lxiv Kolarkar and Minhas

1 Meerabai Katra Res. ST.(W) None sachiv did not co-operate and
Amro created many problems.
Faced trial on allegation of
not being Adivasi, but was
acquitted
2. Janki bai Bhilgaon Res. ST.(W) No Facing problems because she
Dhurme confidence belongs to BJP and majority
Motion of Panches are from
Congress.
3. Sushila Gwari Res. ST.(W) None All Panchayat work handled
Padam by sachiv and her husband.
Facing trial for taking bribe
from a person and making
him Panchayat karmi
4. Amarti Pandi Res. ST.(W) No Became sarpanch only
Veerke Linga confidence because of female
Motion reservation, otherwise her
husband would have
contested
5. Sampatia Tikaria Res. ST.(W) None Very active sarpanch. Main
Uike reason for success is support
by husband. Thinks sarpanch
should be at least matriculate

6. Lakshmi Res. ST.(W) No Up-sarpanch is creating all

Bai Kumri confidence problems and wants the
Motion sarpanch to work on his
commands. Is illiterate and
feels that it is a major factor
affecting her performance

7. Archana Aughat Res. ST.(W) None Became sarpanch because

Raghuvans Khapari villagers wanted her to be.
hi Affairs of the Panchayat
handled by husband

8. Rajkumari Amanala Res. ST.(W) No Father was sarpanch earlier

Bai confidence and he guides her in doing
Motion work. One panch brought no
confidence motion against her
because of personal rivalry.

9. Kalawati Imalia Res. ST.(W) No sachiv and Panches are

Kokadia confidence corrupt and have been
Motion pressurising her to give them
money from government
grants. Has faced physical
violence

10. Dhania Semarkha Res. ST.(W) None Has no interest in Panchayat

lxv Kolarkar and Minhas

 Bai pa Achali work. Became sarpanch
because villagers wanted her
to be. sachiv handles the
Panchayat work.
11. Sarojini Tharka Res. ST.(W) None She wants to complete her
Bai Tekam term without any
controversies and keep others
happy. All decisions taken
unanimously
12. Premwati Baniya Res. ST.(W) No Has absolutely no information
Paraste Tara confidence related to Panchayat. Reason
Motion for no confidence not told by
her
13. Shanti Bai Res. ST.(W) No Panches demanded money
Patka confidence from government grants.
Motion When she refused, they
brought no-confidence
motion and removed her. Mid
term poll held, she won the
election again
14. Kamli Bai Korgaon Res. ST.(W) None The samities formed are
Chamari affecting proper functioning.
There is no co-ordination
between the samities
15. Noopa Bai Binauka Res. ST.(W) None Was not interested to become
Dhurve sarpanch. Only work done by
her is signing on the
documents. Up-sarpanch and
sachiv handle everything.
16. Shivkali Medhataal Res. ST.(W) None Has the support of villagers
Valko and family. Is ambitious and
wants to contest at block and
district levels

District: Chhindwara
State: Madhya Pradesh

Problems
Sr. Name Village Nature of Faced Remarks
No. constituency
17. Vandana Devi Res. Gen.(W) No Is active sarpanch. Has all
Rajendra confidence the necessary knowledge

lxvi Kolarkar and Minhas

 Bhakte Motion regarding Panchayat work.
Faced no confidence motion
because cemented road was
not made, but the motion
was defeated

18. Jayawant Rohna Res. ST(W) No Appealed against no-

Bai Virke confidence confidence motion. Stay
Motion orders given by collector.
Though became sarpanch
because of reservation but
now would like to contest
even if reservation is not
there
19. Tara Bharti Budhiyapani Res. ST(W) None All Panchayat affairs are
handled by the husband who
is also a panch. Had there
been no reservation for
women, her husband would
have contested.

20. Raveni Kevlari Res. ST(W) None Did not have information on
Kumre the law of two children
norm. Is facing case for
having more than two
children after 2001.

21. Ishwari Sonakhar Res. Gen.(W) None sarpanch has no

Sahu information. Everything
handled by her husband.

22. Lata Khatari Res. SC(W) No sachiv does not give her the
Thakariya confidence complete information and
Motion does not show her the
accounts of the Panchayat.

23. Maru Bai Madanpur Res. ST(W) Article 40 sachiv is corrupt as well as
politically connected. Got
stay orders from collector.
Case is going on

24. Shanta Tamia Res. ST(W) None Was a panch earlier and
Dhurve came to know about the
functioning of the Panchayat
during that period. Is not
facing any problems
currently.

25. Samma Bai Linga Res. ST(W) None Husband handles

lxvii Kolarkar and Minhas

 Uike everything. The sarpanch
had o information. Thinks
better training should be
provided.
26. Prabha Bai Ramakona Res. Gen.(W) None Feels that sachiv should be
Rajukhosre for one gram Panchayat
only. No other suggestions
given.
27. Kabbu Bai Saraswara Res. ST(W) None Has no interest in being
sarpanch. Wants to give
resignation, but the Panches
want her to continue
28. Nirmala Sachkhoi Res. ST(W) No Is sarpanch since 1994, and
Kurupa confidence is interested in politics. Has
Motion complete information about
Panchayat because of
experience

29. Shehnaz Kaikai Res. No Her husband would have

Banu OBC(W) confidence contested elections but
Motion because of women
reservation she was asked to
contest. She has not gone to
Panchayat office even once.
30 Vijaya Kukdajagat Res. No Highly active sarpanch.
OBC(W) confidence Gave the best response
Motion amongst the women
sarpanches surveyed. Faced
problems because of
political differences.

District: Balaghat
State: Madhya Pradesh

Problems
Sr. Name Village Nature of Faced Remarks
No. constituency
31. Babita Dogariya Res. Article 40 sachiv does not give

lxviii Kolarkar and Minhas

 Devendra OBC(W) information to the
Lilhare sarpanch. No support or
help from Government
officers of block and
district level.

32. Surman Patle Keshlewade Res. No confidence Faced no-confidence

OBC(W) Motion twice. Panches
demanded liquor and
money. Up sarpanch
wanted to hold control
and did the Panches to
his side by bribing them

33. Jheli Bai Aambejhari Res. SC(W) No confidence Fought case against her
Motion removal. Elections were
declared not
withstanding the fact
that final decision on the
case had not come.

34. Malti Nayak Kariadand Res. SC(W) No confidence Was removed after one
Motion and a half years of her
becoming sarpanch. Was
very hesitant to respond
to the questions. Thinks
that her being an SC was
a factor which prompted
the Panches to remove
her.

35. Kaushlya Bai Khamaria Res. SC(W) Article 40 Says that there was
Phulga absolutely no reason
was her removal. No
investigation was
conducted. In spite of
the difficulties faced,
would like to be
sarpanch again

36. Tulsi Bai Bitori Res. Article 40 Her husband was

Nagpure OBC(W) sarpanch earlier and had
there been no
reservation for women,
her husband would have
been the sarpanch,
instead of her.

