Acknowledgement

I Shekhar Suman of BA.LLB (hons.) would like pay my gratitude to the subject
teacher of Service Law, Asst. Prof. Pathak for this Land Law project, for giving
me this particular assignment which ultimately added in me some light of
knowledge in the field of service protection law.

ABSTRACT
The Panchayat Raj system was a common government structure used South
Asian countries for nearly 2000 years.
“India is poor because villages of India are poor. India will be rich if the
villagers of India will rich. Panchayat should be given vast power so that it can
work more efficiently.”1 Nehru and other politician thought that solution of
poverty rested in the return to the Panchayat Raj system of self-government,
where local leaders makes decision for their village.
Women’s role in panchayat play a vital role to implement the policy of
government. Reservation can be a solution to fill the gap which exist in Indian
society, so we can say it is a step to improve the social status of women in male
dominant society.

If we go into deep, we find that five wise cum elder members of the village
place in village system, who decide the planning how village do the work.
During British colonization, these system scattered badly. Having been
independent in 1947, Government started work to develop this system again.
In this research paper we will study all the things which must be required to
know.

Background

1
J.L Nehru, “Panchayat Raj in India” 3 (1955)
India, primarily, is a land of villages and around 72% of the total population of
India resides in the rural areas. The rural areas thus forms the roots for the
governance in India and the democracy should start thereon. Mahatma Gandhi
also said that the main element for the development and for the governance
should not be the big cities rather the village because it is where India resides.
In India, we have a unique system for governance at the village level. The
governance of such small unit of India is by the Institutes, called the Panchayati
Raj Institutions2. The Panchayati Raj Institute derives their existence from the
Constitution under Part IX under the head The Panchayats. The story of
Panchayat is not just a few decades old; rather it has been prevalent in India
from ages.
In the Rigvedic period, i.e. around 1200 B.C. there were Sabha that has the
primary function of the administration of the area. This concept of Sabha
gradually converted to the panchayat and it was so called because it was headed
by 5 people. In the Medieval period, the panchayati system deteriorated because
of the increase in the Zamindari system in the rural areas. The task of
administration slowly got converted to tax collection as a result thereof. At this
time also the village had a separate mechanism for its administration though the
concept of panchayati raj got deteriorated3.
With the change in the dynasties ruling India, the concept of Kotwal came with
the Mughal era whose task was to undertake the administration of the area
assigned, to collect tax and other incidental functions. But the concept of
Kotwal also got deteriorated with the inducement of cast system and feudalism
in India especially after the British invention. In the British era, the Government
was not in favour of any decentralization, therefore after the mutiny of 1857,
they came with the Government of India Act, 1858 and removing the
decentralization. Lord Mayo in 1870 advocated for decentralization, but it was
unapproved. Subsequently, Lord Rippon advocated for decentralization but the
same was approved till the extent of urban areas. Then came the Royal
Commission in 1907 which advocated for village panchayat but it was not
accepted due to various reasons4.
Further in the Montego Chemsford Reforms that were carried out in 1919, right
after the World War I wherein England was not in a strong position, some

