INTRODUCTION

The concept of Panchayati Raj is nothing new. It was the dream of

Gandhi, the father of the nation, its need was stressed by Pandit
Nehru, and it was repeatedly and forcefully advocated by Late Shri
Jai Prakash Narayan. But, unfortunately, for various reasons, not
much headway could be made for the realization of this ideal. Ever
since Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi came to the helm of affairs in the
country he repeatedly stressed the importance of Panchayati Raj. He
formed his views on the subject by under-taking whirlwind tours of
rural India to familiarize himself with the realities of rural life, by
holding frequent workshops of District magistrates all over the
country, and thus assessing their views and understanding their
difficulties. The Panchayats will have the power and authority to
draw of plans within the framework of guidelines and conditions to
be laid draw by the state Government. These plans will constitute
the basic inputs for the planning process of higher levels. This will
ensure that the voice of the people, their needs, their aspirations,
their priorities become the building blocks of the edifice of planning.
The second major responsibility of the Panchayats will be the
implementation of development schemes assigned to them by the
state Governments. These schemes should cover the major
economic concerns of rural India, commencing with agriculture and
land improvement and going on to irrigation.

 Since Kautilya argues in favour of right to own property by

woman to afford protection in case of calamity and disese and
as means of substance.
 All properties are passed down to male lines, except when
there are only daughters.

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  Kautilya insisted that treatment of woman is also equally
important to dealt with, almost like the cases of abolition of
slavery.

ACCORDING TO THE WORLD BANK

 78% of the world’s poor live in rural areas and work in

farming.
 Women living in rural areas suffer disproportionality from
poverty, foe worse than rural men and women living in
cities.
 To mark the international Day of rural women, the world
bank takes a look at the important role that property right
play in expending economic opportunities and securing
assets for women living in the rural areas.
 Women constitute half of the world’s population and do
2/3rd of the world’s work, in return, women get 1/10th of the
world’s income and own 1/100th of the worlds health.

Reservation of woman in Panchayat Raj (110th

amendment 2009) Bill,2009
The Constitution 110th Bill, 20091 was introduced in the Lok Sabha
on November 26, 2009 by the then Minister of Panchayati Raj, Shri
C.P. Joshi to amend Article 243 D of the Constitution of India. Article
243 D of the Constitution of India mandates that at least one-third of
the total number of seats filled by direct elections in the Panchayats
shall be reserved for women. The Bill seeks to amend the article to
enhance the proportion of reservation for women from one-third to
one-half of the total seats in the Panchayats. The provision of seat
1 th
110 Amendment bill 2009, the constitution of India

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reservation will also extend to the positions of offices of the
Chairpersons.

The States of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal

Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha,
Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttarakhand have already provided for 50%
reservation for women in Panchayats through amending their state
Panchayati Raj Acts. In most of these states where elections were
held after on the basis of 50 % reservation, the percentage of elected
women representatives is more than the stipulated 50%. In fact,
after completion of first phase of Panchayat (1995-2000),
effectiveness of women leadership in Panchayats was seriously
noticed in almost all states.

The social acceptability of women leadership in patriarchal India is

not without reasons. Various studies have found social sector
inclinations and achievements of elected women representatives.
These social sector developments are what people feel inclusive
growth and inclusive development. This is a reality totally different
from our armed chair planners and policy makers who synonymize
inclusive growth with growth in the GDP.

Reservations of seats for women in local elections have been

perhaps most significant political step taken by independent India to
provide overdue political spaces for women. It also helped to give
local development a much desired direction. In its own report(s) on
Women in Panchayats, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has pointed
highly commendable works by women elected representatives and
highly condemnable resistances from local elites and bureaucracy. In
its official documents government of India rightly feel proud on
providing reservations to women and thus mothering silent social
revolutions in villages and cities. The whole world accepts this fact

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and many countries have imitated Indian concepts of reservations
for women.

It may be mentioned here that bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on

26th November 2009. The agenda for Budget session of Parliament
in 2013 includes 35 bills for passing and considerations in 34 sittings
of Parliament. 110th Amendment bill is one of the 35 bills. If one is
optimistic enough, this bill may be passed in this session of
Parliament and then President of India would stamp it to make it a
new statutory provision. If all these things actually happen, even
then as citizens of India we would not be answering the question,
‘how come it took almost 4 years for this bill to be re-tabled in
Parliament again?’ Does it reflect on inefficiency in our policy system
or it is a commentary on seriousness or ignorance of our policy
makers who seem to be centralization centric and elitists in actions.

