ABSTRACT

If India aims to emerge as a developed country, it needs equal women participation in each field. India being the second most populous country ranks 135 out of 146 countries in The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2022, The gender gap is the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic areas. To improve the women participation, we need women leadership at every level so that voices and issues of women can be discussed and brought forward in front of whole country. For that, initiative of providing reservation to women at the Panchayat level was started. Various states provide different types of reservation to women, as Panchayat is a state subject. This reform has improved the status of women in rural areas, but still, the benefit of the reservation has not been able to bring radical change in the society as in the majority of case husband of elected women representatives are the Managers of the duties and the affairs of the respective elected women representatives.

KEYWORDS

1.Equal 2.Panchayat 3.Reservation 4.Representative 5.Women

INTRODUCTION

When India adopted its constitution both men and women were provided the equal right of voting, so far India has gone from 17 General elections, still the percentage of women member in Lokshabha has never been even 20% of total strength of Lok Sabha. Currently only 81¹ women are the member of Lok Sabha out of the total strength of 543, which basically means 14% of the total house strength, surprisingly this is the highest percentage. To increase the women numbers in Parliaments, many have suggested the idea of having the women reservation in parliament, for that 108^th amendment bill² was brought in 2010 which proposes to reserve one-third of all seats in the lower house of parliament and in all state legislative assemblies for women, but the bill never turned into an act as it was never passed from Lok Sabha. Till now no solid progress has been made on this topic. Although some progress has been observed at organization level in some political parties, like Biju  Janta Dal allocated its 33% of total Lok Sabha seats to women candidates in the 2019 General Election. Women participation in India has always been abysmally low due to various social problems, to fix that problem Parliament passed the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1992 and introduced one-third reservation in Panchayats for women.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This paper seeks to present the failures and achievements of women reservation in Panchayat elections. My research is based on secondary sources which includes news articles and reports, and it is descriptive in nature.

OBJECTIVE

1. Achievements of women reservation in Panchayat.
2. Issues with women reservation in Panchayat.
3. Suggestions to improve the system.

¹ 17^th Lok sabha women members, http://164.100.47.194/loksabha/Members/women.aspx (last visited Aug 17, 2022)

² Women’s Reservation Bill [The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008],

https://prsindia.org/billtrack/womens-reservation-bill-the-constitution-108th-amendment-bill-2008-45 (last visited Aug 17, 2022)   

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

1. Role of Women in Ancient India by Odisha Reviews – It explains the women status, education, and their role in the politics of ancient India. By citing the example of Pandya kingdom, paper has presented an example of successful women leadership which India has experienced in its ancient period.

• As per Manu smriti, the religious life or practice of the woman revolves around her relationship with her husband or so. Women duty as per Manu smriti is defined as the caretaker of her husband, son/daughter, in-laws etc.

• The Role of Women Representatives in the Local Self Government by Dushyant raj Sahib ram Mallick.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF WOMEN RESEVATION IN PANCHAYAT

1. Increased women leadership- The prime motive behind 73^rd amendment was to convert Panchayat into incubation hub for producing women leaders who could take a leadership role in future. More than 20 Indian states have reserved 50 Percent seats for women at panchayat level. It is the result of this amendment that India presently have total 46 percent women³ in all Panchayat institutions.

• Uplifted women status in society- Women who use to basically perform household activities (like taking care of family, cooking, washing cloths of family members, attending farm labour, caring domestic animals etc.) suddenly started going among people for elections campaigns, it was a new era of beginning for women in rural society. Those women who emerge out as winner took the position of Mukhiya and Sarpanch and represented their respective village or Gram Panchayat.

• Upholding the right to equality- The reservation has provided women with a golden opportunity to participate in the governance of village which gives them dignity and confidence to work for the welfare of the society on an equal footing with men. The national commission for women⁴ has also been set up in the 1990 which caters to the rights of women and acts as a supervisory body to safeguard the rights that have been granted to women.