2
Available At: Http://Www.Yourarticlelibrary.Com/Politics/The-Historical-Backdrop-Of-Panchayati-Raj-InIndia-
1179-Words/4793/; last visited on April 14, 2018
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
autonomy to the provincial government was given to the provincial government
and some powers were given to the elected representatives. There were two
separate Lists under the laws, one for the Governor and second for the elected
local representatives. Further, under the Government of India Act, 1935 all the
powers were taken back because both the lists that were legislated were
repealed and therefore the decentralization was again withdrawn.
Meanwhile, during the formation of the Constitution of India, in the Constituent
Assembly, Panchayati Raj was kept under the heads of Directive Principles of
State Policy under Part IV of the Constitution mainly because of the political
instability of the new government and the paucity of funds and therefore it was
not practically possible for the newly formed India to have a third tier of the
Governance which was right at the lowest tier in the country5.After the Indian
independence, there were various committees that tried to give a proper
structure to the Panchayati Raj in India. These are:
Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, 1957:
This committee mainly it advocated for the basic level of administration be at
the Block level.
K.Santhanam Committee, 1963:
The Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) be given the powers to levy tax and it
should become as the main source for the funding of the institution.
Ashok Mehta Committee, 1978:
This committee suggested that the Panchayai Raj Institute shall be a two tier
body which should operate at the Zilla level and the Mandal level. The nodal
area would be at the Block Level (taken care of by the Block Development
Officer) and Zilla Parishad shall have an advisory role to both, the State
Government and to the Block level institution.
G.V.K. Rao Committee, 1985:
This committee again advocated for a three tier system. It said that the PRIs
should be at district and local level. The District Development Officer (DDO)
shall be appointed for the main administration of the village units.
L.M. Singhvi Committee, 1986:
This committee advocated that in order to establish a governing body for any
part of India, it must be given a Constitutional structure. As a result, 73rd
5
Supra 1.
Amendment was made to the Constitution and Part IX A was inserted as THE
PANCHAYATS6.
Panchayat Raj Institution
In the history of Panchayati Raj in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional
(73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to
the Panchayati Raj institutions. This Act was extended to Panchayats in the
tribal areas of eight States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan from 24
December 1996. Now Panchayati Raj System exists in all the states except
Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Also all the UTs except Delhi. The Act
aims to provide 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States having population
of over 2 million, to hold Panchayat elections regularly every 5 years, to
provide reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Women, to appoint State Finance Commission to make recommendations as
regards the financial powers of the Panchayats and to constitute District
Planning Committee to prepare draft development plan for the district7.
STRUCTURE OF THE PANCHAYATS
In spite of the fact that the essential structure of the PRIs is indistinguishable
over the conditions of India, it is portrayed by means of various classifications
in various states. Panchayats in each state has its own attributes and even race
strategies to these establishments are at fluctuation from area to area. A District
Panchayat or Zilla Parishad is established for every region. Every district has
one Zilla Parishad. Likewise Block Panchayats or Panchayat Samitis are
established for the said area.

ZILLA PANCHAYAT
Every Panchayat under a Zilla Parishad chooses one/two/three individuals
directly (contingent upon number of voters inside of it). Presidents of all the
Block Panchayats are likewise ex-officio individuals from the Zilla Parishad. In
a few expresses the Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) and Member of

6
Available at: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/politics/the-three-tier-system-of-panchayati-raj-in-
india/4827/; last accessed on April 14, 2018
7
A.K. Mishra, “ROLE OF THE PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT” VII SMS 1 (2011)
Parliament (MP) of the locale/body electorate are additionally ex-officio
individuals8.
BLOCK PANCHAYAT OR PANCHAYAT SAMITI
Every Gram Panchayat under a Block Panchayat chooses one/two/three
individuals specifically to the Block Panchayat. Gram Pradhans are ex-officio
individuals from the Block Panchayats9.
GRAM PANCHAYAT
A Gram as characterized under the Act (which means a town or a bunch of
towns) is separated into at least five voting demographics (again relying upon
the quantity of voters the Gram is having). From each of these voting
demographics one part is chosen. Body of these chose individuals is known as
the Gram Panchayat. Size of the Gram Panchayats fluctuates generally from
state to state. In states like West Bengal, Kerala and so on a Gram Panchayathas
around 20000 individuals on an average, while in numerous different states it is
around 3000 as it were10.
FEATURES OF 73rd AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION
After the recommendations of the L. M. Singhvi Committee, the Panchayati Raj
Institutions were a given a Constitutional status under Part IX of the
Constitution. The Part was added by the virtue of the Seventy Third
Amendment Act11. Some of the features of the Act are:
 It did not apply to Schedule V areas of 9 states, schedule VI areas of
North East, Darjeeling District and Jammu & Kashmir.
 Panchayati (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 was brought to
extend the Panchayati Raj Institutions to the Scheduled and Tribal areas
under Schedule V areas of 9 states. It also recognises the control of the
Panchayati Raj Institutions over the natural resources of the area.

