In 1993 one of the most important step for the
empowerment of women and increasing their participation in decision making
was taken by reserving 33% seats for women in panchayat raj institutions.
This paved the way for election of around one million at the village,
block and district level. By now most states with a few exceptions like
Bihar have completed at least one five year term. What has been the
experience of around 7 to 8 lakh women during their first tenure? What
lessons can be learnt for the future from this experience?
Given the chance, they excel:
It is easy to point out numerous examples of women who
have worked entirely according to what they were told by their husbands or
other male members of their families. In some cases elected women remained
at home while their husbands attended the panchayat meetings and carried
out official transactions on their behalf. Some of the elected women were
approached by men only when their signatures (or thumb impressions) were
needed.
All this is true to a substantial extent, but this is not
the whole picture. In our male dominated society it is easy to hear jokes
about the subservient role of several elected women, and some fierce
arguments based on this that reservations for women has failed. Nothing
could be further from the truth. In order to realise the greater potential
created by these reservations, we should look at several other examples in
which women got an opportunity to play an independent role. In such
situations time and again, we see them making remarkable achievements for
development of their village and quite often resisting the presence of
vested interests with a lot of grit and determination.
They bring new perspectives:
The yearnings of several women to assert their
independence and make a significant contribution to the welfare of the
people is visible in many such examples. In many cases they have been
helped by volunteer organisations and people's movements active in their
region. In some cases enlightened family members, including husbands, have
also encouraged them to realise their potential of initiating meaningful
social change.
From such examples it is quite clear that when conducive
conditions exist for women to play a leading and active role in the
decision making of the village, the entire village community benefits.
This increased participation of women is often associated with better
utilisation of financial resources, increased harmony in village and
prioritisation of some important but neglected aspects of development such
as girls' education and sanitation. Social reform measures such as
reduction in alcohol consumption and domestic violence clearly get more
prominence when women come to the forefront in rural communities.
Corruption has been one of the main problems of panchayat
raj institutions. Interviews in several villages confirm that when women
representatives function in an independent way, possibilities for
corruption are lesser. Even if a pradhan or sarpanch is honest, there is
the other threat that government officials refuse to release money and do
not cooperate in other ways unless a certain commission is paid to them.
There have been numerous examples of women sarpanchs resisting these
demands of officials. In fact one hears of such resistance from women more
frequently than from men. This opposition to the demand for commission has
been strongly voiced by several women pradhans at their open meetings and
training programmes.
Specific cases:
Pushpa Rana, pradhan of Arakfarm panchayat in Dehradun
district strongly resisted the bribe demands of officials. Although this
created a lot of delays and other problems, she finally had her way. Sojar
Bai of Ramtek panchayat [district Harda in Madhya Pradesh] went one step
further and got the corrupt official [who demanded a cut from her]
suspended from his job.
As for the careful use of scarce funds, Alka Chauhan
provided a lesson to government engineers. A support wall that had been
built in her village Nalapani [district Dehradun] at a cost of Rs. 42,000
had collapsed. A junior government engineer estimated that it will cost
Rs.45,000 to rebuild the wall. But Alka Chauhan mobilised the villagers to
build the wall at a cost of only Rs.23,500 and the money saved in this way
could be spent on other development work.
When Suraiya Begum became the chairperson of Sultanpur
Chilkana Nagar panchayat, it was saddled with debts and even some of her
supporters feared that new development work may be hindered by the need to
first clear old debts. But she managed the situation in such a way that by
the time she completed her first five year tenure, a record number of
development works worth Rs.80 lakhs had been completed.
More women leaders:
As Rehana, a social worker of Sultanpur says, "Women
are known to use money very carefully at home and somehow manage the
family budget even when income is low. Women show the same abilities when
they manage the village funds." Her colleague Shaheen adds,
"When men are in-charge of development works, they indulge in a lot
of wasteful spending in inaugurations and completion ceremonies. Women
know how to be frugal and concentrate on the real work." Women
representatives have shown the capacity to increase the panchayat income
to make the development work more self-reliant. Many elected women have
been closely involved with the promotion of self-help groups in villages.