37. Kamla Lilama Res. ST(W) No confidence Panches demanded

lxix Kolarkar and Minhas

 Sonvani Motion money and on her not
giving them, removed
her by bringing no-
confidence motion. Did
not fight case for stay
because of lack of
finances.
38. Sadhna Kosumba Res. Article 40 Treasurer and sachiv did
Deherwal OBC(W) not co-operate. There
were allegations of
corruption against her.
Panchayat work is
handled by her husband.
39 Sarita Sakeri Res. SC(W) No confidence Faced no confidence
Khandeka Motion motion twice because
Panches were
demanding money and
she could not give them
money. She bought
Panches by bribing and
thus was successful in
defeating no confidence
motion.

District: Rajanandgaon
State: Chhatisgarh

Problems
Sr. Name Village Nature Faced Remarks
No. of
constitue
ncy
40. Pushpa Bai Buddhu Res. Article 40 Political reasons for her

lxx Kolarkar and Minhas

 Sahu bardha ST(W) removal. Faced violence.
CEO, Zilla Parishad did
not re instate her in spite
of orders from Collector

41. Sevati Sinha Devadar Res. No confidence No use of training. Has

Gen(W) Motion faced lots of problems
because of no-
cooperation from
Panches. Would not like
to re-contest

42. Janki Bai Baghera Res. No confidence Was removed by CEO,

Aadhi SC(W) Motion Zilla Parishad in spite of
the stay orders by the
collector. But is not
disheartened. Would like
to re-contest

43. Ashwani Bai Chingoli Res. None Is sarpanch since 1994.

Lehre Gen.(W) Says co-operation by
sachiv and Panches and
family support are main
reasons for her success.

44. Chitrarekha Dhangaon Res. No confidence

Netam ST(W) Motion Fake signatures were
done in her name, and she
had to face corruption
charges. Was abused by
Kamleshwar Rajput, the
shiksha Karmi of the
village, in public.

45. Subhia Bai Kaldabri Res. No confidence

Thakur SC(W) Motion Did not get any family
support. Had to look after
house as well as fields.
Hardly got time to do
Panchayat work.

46. Umar Bai Madoda Res. None sachiv handles the

Adeli OBC(W) functioning of Panchayat.
sarpanch has little
information about
Panchayat.

47. Rukhmani Bhatagaon Res. None Was requested by

Sahu SC(W) villagers to be sarpanch.
Did not get family

lxxi Kolarkar and Minhas

 support and had to resign
because of that.
48. N. Simon Somni Res. No confidence Is 64 years old and was
Gen(W) Motion requested by villagers to
be sarpanch. But the
politically active people
of the village oppose her
and have been trying to
get her removed by
getting Panches on their
side.
49. Kunwaria Bai Chachaanpeh Res. No confidence sachiv is not co-operative.
Letam ri ST(W) Motion All the affairs are handled
by the sachiv. sarpanch is
simply a rubber stamp.
50. Krishni Bai Dhiri Res. None Husband was sarpanch
Sahu OBC(W) earlier and is running the
Panchayat in her wife’s
name. She contested only
to keep the post of
sarpanch in her family.
51. Hiro Bai Tedesora Res. No confidence Faced no-confidence
Chandravanshi SC(W) Motion because people of the
village wanted labour for
construction work of the
Panchayat to be taken
from their village
whereas she hired
labourers from outside.
52. Meena Bai Khuteri Res. Article 40 Does not have much
Sonkar Gen(W) information regarding
functioning of the
Panchayat. Most of the
work is handled by her
husband.
53 Heero Bai Singhamedi Res. No confidence No confidence motion
Salame ST(W) Motion was defeated, but still she
was removed by the
CEO, Zilla Parishad,
because of irregularity.
District: Akola
State: Maharashtra

Problems
Sr. Name Village Nature of Faced Remarks
No. constituency

lxxii Kolarkar and Minhas

54 Sumantai Shivar Res. None Was asked to take long leave
Upase OBC(W) by Upsarpanch so that he
can handle the
responsibilities of sarpanch.

55 Ashatai Tapare Washimba Res. No Faced opposition due to

OBC(W) confidence castesism in the village.
motion

56 Shobhatai Borgaon Res. No Very active sarpanch and

Niwane (Manju) OBC(W) confidence wiling to contest for next
motion term also. Good support
from family members and
Panchayat members.

57 Rekhatai Kolambi Res. Gen.(W) No All Panchayat related work

Khandel confidence done by father-in-law who
motion was socially and politically
active in the village. Passive
sarpanch.

58 Ranjanatai Dahatonda Res. VJ(W) No Not interested in Panchayat

Pawar confidence related work. Was made
motion sarpanch only due to
reserved post.

59 Surekha Jhot Yendli Res. No Highly motivated to work as

OBC(W) confidence sarpanch. Good support
motion from family. Was already
socially active in mahila
mandals.

60 Pratibha Tiptala Res. SC(W) No House attacked by the

Dongre confidence opposition members. Now
motion staying out of the village in
Taluka headquarters.

61 Sumitra Mehre Laayit Res. No Members were asking for

OBC(W) confidence money from construction
motion work to be done in village.

lxxiii Kolarkar and Minhas

62 Umatai Ingle Dhanora Res. OBS(W) No Members expecting
(Vaidya) confidence sarpanch just to sign on the
motion documents and not look into
details of the work of
Panchayat.

63 Fulabai Kevat Kapsi Res. Gen(W) No Was member for previous

confidence three terms. Is courageous
motion and was not afraid of
drunken members
threatening her in the
meeting.
64 Ushatai Gadge Lakhanwa Res. Gen(W) None sarpanch was having
da agreement with other
member of sharing the post
of sarpanch for 2.5 years
each.

65 Devkabai Aadsul Res. SC(W) No sarpanch was not aware of

Tayade confidence Panchayat work. Was not
motion interested in Panchayat
work, all work done by her
husband.

66 Sunandatai Saundala Res. Gen(W) No One year after she lost her
Zaparde confidence post, a recovery was
motion initiated against her, due to a
complaint of one villager.

67 Geetabai Wagh Warudi Res. SC(W) No Members and Upsarpanch

confidence asking money from
motion sarpanch. On refusal by
sarpanch, sarpanch was
removed from the post.

District: Bhandara
State: Maharashtra

Sr. Name Village Nature of Problem Remarks

No Constituency Faced

lxxiv Kolarkar and Minhas

68 Mukta Dabha Res. OBC(W) No Member pressurising sarpanch to
Sathavane confidence construct school on encroached
motion land so that he can later frame
sarpanch in the case.

69 Mangala Dabha Res. OBC(W) No Panchayat member misguided the

Nagpure confidence sarpanch. This member creates all
motion sorts of problems like threatening
and abusing the sarpanch in the
meeting.

70 Lalita Ramteke Bhilewada Res. SC(W) No gram sachiv not supporting. Got
confidence guidance from a relative, who is a
motion leader of labour union, while she
faced no-confidence motion.

71 Pushpa Borgaon Res. OBC(W) No Interacts with other woman

Lanjewar confidence sarpanches of the region in the
motion time of crisis.

72 Asha Mohan Garada Res. Gen(W) No Charges of corruption during

Thaokar Bujrug confidence construction of school building.
motion
73 Durgabai Koka Res. Gen(W) No Had charges of corruption against
Chandrabhan confidence her. Rupees 17000 were recovered
Raut motion from the sarpanch.

74 Baby Kardi Res. SC(W) Police A shopkeeper of the village

Chandrakumar Case due assaulted sarpanch, while road
Jagnit to physical construction work was in progress.
assault The case is now in the court.