8
Available at
http://www.arthapedia.in/index.php?title=Structure_and_Major_Functions_of_Panchayati_Raj_Institutions_
%2 8PRIs%29_in_India; last accessed on April 14, 2018.
9
Available at
http://www.arthapedia.in/index.php?title=Structure_and_Major_Functions_of_Panchayati_Raj_Institutions_
%2 8PRIs%29_in_India; last accessed on April 14, 2018.
10
Available at
http://www.arthapedia.in/index.php?title=Structure_and_Major_Functions_of_Panchayati_Raj_Institutions_
%2 8PRIs%29_in_India; last accessed on April 14, 2018.
11
Available at: www.yourarticlelibrary.com/politics/the...tier...panchayati...india/4827/; last accessed on April
14, 2018
  The Panchayati Raj Institutes should be a 3 tier body for the State having
population more than 20 lakhs, making to get some uniformity in the
structure in the country.
 The election for the Panchayats takes place every 5 years and the
elections are conducted by the State Election Commission, under the
supervision of the State Election Commissioner12.
 The Amendment provides for the reservation for women and SC/STs for
effective participation in the rural areas and to make people reinstate their
faith in the governance of the country.
 There is a provision for the constitution of the State Finance Commission
to make recommendation to the State Government as far as the fiscal
matters and other allied matters relating to the Panchayats are concerned.
 To establish the District Planning Committee.

12
Available at: www.yourarticlelibrary.com/politics/the...tier...panchayati...india/4827/; last accessed on April
14, 2018
Reservation for Women in Panchayat Raj
In 1992, the 73rd Amendment provided that one-third of the seats in all
Panchayat councils, as well as one third of the Pradhan positions, must be
reserved for women. Reservations for women have been implemented in all
major states.
The real implications that the policy of reservation of seats for women in the
PRis, as enumerated through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, has in
empowering women in political decision making. The 73rd Amendment Act
constitutionally provides for reserving one-third of seats in PRis for women. It
further provides that of the seats that are reserved for SCs and STs under the
Act, one-third shall be for women belonging to SC or ST13. Seats for Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes are in proportion to their number in the population
of each region. In the country as a whole, SCs constitute 16 percent and STs
constitute 6 percent of the population and about 22.5 percent of the total seats
reserved for women are to be allotted to women.

13
Article 243D of Part IX of the Constitution, as inserted through the 73'd Amendment Act, states,
"(1) Seats shall be reserved for- (a) Scheduled Castes; and (b) Scheduled Tribes ............. ..
(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women
belonging to the Scheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) Not less-than one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat
shall be reserved for women.... "
(4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the village or any other level shall be reserved for the
Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes or women in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law,
provide..."
Pancha Name Numb Tot Category-wise number of Number
yat of er of al elected representatives of
the total Pos
post post t Women
reser
ve Elected
fo
r Against
wome unreserv
n ed
post
Tot
SC ST General al
Wome wom Wome Wom Tota
n Men en Men n Men en Men l
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Pradha 696 1892 5197
Gram n 52000 34756 5085 4 43 16 20941 7 26069 25907 6 1213
Panchay
Memb 65463 23803 914 3123 24716 40415 6513
at ers 7 6 71379 14 252 362 175529 82 0 8 18 9134

70663 27279 983 3313 27322 43006 7032

Total 7 2 76464 78 295 378 196470 09 9 5 94 10347
Pramu 415 402 817
kh 830 363 101 76 3 0 311 326 52
Kshetra 6485
Panchay Membe 992 3064
24259 40593 2
at rs 65004 22118 6349 7 24 25 17886 1 2141
100 3096 6566
Total 65834 22481 6450 03 27 25 18197 7 24674 40995 9 2193
Adhaya
k 53 17 70
3
Zillasha 70 2 12 4 0 0 41 13 21
Panchay Membe 1069 1559 2628
at rs 2631 905 279 360 2 0 788 1199 164
Total 2701 937 291 364 2 0 829 1212 1122 1576 2698 185
Panchay
Gener S Tot Wom
at
al C ST al en
Gram
Panchayat 17484 7032
527779 2 673 94 273229