• Empowerment of women in political field- The women elected representatives try to come up with solution for the betterment of lives of the women in the village. The opinion of women also matters in the formulation of various important policies since they have the equal rights in expressing their opinion which should not be curbed, and this helps women to take their stance in decision making which is their fundamental right. The formation of various Self-Help Groups (SHG) has played an exemplary role in upholding the political rights of women in the governance of the village in grassroot level.
• Empowerment of women in economic field- Many women have achieved self- independence by generating various methods of self-income which grants them the economic independence. They have collectively made decisions to work for the improvement of village in economic field. Also there have been many initiatives which have been taken up by

³ Representation in Panchayats, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1658145, (last visited Aug 17, 2022)

⁴ The National Commission for Women Act,1990, https://www.indiacode.nic.in/handle/123456789/1944?sam_handle=123456789/1362,  (last visited Aug 17, 2022)

various state and central government which helps them economically. A policy named “Vision 2000: policy for the advancement of women in Tamil Nādu”⁵ gave the opportunity to the women to be partners along with male counterparts in different projects taken up by Panchayat. This policy has been executed in all the fields ensuring the participation of women in various governmental and non-governmental institutions. Similarly, the Equal remuneration act,1976 was a great step towards the establishment of the economic rights of women in field of governance. The women have also stressed upon the savings and credits which creates a very good impact upon their financial balance.

• Change of perception towards women in village– Since immemorial ages, especially in the rural area which has been dominated by the patriarchal culture , women have been considered to be a meek species who don’t have the power to handle the outside world, therefore they have always been put under a constant belief that they are born to take care of household chores and their family .This has always created a negative impact on women who wished to carve their way towards the development of the society but after the 73^rd amendment act, the scenario has not been completely changed but definitely the situation has been progressed. The perception towards the capabilities of women is changing and women are treated with respect when they step forward to contribute for the growth of the society. There were scenarios relating to domestic violence as well which are still prevalent in our society but the achievement of women in various important positions in various institutions like Panchayati raj has created a sense of respect for women in the society.
• Maintaining the gender ratio in field of governance-The participation of women in different institutions especially in Panchayati raj would help us in achieving the goal of gender inclusivity which has also been one of the UN Sustainable Goal 2030 (SDG 5). Also, women representation in Indian political system is still a prevalent issue. We can observe from gender gap reports that even after reservation there is a very less portion of system comprising women and there is the dearth of women in authoritative positions. Hence this inclusivity of women in Panchayati raj has proved to be a great forwarding step to fill the lacuna in gender inclusivity system.
• An inspiration for other rural women- Since ancient period, women have played a prominent role in political system which can’t be ignored, and this has encouraged various women of this generation to come forward without any fear and hesitation. The best example

⁵ Dushyantraj Sahibram Mallick, The Role of Women Representatives in the

Local Self Government,(Aug 17, 2022, 7:18 PM)https://mkuniversity.ac.in/research/SYNOPSIS/Synopsis-Dushyantraj%20Sahibram%20Mallick.pdf

are how the women used to rule the Pandhya kingdom⁶ which has been mentioned by famous Greek historian Megasthenes in his record. There have been many great examples like Sushma Bhadu⁷ who was elected as sarpanch of three villages Salam khera, Chabla mori and Dhani Miyan Khan in state of Haryana had prepared a model to protect the women’s rights and survival. She had also built training centers for women and ensured that every child goes to school which had contributed in maintaining the sex ratio in village. Padma Bai⁸, the elected sarpanch of 8 tribal villages in Telangana took a loan of 30000 loan from NGO and launched a centre of hiring farming tools like sickle, spades, axe to help poor farmers in the villages. Women coming upfront in the governance creates a sense of inspiration in minds of other women as well and motivates them to follow their footsteps so that with unity and integrity among the groups they can work for the socio-economic upliftment of the village.

• Population control– Total 12 Indian state⁹ have provision which disqualifies candidates who have more than 2 kids to contest in Panchayat elections, this has also somewhere contributed to the population control initiative in rural society because of that fertility rate in rural India has come closer to the replacement level of fertility of 2.1 children per women.
• Sense of dignity and awareness of laws among rural women– The involvement of women in the Panchayati raj system has developed a sense of awareness about the various laws which protect women against the social injustice which has always been lacking in women society. Women are trying to educate themselves in various diverse fields ranging from politics to finance to become efficient in carrying over the responsibilities for the benefit of the society. The contributions made by them have been substantial which represents their awareness about merits and demerits of the various social evils. This has also resulted into the restoration of faith in leadership of women in the eyes of society which has always questioned her immense capabilities.