75 Shobha Eklari Res. Gen(W) No Not interested in Panchayat work.

Vithobaji confidence Charges of corruption during road
Selokar motion construction work.
76 Sunanda Koshti Res. SC(W) No Was facing problem in access to
Shridhar confidence Panchayat office, since office was
Bhavsagar motion in other village. On one
independence day, members
hoisted the flag before the
sarpanch could reach the venue.
And then a case against sarpanch,
regarding absence during flag
hoisting, was lodged.

77 Anita Ravindra Jharli Res. ST(W) No No-confidence motion not yet

Tumdam confidence received to the sarpanch, at the
motion time of our visit. Active sarpanch,
said that she would do all that
would be possible to pull down the

lxxv Kolarkar and Minhas

 no-confidence motion.
78 Geetabai Hardoli Res. ST(W) No Passive sarpanch. Her son was
Baliram Ilpate confidence doing all the work relating to the
motion Panchayat.

79 Kusum Deorao Silli Res. SC(W) No She was member for two terms,
Bansod confidence prior to becoming sarpanch.
motion Members asking for sarpanch’s
resignation and offered 500 rupees
if the sarpanch did so.
80 Ratnamala Ganeshpur Res. SC(W) No Active sarpanch. Once she caught
Sudesh Vaidya confidence the Upsarpanch while he was
motion illegally selling cement, meant for
Panchayat work.

District: Chandrapur
State: Maharashtra

lxxvi Kolarkar and Minhas

 Problems
Sr. Name Village Nature of Faced Remarks
No. constituency
81 Savitri Lohara Res. SC(W) No Good support from
Ramteke confidence husband. Caught
motion Upsarpanch while he was
illegally selling food
grains belonging to the
Panchayat.
82 Sunita Chhota Res. Gen(W) No Removed from post due
Junghare Nagpur confidence to charges of corruption.
motion Highly de-motivated due
to false corruption
charges.

83 Girijabai Warvat Res. Gen(W) No No support from

Borule confidence Upsarpanch.
motion No confidence motion not
passed.

84 Sakhubai Shivni Chor Res. No Husband was member for

Librad OBC(W) confidence previous three terms
motion hence got support from
husband. Did not go to
court against the
No confidence motion
due to lack of money.

85 Sumatai Baranj Res. SC(W) No Was troubled by members

Dupare Mokasa confidence due to castesism.
motion

86 Sindhutai Khambada Res. No Was not interested in

Bhoyar OBC(W) confidence Panchayat work. Became
motion sarpanch only for name
sake.

87 Vimaltai Shegaon Res. Gen(W) No Upsarpanch asking

Kosurkar confidence money from sarpanch. On
motion refusal by sarpanch,
sarpanch was removed
from the post.

lxxvii Kolarkar and Minhas

88 Pratibha Shegaon Res. Gen(W) No Was removed from the
Labhane confidence post due to castesism
motion prevailing in the village.

89 Pramilatai Talodhi Res. Gen(W) No On independence day,

Madankar confidence flag put deliberately put
motion upside down by
Upsarpanch, so that
sarpanch can be framed in
case of insult to national
flag. But sarpanch got to
know of it and corrected
the mistake in time. Still
the Upsarpanch filed case
against the sarpanch.
90 Babytai Savli Res. Gen(W) No No confidence motion
Longade confidence was brought thrice on the
motion sarpanch. Two times it
was rejected, was passed
the third time.

91 Latabai Gadchandur Res. ST(W) No Did not get support from

Kannake confidence government officials.
motion Members troubling the
sarpanch.

92 Sindhutai Chinora Res. No Upsarpanch threatening

Lichade OBC(W) confidence the sarpanch and family
motion members with dire
consequences, also
abusing them in public.

District: Nagpur
State: Maharashtra

Srl. Name Village Nature of Problem Remarks

No. Constituency Faced

lxxviii Kolarkar and Minhas

93 Sheela Walni Res. SC(W) No Very active sarpanch. Faced
Sheshraoji confidenc political problems. Members
Chaware e motion of other political party
pressurising BDO against
sarpanch.
94 Lata Krishna Pota Res. Gen(W) No Got no support from gram
Patmase confidenc sachiv. Party politics in play.
e motion Sarpanch asked for audit of
Panchayat.
95 Kusum Chicholi Res. OBC(W) No Sarpanch accused of
Vithalrao confidenc corruption to the tune of Rs.
Akotkar e motion 2 lakhs, in connivance with
the gram sachiv.
96 Fulanbai Khubala Res. SC(W) No Illiterate. Gram Sevak often
Dharamdas Patil confidenc misguided sarpanch in
e motion official matters.
97 Heerabai Kothulna Res. Gen(W) No Not very active sarpanch.
Atmaram confidenc Upsarpanch desired that
Dakhole e motion sarpanch should not even
attend the meeting.
98 Ushatai Ishwar Joga Res. OBC(W) Leal Complaint against sarpanch
Wadi Action made by Upsarpanch
regarding illegal connection
of water tap.
99 Poornima Bijewada Res. SC(W) No Sarpanch was accused of
Deshbhratar confidenc corruption. Was member for
e motion one term prior to becoming
sarpanch.
100 Paran Pradeep Mahadula Res. OBC(W) No Lost post due to party
Sonavane confidenc politics. Sarpanch supporting
e motion BJP, while congress ruling at
Zilla Parishad. Congress
removed her from the post.
101 Vimal Bishan Hiwara Bazar Res. SC(W) No Sarpanch not acting
Khobragade confidenc according to wishes of
e motion Upsarpanch and members.
Hence removed from the
post by no-confidence
motion.
102 Shamkala Saalai Res. ST(W) Legal Did not pay house tax for six
Bhimraj Kumre action months. Hence removed
from the post.
103 Gunvanti Umri Res. ST(W) No Members asking sarpanch to
Bhalavi confidenc sign on the documents.
e motion
District: Durg
State: Chhatisgarh

Srl. Name Village Nature of Problem Remarks

No. Constituency Faced

lxxix Kolarkar and Minhas

104 Urvashi Rasmara Res. OBC(W) No Members asked sarpanch to build
Dewangan confidence school on a private land, to which
motion the sarpanch refused. Faced a
crowd of around 400 factory
workers of the village who wanted
her to make their jobs permanent.
105 Padmini Koliyapuri Res. SC(W) Article 40 Carried pond-digging work,
Tandon without getting the proposal for
the same passed in the gram
Sabha.
106 Somlata Chicha Res. OBC(W) Article 40 Husband former sarpanch. All
Sahu Panchayat work done by
sarpanch’s husband.
107 Pannabai Dudiya Res. OBC(W) No Widow sarpanch. Her son also
Sahu confidence was sarpanch in previous term.
motion Was not conducting meetings
regularly, hence no-confidence
motion moved against sarpanch.
108 Kumaribai Tikri Res. Gen(W) No No confidence motion due to
Banjari confidence prevailing casteism.
motion
109 Pushpa Patel Sikosa Res. Gen(W) Section 40 Not very active and vocal
sarpanch.
110 Meera Sarekha Res. ST(W) No Not very active and vocal
Thakur confidence sarpanch. Does not like panchayat
motion work. Did not attend any training
program.
111 Kamala Saakri Res. Gen(W) No Sarpanch feels that she would not
Sahu confidence have been able to work without
motion husband’s support. The members
during a gram Sabha meeting
physically assaulted sarpanch.
112 Vishwasa Saaja Res. SC(W) No Illiterate sarpanch. Was removed
bai confidence from the post due to casteism.
motion
113 Najma Dumardih Res. SC(W) No Had conflicts with Tehsildar.
Begum confidence Tehsildar attempting to remove
motion sarpanch with the help of other
members of the panchayat.