Percenta
ge 75.04 24.86 0.10 38.85
Kshetra 1645 6566
Panchayat 49164 3 52 9 24674

Percenta
ge 74.87 25.05 0.08 37.57
Zilla
Panchay
at 2041 655 2 2698 1122

Percenta
ge 75.65 24.28 0.07 41.59
Visited Place

1. Village name: Neemagav

District name: Lucknow
Visited date :11th April 2018

Observation
 A lady (Reema Mahour) belong to SC caste said that:
The salaries paid to PRJ-members are extremely low. The remuneration varies
from 150 rupees (INR) per sitting to 200 rupees per sitting. The Sarpanch can
get upto 400 rupees. Hence in case of a woman (Below Poverty Line), who
work outside their house as wage labourers in order to contribute to the
household income, if the choice is between attending a Panchayat meeting and
earning their daily wage, they most certainly would opt for the latter. This
impedes their participation in the decision making deliberations in the PRIs.
 A girl (Neetu Singh), B.A 2nd year student said that:
Due to the traditional household role assigned to women, the dominant male
belief is that if women go out of the four walls of the house to participate in
local politics then it would mean that the men would need to attend to the
household work. There is unwillingness to alter the division of labour at home
and apprehension that the entry of women into the public domain would mean
passing on household work to males
 A woman (Ekta Sharma) said that:
Due to the presence of strict social restrictions on the mobility of women,
women who mix around openly with their male counterparts in political
meetings are looked down upon as women of dubious character14 . Sometimes it
also so happens that a number of villages come under one Gram Panchayat, in
such cases representation and participation of women become difficult as
women have much less mobility than men.
The daughter-in-laws of the house who generally belong to a different village
are hardly allowed to have social intercourse with men of her husband's village.
She replied “I have no problem to speak with men in the Panchayat meetings.
They do not belong to my village. I do speak to them like I do speak to the
women. Outside the panchayat office I do not speak to the men. After the
meeting I go home immediately and stay in the house. I do not go the
Panchayat. My husband attends the Panchayat. I am a daughter-in-law of the
village".
 An old lady (Chanda) said that:
She replied “Hehehe….what is the need of women to contest election? Today’s
girl don’t know how to perform responsibility whatever she get like wash the
clothes, cooks the food. You know that newly married girl how to create
problem before us. Today’s most of the fight between husband and wife is
caused due to lack of time to care of the husband and husband’s parents. Now,
think what will happened, if they will go to contest election and do job for
society.
 A school girl (Seema) B.sc student
The elder women have a more liberated position in the village and can therefore
freely intermingle socially with men. Hence they are the preferred candidates to
enter PRIs. However the young women who are educated and hence could far
better if given a chance to enter. People believe that young women should not
be exposed to politics or any kind of public life while it is alright for the older
women to enter the Panchayats.
2. Village name: Atrauli
District name: Lucknow

 After talking woman Pradhan (Ramvati):