 ⁶ Ramana Maharishi, Women Pandya Kingdom Madurai Meenakshi? Pliny Greek Historian,Ramani Blog (Aug 17,2022, 8:01 PM) https://ramanisblog.in/2020/05/22/women-pandya-kingdom-madurai-meenakshi-pliny-greek-historian/

⁷ Sanchari Pal, Women on Top: These 10 Female Sarpanches Are Leading a Quiet Revolution in India’s Villages (Aug 17,2022, 9:05 PM) https://www.thebetterindia.com/85603/women-sarpanches-transforming-inspiring-villages/

⁸ Follow reference 6

⁹ Jagriti Chandra, Efficacy of two-child norm has never been demonstrated, says Population Foundation of India’s Poonam Muttreja (Aug 17,2022, 9:32 PM) https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/efficacy-of-two-child-norm-has-never-been-demonstrated-says- population-foundation-of-indias-poonam-muttreja/article35061693.ece

ISSUES WITH WOMEN RESERVATION IN PANCHAYAT

1. Prevalence of patriarchal mindset- Patriarchy has been an old age mindset which is one of the biggest impediments in the improvement of marginalized women in the rural society since they are dependent on male member of their family who maintains the family and women must follow their commands since there is a constant fear of being left out alone without any resources. Sometimes the women are also threatened to be ostracized in case they deny obeying the commands of their husbands. This is also one of the reasons why women are hesitating to contest for elections in Panchayat. There is also an existence of fear in the minds of men because their wives may be elected to an authoritative position where they won’t be able to dominate them.
2. Illiteracy and lack of Education- There has been a discouragement in the rural society regarding the education of women. Women in village area aren’t encouraged to pursue education which would help them in developing progressive outlook towards the society instead they are demotivated at every instance when they try to move forward with their ambitions, hence this creates a lack of awareness in them which creates a hurdle in understanding the root-cause of issues which create havoc in the society. The women are also deprived of formulating valuable decision in policy making since they don’t have proper knowledge required for the efficient decision. From the table¹⁰ below we can observe the rate of illiteracy existing in our society: –

Educational status of sample respondents

Educational Qualification	Distribution of Respondents	Percentage
Illiterate	17	56.66
Primary	13	43.33
Secondary	Nil	nil
Higher	Nil	nil
Total	30	99.99

• This table indicates that out of 30 sample women representatives 17(56.66%) are illiterate and the educational status of 13(43.33%) respondents in primary school. Hence, we can observe that educational status of women representatives is very low.

¹⁰ Minaketan Bag and Manjulata Jagadala, Women Empowerment: Issues and Challenges through the Lens of Reservation in Panchayati Raj System, ResearchGate, (Aug17,2022,10:05) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335725338_Women_Empowerment_Issues_and_Challenges_through_the_Lens_of_Reservation_in_Panchayati_Raj_System

• Two children Policy– There are 12 states in our country who are following this policy which is affecting the number of women participations in Panchayati elections. This norm states that the woman who have more than 2 children won’t be eligible for contesting elections in Panchayat elections. We all know that it has been like a tradition in villages to have more than two children to create a sense of security and it is sometime under the family compulsion that a woman gives birth to more than two children. This policy has end up becoming obstacle for many women who wish to contest the Panchayat elections.
• Inadequacy in functionaries in women Panchayati raj system- There has been a dearth of training centre for uplifting the skills of women required for the performance in the diverse fields in urban areas. Less number of training centres in the remote area along with a smaller number of campaigns somewhere creates a disadvantage in representation of women in the panchayat system. Also there have been a smaller number of women in the training centres which somehow discourages the women. Women feel comfortable and are encouraged to learn the skills when they observe women in the same profession.
• The problem of rotation in terms– In some states there have been reservation for only one term and there exists rotation in reserved seats which creates a hindrance in learning process of various skills required for negotiation and understanding of the issues. Because of this rotation the time allotted to the women is not sufficient and they are unable to have the required knowledge. Also, in many states reservation has not been implemented in full force which shows the inadequacy of women in Panchayati raj system.
• Negative impact of caste system- The caste system is still prevalent in our society. The caste system also exists in hierarchy system which results into an obstacle for SC and ST to carry out the functions in an independent manner. At larger times their voices are suppressed because of which they are unable to stand upon their own feet. Their opinions are not valued and hence they are demotivated and afraid to participate in the elections.
• non-co-operation from various sectors- Sometimes women are not well co-operated from higher sectors or officials working in the district because they are under the impression that the issues faced by women are trivial and are not of much importance. Hence the requests are ignored which disenchants the emotions of women leading groups.
• Non allocation of funds– There has been lack of funding for the upliftment of women in village areas. The funds are not sufficient for fulfilling the requirements of women. Also, the rampant corruption in the higher positions leads to the insufficiency of funds. The

repercussion of corruption has been suffered by women who belong from the marginalized section of the society.