114 Laxmi Sahu Kanakot Res. Gen(W) Section 40 Upsarpanch got sarpanch’s
signature on blank paper and then
lodged a false complaint on the
same paper.

115 Chameli Kanakot Res. Gen(W) No Sarpanch not willing to work

Chandrakar confidence according to the wishes of former
motion sarpanch. Hence no-confidence
motion.

lxxx Kolarkar and Minhas

116 Savitribai Gujra Res. SC(W)No Members ask money for alcohol
Kurre confidence from sarpanch. Feels that men
motion having drinking habits should not
be allowed to hold any post in the
panchayat.
117 Bimla Saantra Res. Gen(W) Corruption Based on a complaint of
Verma Charges/Po Upsarpanch, the sarpanch was put
lice Case into the lock-up for two days.
118 Menaka Chhata Res. Gen(W) Corruption Complaint was lodged on the
Yadav charges sarpanch based on corruption done
by the former sarpanch. This
sarpanch was removed within six
months.
119 Aruna Jevra Res. Gen(W) Resigned Physically handicapped. Was
troubled by members to such an
extent that she decided to resign.
Stayed as sarpanch for four years.
120 Leela Sahu Sirsa Khurd Res. OBC(W) No Granted permit to a liquor shop.
confidence Had to face wrath of women folk
motion of the village.
twice
121 Geetadevi Kachandur Res. Gen(W) No Pressure from higher class people
Verma confidence of the village. One political party
motion collected ‘fine’ from the villagers
in the name of the sarpanch.
Sarpanch was unaware of this.
Highly de-motivated due to
trouble given by higher class
people.
122 Trivenibai Kandarka Res. Gen(W) No Members asked 26000 rupees
Sahu confidence from sarpanch as a price towards
motion withdrawing the no-confidence
motion.
123 Gulababai Khapri Res. Gen(W) Section 40 Because of old enmity between
the families, charges of corruption
put against the sarpanch.

ANNEXURE – III: PANCHAYAT SAKHI PROGRAMME

lxxxi Kolarkar and Minhas

 Prakriti, an NGO is working on women’s issues. Prakriti is also working on
empowering women in decision making process. It has been conducting training for
elected women representatives (EWRs) in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh for the last
eight years during these training programmes, Prakriti realised that training alone was not
sufficient to improve women’s participation in Panchayats. Besides, there should be some
medium that provides support, guidance and extend a helping hand to the EWRs in the
times of need or crisis. This is how the concept of Panchayat Sakhi was evolved.

Thus Panchayat Sakhis were appointed in nine districts of Prakriti’s field area in
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh. Each Sakhi is working with 15 gram
Panchayats. In total Prakriti is working with 125 gram Panchayats and about 500 EWRs.

The Panchayat Sakhis are engaged in following activities :-:

 Providing information on the role and responsibilities of EWRs.

 Organizing awareness and sensitization programmes on gram Sabha, people’s
participation etc.
 Handling case of EWRs in crisis.
 Follow up of village-level issues at the Block and District Level.
 Organizing voters’ awareness campaign.
 District Level Consultations.
 Conducting studies and surveys.

The initiatives of Panchayat Sakhi have led to success at various places like in
Mandla and Chhindwara, where women never participated in gram Sabha. Their
participation is ensured due to efforts taken by Panchayat Sakhi. Similarly in two district
of Maharashtra, the cases of women sarpanch in trouble were taken to the Minister level,
when expected support was extended and today the sarpanches are working confidently.
a. Voters’ awareness campaign.
b. Campaign for participation in gram Sabha.
c. Exposure to members EWRs.

lxxxii Kolarkar and Minhas

d. Sensitisation of committees formed by gram Sabha.

The need and potential of Panchayat Sakhi programme could be assessed from the
demand for Panchayat Sakhi from various EWRs. Even the Government officials and
office bearers of gram Panchayat take Panchayat Sakhi in confidence, when mobilisation
for common cause is required.

This Panchayat Sakhi Programme has successfully completed two years. During
these two years the demand for Panchayat Sakhi has increased and many dimensions
have been added to our initial thrust area. Thus we are ready to face the new challenges in
the field of political empowerment of women with our team of Panchayat Sakhis.

ANNEXURE – IV: THE 73rd CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT, 199211

11
Received the assent of the President on April 20, 1993 and published in the Gazette of India, Extra. Part
II, Section 1, dated 20th April 1993.

lxxxiii Kolarkar and Minhas

Be it enacted by Parliament in the forty-third Year of the Republic of India as follows:-

1. Short title and commencement –

(1) This Act may be called the Constitution (seventy-third Amendments) Act, 1992.
(2) It shall come into force on such date12 as the Central Government may, by
notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.

2. Insertion of new Part IX – After Part VIII of the Constitution, the following Part
shall be inserted, namely:-

PART IX
THE PANCHAYATS

243. Definitions – In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires,

(a) “District” means a district in a State;
(b) “gram Sabha” means a body consisting of persons registered in the electoral rolls
relating to a village comprised within the area of Panchayat at the village level;
(c) “intermediate level” means a level between the village and the district levels
specified by the Governor of a State by public notification to be the intermediate
level for the purposes of this Part;
(d) “Panchayat” means an institution (by whatever name called) of self-government
constituted under Article 243-B, for the rural areas;
(e) “Panchayat area” means the territorial area of a Panchayat;
(f) “population” means the population as ascertained at the last preceding census of
which the relevant figures have been published;
(g) “Village” means a village specified by the Governor by a public notification to be
a village for the purposes of this Part and includes a group of villages so specified.
243-A. gram Sabha – A gram Sabha may exercise such powers and perform such
functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.

12
Came into force w.e.f. 24-4-93 vide S.O. 267(E), DT. 24-4-1993

lxxxiv Kolarkar and Minhas

243-B. Constitution of Panchayats –
(1) There shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate
and district levels in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), Panchayats at the intermediate level may
not be constituted in a State having a population not exceeding twenty lakhs.

243-C. Composition of Panchayats

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, the Legislature of the State may, by law,
make provisions with respect to the compositions of the Panchayats: Provided that
the ratio between the population of the territorial area of a Panchayat at any level
and the number of seats in such Panchayat to be filled by election shall, so far as
practicable, be the same throughout the State.
(2) All the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen by direct election
from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area for this purpose, each
Panchayat area shall be divided into territorial constituencies in such a manner
that the ration between the population of each constituency and the number of
seats allotted to it shall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the
Panchayat area.
(3) The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for the representation –
a. Of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the village level, in the
Panchayats at the intermediate level or, in case of a State not having
Panchayats at the intermediate level, in the Panchayats at the district level;
b. Of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the intermediate level, in the
Panchayats at the district level;
c. Of the members of the House of the People and the members of the
Legislative Assembly of the State representing constituencies which
comprise wholly or partly a Panchayat area at a level other than the village
level, in such Panchayat;
d. Of the members of the Council of States and the members of the
Legislative Council of the State, where they are registered as electors
within –

lxxxv Kolarkar and Minhas

 i. A Panchayat area at the intermediate level, in Panchayat at the
intermediate level;
ii. A Panchayat area at the district level, in Panchayat at the district
level.
(4) The Chairperson of the Panchayat and other members of a Panchayat whether or
not chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat area
shall the right to vote in the meetings of the Panchayats.
(5) The Chairperson of –
a. A Panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such a manner as the
Legislature of the State may, by law, provide, and
b. A Panchayat at the intermediate level or district level shall be elected by,
and from amongst, the elected members thereof.

