Dr Banarsi Lal
Every year 24th of April is celebrated as the National Panchayati Raj Day across the nation. This day marks the passing of Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 that came into force from 24th of April, 1993. First National Panchayati Raj Day was celebrated in 2010.The Panchayati Raj System empowers rural communities by giving them a voice in the decision-making process and providing them with the resources to address their needs and improve their lives. The Indian Government constituted ‘Balwant Rai Mehta Committee’ in January 1957 to study the Community Development and National Extension Service (NES) programmes especially from the point of view of assessing the extent of popular participation and to recommend such types of institutions through which such participation could be achieved. Panchayati Raj was first started at Nagaur (Rajasthan) and Andhra Pradesh in 1959. The enactment of 73rd Amendment Act had led a defining moment in the history of India which helped in the decentralization of political power at grass root level. It permitted states/UTs to organize village Panchayats and provide them with the necessary powers and authority necessary to facilitate them to function as units of self-government. The Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj organizes National Conference and awards to the best performing Gram Panchayats with the Panchayat Shashakatikaran Puraskar/Rashtriya Gaurav Gram Sabha Puruskar on this day. In the 73rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution for the first time in the history of India, minimum numbers of seats were allotted to women in Panchayats. Meager representation of women in the state and national legislatures, reservation not less than one-third of the total number of seats and chairpersons of Panchayats is considered as a significant landmark in the process of political empowerment of women. Clause(3) of Art.243-D inserted in the Indian Constitution by the 73rd Amendment Act provides that not less than one-third 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.
India is the biggest democracy in the world. Democracy ensures empowerment and Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) guarantees participations of all the sections of society. Gender inequality has been identified as the classic inequality trap that produces further inequalities in societies with negative consequences. Empowerment of women is essentially the process of upliftment of economic, social and political status of women. It involves the building of a society wherein women can breathe without the fear of oppression, exploitation, apprehension, discrimination and the general feeling of persecution which goes with being a woman in a traditionally male dominated structure. The development in any society would be slow if women who constitute about 50 per cent of population are not facilitated to participate in the developmental activities.
Empowerment of women has been a subject of discussion in the contemporary world. Women empowerment refers to the process by which women acquire due recognisation on par with men, to participate as a partner with human dignity in the development process of society through the political institutions aims at enhancing their ability in the decision making process. India with a female population of over 600 million possesses a vast reservoir of women power which exceeds the combined total population of South-East Asian countries. The significant achievements of 73rd Amendment Act concerning reservation of seats and political offices in favour of women and the disadvantaged sections of the rural community is that it had improved their awareness, perceptional levels and rightful share in the decision-making exercise. A brief spell is not enough in the history of nation to judge the rationale of political empowerment of women and other weaker sections of society. Social change in the rural India is already perceptible. Political improvement holds the key for their social and economic improvement. There is need to be cynical about the prospects of the Constitutional safeguards provided to the women and weaker sections to ensure their effective participation in the decentralized democratic decision-making process. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment is considered not only the historic but radical for the first time in the history of India. It has made mandatory provisions for the reservations of a minimum number of seats and offices of chairpersons to women as well as to the marginalized sections of the society. All states/UTs have introduced these Constitutional imperatives in their respective Panchayat Acts. In the context, many rural women entered the political arena for the time due to persuasion of their family members’ caste and political leaders. The male-dominant rural power creates social pressure on women aspirants who possess the necessary enthusiasm and ability to assume political leadership. The village males should rather encourage and offer support to them. In addition, women are organized in to Self Help Groups (SHGs) to mark the beginning of a major process of empowering them. The 73rd Amendment to the Indian Constitution has greatly contributed to the political empowerment of women and marginalized sections of society. There were skeptics who were favourably disposed to the proposition of women leadership. Guided by their traditional dominance in a patriarchal society, the males used to cite some of the disabilities of women like illiteracy, family responsibilities, and experience, poverty and communication skills etc. as the inhibiting factors for effective participation of women in the decision-making process at the local level. The upper caste males were frantically in search of methods through which their traditional hold in the rural sector could be retained. The women from marginalized communities in the rural areas were not initially very confident of their abilities to assume their leadership in the Panchayats. The male-dominant rural power structure did not like to lose its traditional grip over the rural institutions. This led to the nomination of women members of their families or relatives for the non-SC/ST political seats in the Panchayats. Many of these women who never left their homes had to contest the polls with the support of their husbands. Caste, money and muscle power were also used by the dominant males to ensure their victory in several cases. There are many instances where the elected women in the Panchayats had to depend on their family members to perform their official duties. Most of these women do not know the nuances of the Panchayat administration and they used to dependent on their husbands for transaction official business. In many cases husbands or the brothers of elected women preside over the Panchayat meetings and deliberations in absence of the elected women. In many cases the elected women in the Panchayats are not so literate, aware, experienced etc. and in many cases they are depending on their male counterparts in decision-making. In regard to the elected Sarpanchs and Panchs in the village Panchayats they have to depend on their masters who are the traditional power-holders. With the few exceptions, women members of marginalized communities who are relatively literate and have political ambitions or family history of political participation, volunteer to contest elections in the Panchayats. These women also depend on their own family members and relatives for electioneering. There is nothing wrong if the women seek the support of the traditional male leadership as a learning process but they should be encouraged by their male counterparts. The training programmes for the elected women members in Panchayats should be organised at state/UT, district and block levels respectively. The teaching methods for these women’s should be simpler as possible. Group discussions, success stories and case studies of successful women should be the part of training. Electronic media and audio-visual aids should be utilized in their training programmes. Government should introduce incentives for the Panchayats headed by women of marginalized sections of the society for good performance and attendance. Ultimately the improvements in the literacy among women and weaker sections hold the key factor for their effective participation in decision making process and involvement with the developmental activities in the rural areas. Thanks to the mass media/print media for highlighting the need of women empowerment in the rural areas. Still there is need to improve their educational, social and economic status. There is dire need to bridge the gender gap in the society because no society can progress without the social participation of women. The men folk should develop a positive attitudinal changes and mental make-up in favour of women.
(The author is Head, KVK Reasi, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu).