• Willingness to participate has been affected– This situation has occurred due to many issues faced by a rural woman in day-to-day life where she is unable to balance both the household as well as the outdoor activities. A woman is born with a burden of responsibilities which she must carry throughout her life. It becomes a great difficulty for women to manage both because of non-cooperation from family members especially husbands and in laws. Women generally does all the household activities in the rural area which deprives her of energy to follow her dreams and passion of contributing towards the welfare of the society.

SUGGESTION TO IMPROVE THE SYSTEM

1.Regular meetings with District collectors: – There should be a compulsory provision of regular meetings related to Schemes and national programmes between all women elected representatives and district collectors every month. Although various states have a vigilant team who visits Gram Panchayats and check whether the elected women representative is doing her duty or someone else more specifically her husband is working in her place.

2.A strict policy of termination: – Various states use public machinery to keep a check on the elected women representative, but hardly they terminate those whose Husband or male relative is found to be managing their panchayat affairs and duties. In most cases, they get a show-cause notice which is just a formality as these notices are easily manageable by using political connections and paying bribes. States must adopt the rule of strict termination if Elected Women Representative is not performing her duty.

• Allocation of sufficient funds- There should be allocation of funds to satisfy the requirements of the elected women representatives so that they can execute their ideas and responsibilities efficiently without any hindrances. Strict laws should be passed to keep a check on rampant corruption taking place in the higher officials. A supervisory body should be regularised to keep an eye on the activities of higher authority in case they are misplacing the funds allotted to the poor women.

• Positive change in attitude of men and women- Attitudinal change in both men and woman is the need of the hour. Young girls should be encouraged to pursue higher studies. The deep-rooted stigma of women being confined within the four walls of the rooms should be erased from their minds which acts as a demotivation for women who are trying their best to participate in the elections. The age-old mindset of not allowing women to handle the world affairs and issues should no longer act as a block in their pathway towards contribution towards the society.

• Organising camps and various modes of interaction- Several camps should be organised on a regular basis to establish an interest in the hearts of rural women regarding their pivotal role in the decision making. The various camps can act as a catalyst in enlightening their leadership qualities so that they can step forward for active participation the elections. These camps will also act as a source of communication for those women who wish to publicize their own abilities respect to diverse fields which can also help them in developing the leadership skills.

• Regular attendance being made mandatory– There should be provisions for the maintenance of regular attendance in the meetings to keep a record of the women involvement in the meetings. It would also instil a sense of responsibility in the elected women representatives to attend the meetings on a regular basis so that they can be aware of issues existing in their area.

• Establishment of various skill centres in remote areas- There should be installation of various number of skill centres of diverse fields for making an all-round development in different fields in women to make them efficient and aware of various things required to increase their knowledge while tackling issues in day-to-day meetings. This would help in developing acumen required for making efficient formulation of various ideas and policies.

• Employment of women in these functionaries- number of women should be employed in these centres so that women can look up to these women and can confide in them their issues faced by them which they may feel uncomfortable while disclosing it to their male counterparts. Also, women representatives in the centres would be the source of encouragement for other women to follow their footsteps.

• Exposure of rural women regarding their roles– The arrangements should be made for the rural women to interact with urban ladies who are performing similar roles in a district or state level. They should also be taken to various NGOs and women institutions to widen their horizon regarding the roles they have in governance of the village. The rural women would have a clear picture about their responsibilities if they were provided with exposure and would develop a keen interest in them to participate actively in panchayat system.

1. Responsibility of various literary mission and women commission– It is the responsibility of these commissions and missions to make essential policies regarding gender inclusivity in elections. Also, various schemes should be implemented to encourage women as well the young girls to achieve education which would provide them with wings to fly and achieve their ambitions who in future can be role models for others.

1. Role of media and technology- Media should spread the importance of women in the various institutions and should work for their upliftment by putting their situation upfront so that the women can also generate trust and can also use it as their weapon to put forward their issues in front of the Government.

CONCLUSION

It is now an open reality that women reservation has brought big changes on grounds specially at Panchayat level. We can expect many new women leaders from grass-root level emerging out from hinterlands and taking the national lead role at various important political positions in coming decade. The 14% women members in Loksabha is the result of the hard work which has been done at ground level through various policies and public schemes.

Although there are many issues which need to be addressed and positive work must be done in those areas. No change can be brought without the active involvement of women Sarpanch and women at local governance position, government should keep a vigilance on those women representatives who are working as a “Stamp machine”, and their husbands are the real power holders.

Many states government through public initiative, advertisement campaign and direct government schemes have brought various reforms at the ground level which is highly appreciable and positive work like these must remain active.

ARYAN RAJ (1^st Year)

Chanakya National Law University, Patna