It was observed that whenever a woman Pradhan was called by the
administration for a meeting, her husband would go on her behalf. She did not
go out of her house for any single meeting. A woman Pradhan was given the
impression that her husband was actually the Pradhan and her job was merely to
sign papers. They claimed, "There is no work for the individual in the
panchayat, and especially women. What will we gain from participating there?
Whether we go or not, does not make a difference"
 Omkar Singh (Ex- Pradhan)
First, he smiled and replied what woman can do, she can’t do anything except
base-less talk. From very beginning, our ancestors considered that woman’s
image be good until she move outside the door of house. See your new Pradhan
of this village, she don’t know how to solve family problem, but now she thinks
to do great for society by became Pradhan. I think, my village has been came at
the stage as 10 year back. No development seems to appear on the face of
record. So I oppose the participation of woman in election.
 A primary teacher (Manju Gupta):
She said that we wanted to participate in Panchayat system so that we could
know how to develop the village in proper manner, but some policy of
government like “Two-child” policy refuse us to go for election because our
husband, who wanted to beget four children because of the thoughts that “Jitne
boys honge utne hi strong honge and village me Varchasva rhega”. Now we,
women are in state of perplex what we should do. They said we could not go
against our husband because we want to peace in family. Only one solution of
this problem that is to convince our husband that based on uncertainty.
Reservation of women in Panchayat Raj as a Bane:
The most crucial obstacle in the way of real political empowerment of women
through Panchayati Raj occurs at the stage of the filing of the nomination for
candidature itself. Most women file their candidature for elections to PRIs not
out of their own will, but due to the pressure of husbands, sons or other male
member of the family or the village or due to the pressure of some political
party. This phenomenon is even more apparent in case of women belonging to
SC or ST. In order to fulfil the reserved quota, the political workers have to
deploy various strategies to convince the women and one of the most adopted
strategies is to influence the women through the family members. I think that
women do work as a symbol, but real face may be in the form of some corrupt
practice. This further becomes responsible for making the participation of
women in the Panchayat process a mere tokenism since due to the constraints of
village social norms. The participation of women in the PRIs are mere symbol
who act at the instance of their husbands or other male members of the family.
In case of SC and ST women, due to the prevalence of the 'purity-pollution'
concept15, act as a further deterrence to political representation. I found that
women don’t play an important role to take powerful decision with free will
because of their husband, who impose the things which may affect their
decision.
The prevalence of violence that has come to be associated with the PRJ
elections in many states also impedes the free and fair participation of women in
the processes of village self-governance. For instance, Ms Leelavathy from
Villapuram, Tamil Nadu, was murdered in broad daylight by armed men since
she was working towards getting permanent water supply to Villapuram as part
of her election campaign and it ran contrary to the interests of the mafia
henchmen who sold drinking water to the people. Most such violence seems to
have been resulting from the existence of 'caste war,where people belonging to
lower castes are tortured and murdered for daring to stand against upper caste
candidates16. Further, prevalent social restrictions require that women do not
venture into public spaces alone. The traditional patriarchal concept of women's
real place being within the four walls of the house is strongly prevalent in rural
India.

