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People & Their
Problems
New
Delhi, 30 March 2009
Success
of Panchayati Raj
WOMEN
PARTICIPATION CRUCIAL
By Radhakrishna
Rao
For long, community activism and political
aspirations have remained a closely held preserve of the male-dominated society,
with the ‘weaker sex’ involvement in public domain largely remaining both
negligible and insignificant. Though under the Act forming part of the 73rd
constitutional amendment ushered in 1993, one-third of the seats were reserved
for women in local self-governance, the impact of women panchayat members and
chiefs (pradhans) on the administration of local bodies did remain peripheral
for long. This is not hearsay, but a sad conclusion which comes out in a number
of studies on the functioning of local bodies that have women as chiefs.
Clearly, it is the male panchayat members who call the shots by carrying out most
of the proposals for developmental schemes.
However, if there is a will there is a way.
A point in case is that of the women of Uttarakhand. Not long back women pradhans
in this northern State used to be manipulated by the male members of the
household to further their own political and personal agenda. Lack of knowledge
about the functioning and procedures of panchayats, prevailing traditional
system which restricts women from speaking freely in front of elder male
relatives and little experience in attending the male-dominated meetings have
all restricted an effective participation of women in discussions and decision-making
process at the policy level. However, women who got elected to the panchayats through
the quota representation slowly started asserting their rights. As of result,
local self-governance in the State has received a new direction and thrust.
A factor which helped this change-- of
socially empowering the women-- is the widespread awareness created among them
about the opportunities the 73rd constitutional amendment Act offers
to enter the arena of local governance. Serious attention was paid to the fact
that since the entire economy of Uttarakhand revolves round the hard work put
in by women—with most of the able-bodied young men from the State either
serving in defence forces or working in other parts of the country— local
bodies needed to work towards addressing their problems with a package of
effective solutions.
With issues of shortage of fuel wood and
drinking water in many parts of the State putting an heavy strain on the women,
the government has had to be guided in turning Panchayati Raj institution into
an effective instrument of social transformation and rural development.
Importantly, women have been gently nudged by an NGO to change their attitudes
and improve their status.
Since 1995, Pragati, a programme dealing entirely with the Panchayati Raj, has
sought to politically and socially empower women not only in Uttarakhand but
also in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. The mission is to enhance the status of
women through a process aimed at changing the nature and direction of systemic
forces that marginalize women and other disadvantaged sections of the society. Pragati continues to impart training to
women on a regular basis i.e. pre and post election period. Moreover, it also
actively encourages and assists women willing to contest elections to the local
bodies. They are taught how to speak, mobilize support, file their nominations
and other-related paraphernalia essential for contesting an election.
More importantly, the women have been
motivated to enhance their leadership skills and problem-solving capability
with special reference to spur developmental activities at the local level. In
particular, women are being induced to cultivate qualities of self-esteem,
confidence and positive outlook and bid adieu to the self-created image of
subordination and subjugation. Notwithstanding the hurdles and handicap staring
them in the face, today these very women have proved to be better task masters
insofar as managing the affairs of local bodies are concerned.
In fact, a number of women pradhans, hailing
from a humble social background have gathered courage to successfully wage a war
against “corruption, commission raj, leakage of funds as well as shoddy work,”
which for long have remained an ugly feature of the local body administration. Cases
of women pradhans managing and implementing developmental activities in a
spirit of total honesty and transparency are there in the State for all to see.
A few cases would be worth citing. The
pradhan of Gram Panchayat Sahaspur, Dehra
Dun block of Uttarakhand is 45-year-old Radha Devi. She
contested from an unreserved seat on three occasions and won with huge margins,
notwithstanding hurdles put in her way by the well-entrenched male lobby in the
village. She took the affairs of the Gram Panchayat as an open challenge and
proved to be true leader, ever ready to reach out to the rural folks. To her
credit goes the creation of basic amenities such as drinking water,
electricity, public toilets and roads.
Radha’s belief shared with others is that: Women
can acquire knowledge of any work only when they will cross the boundary of
their households. Their participation in every sphere of work is of paramount
importance no matter whether she is literate or illiterate.
Likewise, 28 year-old Ganga Devi, Gram pradhan
of village Sasolu, Bagehswar district of Uttarakhand successfully made a
beginning and led an agitation which saw the closure of a liquor shop located
at the village Bhakadpant. Another pradhan, Sunita Devi, 35-year-old of
Kashirampur in Garhwal region, pulled off a tremendous feat by winning against 11
male contestants-- that too from an open seat. Under her leadership, the Gram
Sabha has undertaken projects including construction of roads and schools. In
particular, she has motivated parents of school-going children to desist from
withdrawing them for reasons of poverty and family constraints.
Today, even the semi-literate Panchayat pradhans
have proved no less inferior to their literate counterparts in implementing
developmental schemes and providing leadership to the community. The women
Panchayat members and chiefs regularly exchange views and air their grievance
at interface meetings held in Dehradun and Almora, with Government
functionaries so that an appropriate solution can be arrived at the problems enlisted.
The movement of empowering the women has
undoubtedly picked up steam as was reflected at an interface meeting held in Dehradun
last November, wherein 900 women Panchyati Raj functionaries from 13 districts
of the State participated. The participants were cautioned against the dangers
of groupism on caste lines, which could spell doom of developmental activities
initiated. The representatives, from all the three tiers of local self-governance
were firm that if they had to reach their goal the problems of health, hygiene
and education would need to be resolved with the support of the communities. It
was equally necessary to acquaint themselves about existing schemes as the male
members would not be very willing to lend a helping hand.
More importantly, a well-conceived line of
action has been found to be instrumental in empowering the elected women to
raise “inconvenient” questions regarding work undertaken by the panchayats and
the commitment and accountability of the elected members. In turn, this has helped
focus on the need to create a transparent system for fruitful use of public
funds.
Importantly, this political and social
awareness campaign for an enhanced women participation in local self-governance
has acted as a catalyst for the formation of women’s self help groups. Issues
concerning local community are thus discussed threadbare with particular emphasis
on many of the government-sponsored schemes. The churning has clearly led to evolving
the concept of micro planning for holistic rural development with women being in
the forefront. It would be worthwhile if women in other States would take a
cue. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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