243-D. Reservation of Seats

(1) Seats shall be reserved for –
a. The Scheduled Castes; and
b. The Scheduled Tribes,
in every Panchayat and the number of seats so reserved shall bear, as nearly as
may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats to be filled by direct
election in that Panchayat as the population of the Scheduled Castes in that
Panchayat area or of the Scheduled Tribes in that Panchayat area bears to the total
population of that area and such seats may be allotted by rotation to the different
constituencies in a Panchayat.
(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall
be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be,
the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number
of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for
women and such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a
Panchayat.

lxxxvi Kolarkar and Minhas

 (4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or any other level
shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and women in
such manner as the Legislature of the State may, by law, provide: Provided that
the number of offices of Chairpersons reserved for the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes in the Panchayats at each level in any State shall bear, as nearly
as may be, the same proportion to the total number of such offices in the
Panchayats at each level as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State or
of the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total population of the State:
Provided further that not less than one-third of the total number of offices of
Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved for women:
Provided also that the number of offices reserved under this clause shall be
allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level.
(5) The reservation of the seats under clauses (1) and (2) and the reservation of office
of Chairpersons (other than the reservation of women) under clause (4) shall cease
to have effect on the expiration of the period specified in Article 334.
(6) Nothing in this part shall prevent the Legislature of a State from making any
provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat or offices of Chairpersons in
the Panchayat at any level in favour of backward class of citizens.

243-E. Duration of Panchayat etc. –

(1) Every Panchayat, unless sooner dissolved under any law for the time being in
force, shall continue for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting
and no longer.
(2) No amendment of any law for the time being in force shall have the effect of
causing dissolution of a Panchayat at any level, which is functioning immediately
before such amendment, till the expiration of its duration specified in clause (1).
(3) An election to constitute a Panchayat shall be completed –
a. Before the expiry of its duration specified in clause (1);
b. Before the expiration of the period of six months from the date of its
dissolution:

lxxxvii Kolarkar and Minhas

 Provided that where the remainder of the period for which the dissolved
Panchayat would have continued is less than six months, it shall not be
necessary to hold any election under this clause for constituting the
Panchayat.
(4) A Panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a Panchayat before expiration of
its duration shall continue only for the remainder of the period for which the
dissolved Panchayat would have continued under clause (1) had it not been
dissolved.

243-F. Disqualifications for Membership –

(1) A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of a
Panchayat –
a. If he is so disqualified by or under any law for the time being in force for
the purposes of elections to the Legislature of the State concerned:
Provided that no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less
than twenty-five years of age, if he has attained the age of twenty-one
years;
b. If he is so disqualified by or under any law made by the Legislature of the
State.
(2) If any question arises as to whether a member of a Panchayat has become subject
to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause (1), the question shall be
referred for the decision of such authority and in such manner as the Legislature
of a State may, by law, provide.

243-G. Powers, Authority and Responsibilities of Panchayats –

Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Legislature of a State may, by
law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable
them to function as institutions of self-government and such law may contain provisions
for the devolution of powers and responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriate
level, subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, with respect to –
(1) The preparation of plans for economic development and social justice;

lxxxviii Kolarkar and Minhas

 (2) The implementation of schemes for economic development and social justice as
may be entrusted to them including those in relation to the matters listed in the
Eleventh Schedule.

243-H. Powers to impose taxes by, and Funds of the Panchayats –

The Legislature of a State may, by law, –
(1) Authorise a Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties, tolls and
fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to such limits;
(2) Assign to a Panchayat such taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied and collected by the
State Government for such purposes and subject to such conditions and limits;
(3) Provide for making such grant-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated
Fund of the State; and
(4) Provide for constitution of such funds for crediting all moneys received,
respectively, by or on behalf of the Panchayats and also for the withdrawal of
such moneys there from,
as may be specified in the law.

243-I. Constitution of Finance Commission to review financial position

(1) The Governor of a State shall, as soon as may be within one year from the
commencement of the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendments) Act, 1992
and thereafter at the expiration of every fifth year, constitute a Finance
Commission to review the financial position of the Panchayats and to make
recommendations to the Governor as to –
a. The principles which should govern –
i. The distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the
net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the
State, which may be divided between them under this Part and
the allocation between the Panchayats at all levels of their
respective shares of such proceeds;
ii. The determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which
may be assigned to, or apportioned by the Panchayats;

lxxxix Kolarkar and Minhas

 iii. The rants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund
of the State;
b. The measures needed to improve the financial position of the
Panchayats;
c. Any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Governor
in the interests of sound finance of the Panchayats.
(2) The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for composition of the
Commission, the qualifications which shall be requisite for appointment as
members thereof and the manner in which they shall be selected.
(3) The Commission shall determine their procedure and shall have such powers
in the performance of their functions as the Legislature of a State may, by law,
confer on them.
(4) The Governor shall cause every recommendation made by the Commission
under this article together with an explanatory memorandum as to the action
taken thereon to be laid before the Legislature of the State.

243-J. Audit of Accounts of Panchayat –

The Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisions with respect to the
maintenance of accounts by the Panchayats and the auditing of such accounts.

243-K. Election of the Panchayats –

(1) The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls for,
and the conduct of, all elections to the Panchayats shall be vested in a State
Election Commissioner to be appointed by the Governor.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of a State, the
conditions of service and tenure of office of the State Election Commissioner
shall be such as the Governor may by rule determine; Provided that the State
Election Commissioner shall not be removed from his office except in like
manner and on the like grounds as the Judge of a High Court and the conditions of
service of the State Election Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage
after his appointment.

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 (3) The Governor of the State shall, when so requested by the State Election
Commission, make available to the State Election Commission such staff as may
be necessary for the discharge of the functions conferred on the State Election
Commission by clause (1).
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a State may, by
law, make provision with respect to all matters relating to, or in connection with,
elections to the Panchayats.

243-L. Application to Union Territories –

The provisions of this Part shall apply to the Union Territories and shall, in their
application to a Union territory, have effect as if the references to the Governor of a State
were references to the Administrator of the Union territory appointed under Article 239
and references to the Legislature or the Legislative Assembly of a State were references,
in relation to a Union territory having a Legislative Assembly, to that Legislative
Assembly: Provided that the President may, by public notification, direct that the
provisions of these Part shall apply to any Union Territory or part thereof subject to such
exceptions and modifications as he may specify in the notification.