15
Although ST women do not face the same challenge of purity and pollution like the SCs, they have always
been perceived as backward or primitive by the so-called mainstream population in India.
16 16
Mathew “Problem faced by woman in Panchayat Raj system” Economic Times, 8 (2002)
I think that women do work as a symbol, but real face may be in the form of
some corrupt practice. This further becomes responsible for making the
participation of women in the Panchayat process a mere tokenism since due to
the constraints of village societal norms. PRIs are mainly regarded as political
entities that are associated with power; and. power is traditionally a masculine
concept, women are not associated with it. In most cases, the large scale
presence of women in the hitherto male dominated local politics was viewed as
a challenge to the authority of men. Men discourage strong women contenders
in order to retain their hold over core public space. The system of nominations
to the Panchayats instead of elections is still in vogue in many of the villages,
whereby the usual practice is that a meeting of the elders of the village (male
members only) decide the candidature of the women to the PRIs.
Reservation is boon in the sense that:
As statistics show, 95 percent of elected women representatives in the PRIs
have come to claim that they would never come to acquire positions in
Panchayats, if there were no provision of reserving seats for them17. As my
father told me that 92% women came through reservation. We are seeing that
woman, who was just an idol till yesterday taking a keen interest and playing a
significant role in the workings of grassroots politics. In Madhya Pradesh, there
is the case of a proactive woman Sarpanch who had done remarkable work in
the area of maternity and infant care. Another woman, Sarpanch was
responsible for checking the high rate of school drop outs in her village and also
worked for constructing more class room for girl students.18
All Women Panchayats have also come up in number of states. In 1995, there
were 13 All Women Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh and 9 in Maharashtra
(Panchayati Raj Development Report 1996, 29). In Madhya Pradesh there are
nine such villages that have All Women Panchayats There are few villages in
West Bengal, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana and others, which have all
women Panchayats. All women Panchayats in Kultikri in West Bengal took up
several income augmenting schemes such as waste land development, leasing of
small ponds for aqua culture, organization of loan repayment, fairs, construction
of roads and tube-wells, as utilized under the Jawahar Rojagar Yojana. The
most significant achievement of this All Women Panchayat was that it has been
successful in the fulfilment of 100 per cent literacy in the area. The Panchayat
held regular meetings and was successful in building up a strong social and
economic power structure in the area.19
A study conducted by Centre for Women's Development Studies (1999) also
revealed that a large number of women from the poor families and women
having no political connections have found their way to the PRIs through
reservation.
In a country like India, where society is "highly gender-segregated", quotas for
women have "an additional relevance" It is possible for womenfolk in a village
to approach the female members of the PRIs with their grievances. Women
members of the Panchayats very often receive petitions from other village
women on issues such as family disputes, disputes over land, employment and
housing. Another effect that women in the PRIs have on village governance,
17
CWDS Report 2015
18
Ravi, “Women’s success in Panchayat Raj system” (Institute of Social Studies Trust,2005)
19
Ibid
according to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj annual report (2007-2008), is the
"preparation of gender sensitive budgets". Further, there is a now strong
association between elected women representatives in the PRIs and Self-Help-
Groups (SHGs) and it is argued that "their combined effort has considerably
enhanced self-confidence and self-worth of women."20
There is thus a higher visibility of women through their representation and
participation in the PR activities, and they are increasingly recognizing their
self-worth and gaining respect for their work. Thus, the PRIs have now become
the political training ground for women, allowing them to assume leadership
roles and to break the shackles that hitherto confined them only to household
responsibilities, thereby breaking the strict private/public divide existing in the
society. This has also resulted in a change in the attitude of the women elected
representatives of the PRIs regarding certain crucial issues that affect their lives
or lives of the larger community. Women in the PRIs today display a
tremendous increase in self-confidence, a change in their life-style; more
awareness regarding critical issues such as education, marriage of children,
dowry and others, and express an increased concern towards the overall
development of the village. However, it needs to be emphasized here that
although changes are happening in terms of attitude and practices, they are
occurring gradually. It may also be observed that villages that are socio-
economically more advanced are ones where women have more exposure to
information and education.

Causes that hinder the participation of women in PRIs:

a) Criminalization of politics;
b) Lack of safety and security;
c) Lack of incentives;
d) Illiteracy, ignorance and lack of training;
e) Lack of awareness about powers and duties;
f) Lack of adequate leadership quality;
g) Lack of adequate powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutions;
h) Economic backwardness in rural areas

20
Ministry of Panchayati Raj (2008)
Of all these various obstacles that come in the free and fair participation of
women in political decision making at the Pachayati Raj Institutions, the one
that requires urgent attention and if remedied could have the most far reaching
implication is education. Lack of access to education is cited as the most crucial
impediment to women's playing an active role in the PRIs.
My observation reveals:
1. One-third of the members were still functioning as symbolic candidates
while the actual control remained with either their husbands or sons.
Another one-third, who did not face such constraints at home, was faced
with gender subordinations within the Gram Panchayats. Only the
remaining one-third was found to be effectively functioning as members
and they have also gained some amount of power and respect in the
family.

2. There have also been cases of many women members being duped or
pressurized into signing papers and then charged with accounts of
corruption. This, in tum, has led to a number of no confidence motions
being passed against many women Sarpanches.