Role of Women in Panchayati Raj System

Panchayats have been the backbone of grassroot democracy in the
Indian villages since its beginning. Gandhi had aptly favoured the
panchayati raj and his dream got translated with the passage of the
Constitution (73rdAmendment) Act, 19922 (or simply the Panchayati
Raj Act), which introduced the three-tier Panchayati Raj system to
ensure people’s participation in rural reconstruction in general and
that of women in particular. It came into force with effect from April
24, 1993.

2 rd
73 Amendment 1992, The Constitution of India

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Provisions for the women in the Act
 The Act provides for the reservation of not less than one-third
of the total number of seats for women (including the number
of seats reserved for the SCs and STs).
 Further not less than one-third of the total number of offices of
chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall be reserved
for women. This would be rotated among different Panchayats
at each level.

Role of women in Panchayat

 Participation in election: The Act provides for the reservation
of not less than one-third of the total number of seats for
women. It is an attempt to ensure greater participation of
women in election process directly and indirectly. It would
be the nursery of creating women politicians for national
politics. Even the participation of common women citizens in
various activities such as attending Gram Sabha meeting,
etc. has reportedly increased (68-78 percent).
 Participation in rural development: Women are actively
participating in rural development as per their capacity right
from labourers to policy- makers.
 Participation in decision-making: The participation of
women as elected as well as non-elected members are rising
due to reservation for women. It acts as pull factor for
women to participate in meeting. They give their suggestions
for various works and problems faced by them.

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 Agent of social revolution: Women are acting as an agent of
change in the society and raising voice against injustice and
atrocities.
 Reducing corruption and violence: Due to women
representatives nexus of officers and male elected
representatives are breaking, which has a direct impact on
reducing corruption. The role of local muscle power has
substantially reduced due to active participation and
awareness of women about their rights and power.
 Reduction in violence against women: Domestic violence
has substantially declined due to women pradhan or
surpanch. These women representatives take pro-actively
take up such violence. The victims also feel free to share
their grievances to women representatives.
 Reduction in violence against Dalits: The dominance of
upper caste patriarchs are substantially declined, hence the
shackles of caste is subsiding.
 Practising participatory democracy: Growing participation
of marginalised section in general and women in particular,
is transforming our democratic setup from representative
democracy to participatory democracy.Difficulties faced by
women representatives in PRS Political intervention in the
functioning of Panchayats.
 Women act as proxies for men.
 Husband’s intervention of elected woman in her functioning.
 Lack of political awareness among the women in rural areas.
 Negative public opinion regarding women’s leadership
capacity.
 Illiteracy or low standard of education among the women in
rural areas is a stumbling bloc.

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  Lack of training courses especially for women
representatives.
 Dominance of elected male members of the Panchayat.
 Politically motivated violence against women have seen an
increase.

Suggestions for effective participation of women in

Panchayati Raj System:
 Political parties intervene in the election and functioning of
Panchayats, creates hostile environment for the women
contestants and women representatives. The government
should take a strict action in such an intervention of political
parties and elections should be conducted free and fair.
 In rural areas political awareness among the women is
negligible. It is the duty of the state government and local
administration to educate the women about the political
issues and create awareness among them.
 Special training and refresher courses for women
representatives should be conducted from time-to-time. It
gives them confidence and creates political awareness and
power.
 Government should make special provisions for the women
representatives and give them more powers as compared to
male counterparts and educate them about their powers. It
helps them to work efficiently and effectively.
 There should be a provision to give honour and financial
rewards to the women members for their exemplary works.
 The rotation term of reserved seats should be made after
every atleast 10years. It would help women representatives
to fix their feet in the panchayats.

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We must remember that empowerment as a process is slow but self-
perpetuating. Providing women with opportunities and support
systems (such as reservations & other affirmative action) has the
potential to put into motion a sustainable process for a change in
gendered power relations allowing them to slowly but steadily break
the shackles of existing boundaries.

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 CONCLUSION
With the establishment of PRIs in our country a woman gets an
opportunity to prove her worth as a good administrator, decision-
maker or a good leader. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act,
1992 is a milestone in this regard. It provides women a chance to
come forward.

This experiment is proving to be a big success particularly by

providing opportunity to women to come out of their houses and
participate in administrative and political field.

However, in many areas of our country this system has been

captured by some elite people. The government should provide extra
financial, administrative or political assistance to women for the
success of the provision of the Amendment.

Government should encourage research and development in

effective implementation of provisions of 73rd amendment.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. www.goole.com/ role of woman in Panchayati raj.
2. www.goole.com/Reservation of woman in panchayati raj.

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