Urmila Yadav, sarpanch from Kosli village [Haryana] first took a step to
clear encroachments on panchayat land and then built some shops on it. The
rent from these shops can provide a regular income to the panchayat.
Women are generally known to have a greater capacity for
resolving disputes. When she was the chairperson Suraiya Begum's door
always remained open for many victims domestic violence. She helped to
resolve many disputes. Pushpa Rana prevailed upon villagers to first
settle all disputes locally and go to the police only if village
level efforts failed. The result was that the money people had to spend on
paying bribes to the police and middlemen was saved.
Many elected women representatives have made an effort to
reduce liquor consumption and to remove liquor vends. In Ghazidipur
village of Saharanpur district, a panchayat member Kamia confronted the
pradhan who supported the location of a liquor vend in the village and
successfully mobilised village women for the removal of this liquor vend.
Veena Sajwan, who was elected block pradhan of Bhilangana block [Tehri
Garhwal district] at the young age of only 23 says, "I have taken up
anti-liquor issue as the most important issue to mobilise women. When I
had the opportunity to meet the Chief Minister, I immediately reminded him
of his promise to curb the liquor menace." All over Uttaranchal state
this has been an important issue for elected women and they raised it
vociferously at a recent 'Open Forum' meeting in Almora.
Battling the male empire:
It is hoped that greater participation of women will
result in better implementation of water, sanitation, girls education,
women's health and maternity. Chandravati Singh made a detailed survey of
where exactly hand pumps were needed in her panchayat. [Garchapa in
Chitrakut district, UP] which is spread over a wide area. This led to
maximising benefits from the limited budget at her disposal for drinking
water schemes. Some women elected members have prioritised toilets for
ladies at bus stops, a clear need which had been ignored earlier by men
pradhans.
In Sirmaul panchayat of Indore district, the sarpanch
Kiran Kanchal not only set up a maternity home but also set up a committee
to run it on a viable basis without raising the service charges too high
for villagers. Madhu Semval [Nathuvala panchayat, Dehradun district]
helped to check the spread of a cholera epidemic. Natho Begum [pradhan of
Enfield gram panchayat, Dehradun district] was so devoted to promoting the
education of girls that she donated her own land for this purpose, even
though she herself belongs to a poor family.
Some women have overcome heavy odds to accomplish very
commendable work in panchayats. Sudha Patel [sarpanch of Changa village,
Anand district of Gujarat] is blind, but her work with the help of a
friend has won widespread praise. Rajjo, a Dalit woman is completely
illiterate and comes from a very poor family. However her work in
Sultanpur Chilkana as deputy chairman was so good that almost the entire
village adores her.
Some women have resisted efforts of vested interests to
harass and dislodge them with a lot of courage and firmness. So many
efforts were made to dislodge Ramali Behn from Ahmedabad zila panchayat by
powerful vested interests, but she survived them all by her transparent
way of functioning and by establishing direct relationship with people.
When efforts were made to implicate Savita Behn Bharat Singh Pasaya
[sarpanch of Pandra, Dohod district, Gujarat] and her family members in
false allegations, she proved her innocence before a large gathering of
villagers and officials.
All round progress:
When women succeed in overcoming heavy odds to achieve
good results in panchayats and also face vested interests with courage, it
has an exemplary impact on a large number of other women. They also want
to come forward to participate more actively in village affairs and
contribute to the welfare of the community. Apart from this, it is also
quite evident from the examples given above that the more active role of
women in village often contributes to the welfare of the entire community
and several important areas which were neglected earlier, now get
prioritised. Thus it is in the interests of not just women but the entire
village community to encourage the further empowerment of women in village
affairs. The 33% reservation for women in panchayat raj institutions is an
important part of this empowerment of women. To further strengthen the
effort of elected women representatives, the government should provide
greater security to women from the anger of powerful vested interests who
try to harm and harass them in various ways. Voluntary organisations
should also play a crucial role in helping and training elected women
representatives.