243-M. Part not to apply to certain areas –

(1) Nothing in this Part shall apply to the Scheduled Areas referred to in clause (1),
and the tribal areas referred to in clause (2), of Article 244.
(2) Nothing in this Part shall apply to –
a. The States of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram;
b. The Hill Area in the State of Manipur for which District Council exist
under any law for the time being in force.
(3) Nothing in this Part –
a. Relating to Panchayats at the district level shall apply to the hill areas of
the District of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengal for which Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council exists under any law for the time being in force;
b. Shall be construed to affect the functions and powers of the Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council constituted under such law.

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 (4) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution –
a. The Legislature of a State referred to in sub-clause (a) of clause (2) may,
by law, extend this Part to that State, except the areas, if any, referred to in
clause (1), if the Legislative Assembly of that State passes a resolution to
that effect by majority of the total membership of that House and by a
majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that house present
and voting;
b. Parliament may, by law, extend the provision of this Part to the Scheduled
Areas and the tribal areas referred to in clause (1) subject to such
exceptions and modifications as may be specified in such law, and no such
law shall be deemed to be an amendment of this Constitution for the
purpose of Article 368.

243-N. Continuance of existing laws and Panchayats –

Notwithstanding anything in this Part, any provision of any law relating to
Panchayats in force in a State immediately before the commencement of Constitution
(Seventy-third Amendments) Act, 1992, which is inconsistent with the provisions of this
Part, shall continue to be in force until amended or repealed by a competent Legislature
or other competent authority or until the expiration of one year from such
commencement, whichever is earlier: Provided that all the Panchayats existing
immediately before such commencement shall continue till the expiration of their
duration, unless sooner dissolved by a resolution passed to that effect by the Legislative
Assembly of that State or, in case of a State having Legislative Council, by each house of
the Legislature of that State.

243-O. Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters –

Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution –
(1) The validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the
allotment of seats to such constituencies, made or purporting to be made under
Article 243-K, shall not be called in question in any court;

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 (2) No elections to any Panchayats shall be called in question except by an election
petition presented to such authority and in such manner as is provided for by or
under any law made by the Legislature of a State.

3. Amendment of Article 280 – In clause (3) of Article 280 of the Constitution, after
sub-clause (b), the following sub-clause shall be inserted, namely –
1. The measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement
the resources of the Panchayats in the State on the basis of the recommendations
made by the Finance Commission of the State.

4. Addition of Eleventh Schedule – After the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, the
following Schedule shall be added, namely –

ELEVENTH SCHEDULE
(Article 243-G)
1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension.
2. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, land consolidation and soil
conservation.
3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development.
4. Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry.
5. Fisheries.
6. Social forestry and farm forestry.
7. Minor forest produce.
8. Small scale industries, including food processing industries.
9. Khadi, village and cottage industries.
10. Rural housing.
11. Drinking water.
12. Fuel and fodder.
13. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of communication.
14. Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity.
15. Non-conventional energy sources.

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16. Poverty alleviation programme.
17. Education, including primary and secondary schools.
18. Technical training and vocational education.
19. Adult and non-formal education.
20. Libraries.
21. Cultural Activities.
22. Markets and fairs.
23. Health and sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries.
24. Family welfare.
25. Women and child development.
26. Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded.
27. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the
Scheduled Tribes.
28. Public distribution system.
29. Maintenance of community assets.

ANNEXURE – V: PANCHAYATI RAJ ACT

(A) MADHYA PRADESH

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 The Madhya Pradesh Legislative Assembly has adopted a new Panchayati Raj Act
to conform to the seventy-third (Constitution Amendment) Act, 1992 after repealing the
earlier one.

Gram Sabha (GS)

Under the Act, every gram Panchayat shall have a gram Sabha (GS) consisting of
one or more villages. One-tenth of the total number of members of this body shall form
the quorum for these meetings which shall be convened by the Secretary of the gram
Panchayat. The meetings will be presided over by either the sarpanch or the Upsarpanch
of the gram Panchayat. The gram Panchayat shall present before the GS the annual
statement of accounts, reports for the preceding financial year, development programmes
for the ensuing year, the last audit note along with the replies to queries raised by the
auditors and any matter if required by the Collector or any other officer. The gram
Panchayat shall consider the suggestions, if any, made by the gram Sabha.

The Structure of the Panchayati Raj

The state has a three-tier system of Panchayati Raj with the gram Panchayat (GP)
at the village level, the Janpad Panchayat (JP) at the intermediate level and the Zilla
Panchayat (ZP) at the district level. No minimum population is fixed for a GP. If the
population of a GP is less than 1000, it will have ten members and if its population is
more than this number, its membership can go up to 20. the constituencies of GP may be
determined by the Collector.

The GP shall comprise of Panches and the sarpanch elected by the voters in its
area. The Act originally provided for co-option of members from the Scheduled Castes
and Tribes and Cooperative Societies to the GP as well as the other two tiers. This
provision was removed by an amendment passed by the State Assembly on 18
September, 1994.
If in a GP, fifty percent or less of the total seats has been reserved for SCs/STs, a
quarter of the seats shall be reserved for the Other Backward Castes (OBCs). The
reservation for these sections in the case of the Panches shall be based on their respective

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population in the villages, whereas in that of the sarpanches it shall be in proportion to
their population in the block. If the sarpanch does not belong to SC/ST/OBC categories,
the Upsarpanch shall be elected from amongst them. In other words, one of the two
elected functionaries has to belong to them. A motion for the removal of the sarpanch and
Upsarpanch shall have to be supported by not less than three-quarters of the Panches to
become operational (Section 21(1)).

Janpad Panchayat
The Janpad Panchayat shall comprise of (a) members elected from the
constituencies (b) members of the State Legislative Assembly and Parliament whose
constituencies wholly or partly fall within the block.

Each directly elected member shall represent a population of five thousand. The
total number of directly elected members shall range between ten and twenty-five. The
members of the Janpad Panchayat shall elect a President and Vice-President from
amongst its elected members, except those who are baring the chairperson or vice-
chairperson of the Cooperative Society (Section 25). The procedure for reserving seats
for SCs/STs/OBCs is the same as that for GP. Not less than a three-quarters majority is
required for adopting a no-confidence motion against the President of the Vice-President
of the JP (Section 28).

Zilla Panchayat
The Zilla Panchayat (ZP) consists of (a) members elected directly from the
constituencies, (b) all members of the Lok Sabha whose constituencies fall wholly or
partly in the district (c) all members of the Rajya Sabha whose names are registered in the
list of voters of a gram Panchayat, and (d) all members of the Legislative Assembly from
the district.

Each directly elected member shall represent a population of fifty thousand. If the
population of the district is less than five lakhs, it shall have eighteen constituencies.
However, the total number of members shall not exceed 35 (Section 30(1)).

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 The reservation for SCs/STs/OBCs in the Zilla Panchayat shall be on the same
basis as that in the case of the GP and the Janpad Panchayat. The state government is
empowered to remove the office bearers of the Panchayats at any of the three levels
(Section 40).

Conduct of Elections
The State Election Commission shall supervise, direct and control the preparation
of electoral rolls and conduct of elections of the Panchayats at all the three tiers.

Conduct of Business
Under the Act, even the indirectly elected members have been given the right to
vote in the election and removal of the chairperson (Section 44(12). The quorum for the
meeting of the Panchayat at any level shall be one-half of its members (Section 44(2)).
Meetings of the Panchayat shall be held at least once in a month. If the chairperson fails
to call the meetings, the Secretary in the case of ZP and the GP, and the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO) in that of the JP, shall issue notice for a meeting of the particular
Panchayat body after the lapse of 25 days from the last meeting. The giving of voting
rights to non-elected members in the election and removal of chairpersons of Panchayats
is against the spirit of self-governance.

Standing Committees
The Act also provides for the forming of standing committees. Under the GP, not
more than three such committees can be constituted. However, the names of the
committees have not been specified (Section 46). In the case of the ZP and the JP, the
following committees will have to be constituted; (i) General Administration Committee
(ii) Agriculture Committee (iii) Education Committee (iv) Communication and Works
Committee and (v) Cooperatives and Industries Committee.
More committees may be set up, if the Panchayats desire so and the prescribed
authority gives approval. A provision for co-option of members to these committees has
also been made in the Act. However, a co-opted member shall not have voting rights.

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Functions of Panchayats
In the case of the GP, a list of 29 functions has been provided in the Act. These
relate mainly to the maintenance of certain assets and assisting the higher bodies and the
government. The state government, the ZP and the JP may also assign some functions to
the GP. Funds for discharging the functions so assigned shall also be given to the GP. But
in such cases the GP shall act as an agent of the higher assigning bodies or the
government as the case may be. The powers relating to public health facilities, security,
control over and erection of buildings, obstructions in and encroachments of public
streets and open sites and the naming of streets etc. have been given to the Panchayats
(Section 54-58) which can also impose penalty on the defaulters.

The implementation of the poverty alleviation and rural development

programmes, emergency relief, management of local festivals, markets, etc., are in JPs
domain. The state government may also assign some functions to it. While performing
the assigned functions, the JP will merely act as an agent of the government. In a nutshell,
no functions have been outlined clearly, as most of them have been made subject to rules
made by the government or to general or special orders issued by it from time to time
(Section 50,51).

Funds and Property of Panchayats

Every Panchayat shall establish a fund to be built from the following sources: (a)
income from the property vested in it by the state government, (b) the funds assigned by
the state government and (c) grants-in-aid.

Establishment, Budget and Accounts

A GP or a group of GPs shall have a Secretary who will be appointed by the state
government or by the prescribed authority. The JP and the ZP shall have a Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) and a Secretary respectively. These two officials will also be
appointed by the state government. Besides, the Panchayat can appoint their own

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employees with the prior approval of the prescribed authority. Provision for deputations
has also been made. The functions of the Secretary/CEO shall be as may be prescribed.

Every Panchayat shall prepare a budget containing estimates of its income and
expenditure. The budget shall be approved by the prescribed authority. The annual
accounts or the reports of the administration of Panchayats shall be presented to the same
authority in the manner prescribed in the Act.

Taxation and Recovery of Claims

A gram Panchayat shall impose property/land tax, (if the value of property is more
than Rupees six thousand and it does not belong to the government and is not used for
religious or educational purpose), a private toilet tax if cleaning is the responsibility of
the GP, and a low market fee (Section 77(13)). Besides, a GP, with the prior approval of
the JP, may impose certain taxes listed in schedule II, section 77(21). It may also charge
fee on certain items listed under schedule III of the Act (Section 80).

A JP shall impose tax on theatres or theatrical performances and other public

entertainments and shows. A JP may also levy a development tax on agricultural land
(Section 77). A cess on the land is leviable only by the state government but the proceeds
shall be transferred to the GP. The duty on transfer of property within the block shall be
increased by one percent of its value by the state government (Section 74,75) and
resultant income shall accrue to the GP. With the help of these resources, a Madhya
Pradesh Panchayat Raj Fund shall be formed. From this fund a grant-in-aid shall be given
to the GPs and the JPs every year.

Control
Under this chapter, which has 10 sections, the state government has arrogated to
itself supreme powers over the Panchayats. It can inspect any work of the Panchayats,
suspend orders passed by them, issue directions to and dissolve them, conduct inquiries
in their affairs and delegate their powers to one or the other of their officers.

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Miscellaneous
The Panchayats in the state are empowered to frame certain bye-laws. But these
can come into force only after they have been approved by the prescribed authority
(Section 95). They may also raise loans with the prior sanction of the state government.
There will be a separate and independent Audit Organisation under the control of the state
government to undertake audits of the accounts of the Panchayats. Significantly, the Act
is silent on the formation of the District Planning Committees in the state.

(B) MAHARASHTRA
The Maharashtra State Assembly, instead of adopting the new Panchayat Act, has
amended the existing Bombay Village Panchayat Act, 1958 and the Maharashtra Zilla
Panchayats and Panchayat Samiti Act, 1961.

Gram Sabha
Holding of two meetings of the gram Sabha (GS) in a financial year is mandatory.
If the sarpanch or Upsarpanch fails without sufficient cause to hold these meetings, he
shall be disqualified (Section 7(1)).

The gram Panchayat is required to place its annual statement of accounts, report
of the administration of the previous financial year, development and other programme of
work proposed for the current financial year, last audit note and replies and any other
matter required by the Standing Committee of the Zilla Parishad, Panchayat Samiti or
Chief Executive of Zilla Parishad before the gram Sabha.

The meetings of the GS shall be open to all members of the GS and the gram
Panchayat is expected to consider the suggestions made in them (Section 8(2)). Besides,
the Sabha is also supposed to carry out the other functions as may be to it by the state
government (Section 8(3)).
The provision that if, for no valid reason, the sarpanch or the Upsarpanch fails to
hold any meeting of the GP, he shall be disqualified is a welcome feature of the Act. But
the effectiveness of this provision is lost since “the decision of the Collector on the

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question whether or not there was such sufficient cause shall be final”. Further, the gram
Sabha has not been given the authority to approve and sanction the annual budget and
development programmes.

Gram Panchayat
The number of members of the gram Panchayat (GP) shall be between 7 and 15
depending on the population of the GP area (Section 10(i)). The minimum population of a
gram Panchayat has not been specified. The GP shall be presided by the sarpanch who
shall be elected by and from amongst the elected members (Section 30). It means that the
sarpanch shall be elected indirectly. And Upsarpanch shall also be elected by and from
amongst the elected members. As per the Constitution (Seventy third Amendment) Act,
the method of election of the sarpanch had been left to the states. The Maharashtra
Assembly, unlike other state legislatures has provided for indirect election of the
sarpanch.

Removal of sarpanch or Upsarpanch

The sarpanch or Upsarpanch or any member of the gram Panchayat may be
removed by the Standing Committee of the Zilla Parishad if he is found guilty of
misconduct (Section 39). However, any person aggrieved by an order of the Standing
Committee may within 30 days from the communication of such order, appeal to the
Commissioner (Section 30(3)).

Staff
The Act provides for one or more secretaries for every gram Panchayat or group
of the GPs, as the Chief Executive Officer may determine (Section 60(1)). The Secretary
shall be from the District Service, Class (III) Cadre. Although he shall be posted with the
Panchayats, his salary and allowances shall be paid from the district fund (Section 60(2)).
The gram Panchayat may also appoint its own employee for carrying out its
responsibility but the salary of such employee shall be given from the village fund. The
gram Panchayat is empowered to suspend or dismiss such employees (Section 61(1)).

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The sarpanch shall exercise supervision and control over all officers and servants of the
Panchayat (Section 38 (c)).

Functions
As per Section 45 of the Act, the functions and duties of the gram Panchayat are
enumerated in Schedule I, also known as village list. It contains as many as 79 functions
and duties of the gram Panchayats. The Panchayat is also required to perform such
functions as are delegated to it by the Zilla Parishad, the Panchayat Samiti and the State
Government.

Property and Fund

A gram Panchayat is competent to lease, sell or otherwise transfer its moveable or
immovable property (section 55). Section 57 of the Acct provides for a Village Fund
which shall be constituted by the (a) amount allocated to it by the State Government and
(b) proceeds of taxes imposed by the Panchayat like tax on building, betterment charges
on the lands, pilgrim tax, tax on fairs, festivals and other entertainments, tax on some
profession, trade or employment etc.

The provision has also been made that if, in opinion of the Panchayat Samiti, the
income of the Panchayat is not commensurate with the duties assigned to it, it may
require that the Panchayat takes steps, within six months, to increase its income to an
extent the Panchayat Samiti considers necessary. If the Panchayat fails to heed the advice
of the Panchayat Samiti, the latter shall take necessary steps to raise the Panchayat
income by levying taxes or fees or by increasing the rates on them (section 128). As per
section 131, every year the Panchayat shall get a grant from the State Government of a
sum equal to average of the amounts of the ordinary land revenue payable to a Panchayat
is found less than the amount arrived at on the basis of one rupee per capita of the
population of the village, the Panchayat shall be entitled to a grant equal to the difference
from the State Government (section 132 A). Every Panchayat shall credit at least 35
percent of the grant received from the State Government to a separate fund called the
Village Employment Fund. Another important provision is for establishing the District

cii Kolarkar and Minhas

Village Development Fund. The amount under this fund shall be contributed by the
Panchayats. This fund shall be utilised for the purpose of granting loans to Panchayats.

Control
Under this chapter which contains 22 sections procedures for control over the
Panchayats by different bodies like the Panchayat Samiti, the Zilla Parishad, the
Commissioner and the State Government have been described.

Rules and Bye-Laws

The rule making power is vested in the State Government. However, in case of
bye-laws, the gram Panchayat is empowered to frame them but prior sanction of the
Commissioner is a sine quo none.

Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad

Composition of Panchayat Samiti
Every Panchayat Samiti shall consist of members elected by directly, one from
each constituency. Every member shall represent a population of 17,500 (section 57&58).

Committee of sarpanches
As per section 77A of the Act, the Panchayat Samiti shall appoint a committee
consisting of either 15 sarpanches or of sarpanches of one-fifth of the total number of
Panchayats in the Block, whichever is more, to be known as the Committee of
sarpanches. The sarpanches will be nominated by the Panchayat Samiti by rotation every
year. The Deputy Chairperson of the PS shall be Ex-Officio Chairperson of the
Committee and the Extension Officer (Panchayat) shall act as its secretary. This
committee shall be a consultative and advisory body. The Panchayat Samiti shall give due
consideration to the advice of this committee.

Composition of Zilla Parishad

The total number of members of the Zilla Parishad shall be between 50 and 75,
depending on the population of the district. One member shall represent a population of

ciii Kolarkar and Minhas

35000. In addition, the chairpersons of the Panchayat Samitis shall also be members of
the Zilla Parishad. MPs and MLAs have not been made members of the Zilla Parishad.
The State Government may remove a member of the Zilla Parishad on the
recommendation of not less than two-thirds of its members.

Staff
Every Zilla Parishad shall have a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and one or more
Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) and other supporting staff. The CEO and DCEO
shall be appointed and also transferred by the State Government (Section 94 (1) (2) ).
However, if at least two-third members of the Zilla Parishad pass a resolution in favour of
withdrawing a CEO or DCEO, the State Government shall recall such an officer from
service under the Zilla Parishad (Section 94 (3) ). There shall be a Block Development
Officer for every Panchayat Samiti who shall be appointed by the State Government
(Section 98).

Committees
As per section 78, each Zilla Parishad shall have a Standing Committee and seven
subject committees. The Chairperson of the Zilla Parishad shall be the President of the
Standing Committee and the Chairpersons of the subject committees and eight members
elected by the Zilla Parishad members from amongst themselves shall be its members.
The representation of the weaker sections is also ensured in this committee. The DCEO
as the ex-officio secretary of the Zilla Parishad shall also be the secretary of the Standing
Committee. The concerned heads of the departments shall be the secretaries of the subject
committees. The committee, apart from performing other functions, may ask for any
information, return, statement of account or report from any officer employed by the Zilla
Parishad and inspect any immovable property of the Zilla Parishad. Besides, the
chairperson of the Standing Committee may grant leave for a period ranging from 2 to 4
months to any officer of class I service or class II service of the Zilla Parishad, except the
CEO.

Powers and Functions

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 It shall be the duty of the Zilla Parishad, so far as the district fund at its disposal
will permit, to make reasonable provision within the district with respect to the subjects
enumerated in the District list called “First Schedule”. This list contains a list of 129
functions but is not an exhaustive list as clause 2 of this section says that the State
Government may, by notification, omit any entry in the schedule.

Finance
The Zilla Parishad is entitled to impose water tax, pilgrim tax, special tax on land
and buildings, tax on land benefited by irrigation works or development schemes
undertaken by the Parishad, licence fees on brokers, Commission agents etc., Market fee
and fee on the registration of animals sold in the market. The finances raised through
taxes, fees, cess on land revenue and increased taxes are divisible between the Zilla
Parishad and Panchayat Samiti on a 50:50 basis. The Panchayat Samiti is not empowered
to impose taxes and fees except when the Zilla Parishad fails to levy increased tax on
land revenue. The Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti shall also get purposive grant,
establishment grant, incentive grant, plan grant, block grant and local cess-matching
grants etc. from the state government.

District Service
In 1974 Maharashtra Development Service was formed. The Deputy Chief
Executive Officers, Block Development Officers, etc., belong to this service. The class III
and IV categories of employees belong to the District Service. At the village level, the
Village Development Officers, Secretaries, etc., also belong to this service.

Control
The State Government, the Commissioner and the Collector have the power of
controlling the Panchayat Samiti and the Zilla Parishad. The State Government has the
power to inquire into affairs of the Zilla Parishad (Section 258), to dissolve or supersede
it and the gram Panchayat, give directions to them regarding work and development
schemes and make special rules for certain matters. The Commissioner is empowered to
call meetings of Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti. The collector is also empowered to

cv Kolarkar and Minhas

call for information relating to the Zilla Parishad’s affairs. Besides, he also enjoys the
emergency power when the health and safety of the people is in danger.

District Planning Committee

The act does not make any reference to this Committee which has to be
constituted as per Article 243 Z D of the Constitution. Although the provision for
constituting this committee is included in the 74th Constitutional Amendment (Municipal)
Act, the Panchayat Ministers of various states, in a meeting held in July 1993, had agreed
to make it a part of the 73rd Constitutional amendment as well. But this has not happened
in the case of Maharashtra. In any case, the provision for constituting a District Planning
Committee is there in its Municipal Act.

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