3. Women's numerical presence is guaranteed in the PRIs through

affirmative action, it does not necessarily get translated into qualitative
participation in the decision making process. In case of a woman
belonging to Scheduled Caste, such restrictions become further binding
since due to the purity and pollution concept where both upper caste
female and male members refuse to intermingle with them.

4. Lower caste representatives do not get much cooperation from the higher
castes and women members would not dare speak in front of the high
caste representatives. It is seen that lower caste women can’t sit inside the
panchayat office or sit in corner with upper class member and she has no
freedom of expression.

5. Moreover, while 62 percent attended the meetings, 48 percent did not

attend the meetings at all or did attend at times. Those who did not attend
the meetings, 50 percent of them said that their husbands were managing
their affairs for them.

6. It was observed that the women in the PRIs, particularly those belonging
to SC and ST categories have marginal power in the decision making
process. If not the husbands, they are dependen.t on the other male
members of the family, villagers, political parties or government officials.
7. As I observed, I found that some women wished to take positive action
like to eradicate the roots of Alcoholism, but she can’t go for it because
her tenure and re-election depends on the wish of such people because of
corrupt practice is prevalent in society.

8. It also usually seen that winner of election depends on the sweat will of
political party, who support him/her through indirect manner and most
probably his/her winning chances are in the hand of political party.
Having won the election, they work as political party direct.
My suggestion
Provisions need to be made to offer financial assistance to the female candidates
so that their dependence on the male members of the family or the community
or on party backing for election expenditure is considerably reduced. It is
argued that the lack of knowledge of women representatives regarding budget,
funds and its stipulation for utilization maintenance of financial records and
financial management are major constraints that women representatives face in
initiating policies and programmes for the village. Taking a proactive step in
this direction, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj has conceptualized a scheme titled
Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Shakti Abhiyan (PMEYSA) that is targeted at
elected women and elected youth representatives. Further, a monitoring
mechanism needs to be set up whereby the workings of the PRIs could be
evaluated and necessary changes initiated. Again, it needs to be emphasized
here that compared to the upper caste and non-tribal women, the lower caste and
tribal women require more encouragement in terms of education, training and
financial assistance due to the long history of discrimination and oppression that
they suffer from. Reservation of seats has either willingly or unwillingly made
the SC and ST women enter the political forum at the grassroots. Proper
proactive measures, therefore, need to be taken up so that this phenomenon
could be moulded to the advantage of the cause of women's political
empowerment.
CONCLUSION
It is observed that the policy of reservation of seats for women in India emerged
in the context of a larger discourse on democratic decentralization. Although the
idea of village self-governance had been present in India since as early as the
Aryan civilization, it was not adopted as a part of the structure of administration
in the constitution. Due to much opposition by Dr. Ambedkar and his followers
in the Constituent Asserr1bly to the idea of Panchayati Raj, the constitution of
India incorporated the setting up of PRIs as a directive principle that was not
enforceable in. the court of law. However, during the early decades following
India's independence, owing to the failure of community development planning
and the growing linkages forged between the success of such planning and
greater devolution of power to local structures, democratic decentralization
emerged as a prominent discourse. A number commissions set up during this
era to evaluate the success of development planning, recommended the setting
up of PRIs. Within this larger discourse on decentralization, a linkage has also
come to be established between women's participation in local governance and
its contribution to development. Since the early 1990s onwards, with India
going in for economic reforms, international norms of participatory and good
governance further facilitated this discourse. All these developments finally
culminated into the passing of the 73rd and 741 h Constitutional Amendment
Acts that laid down the structures of urban and local self-governance in India.
The Acts further provided for reservation of one-third seats for women in these
local self-governing institutions. Also, in the seats reserved for SCs and STs,
one-third came to be reserved for women candidates. The reservation of seats
for women through these acts came as 'top-down' measures. Therefore, it is
significant to examine the real implications of these measures in a society that is
marred with deep rooted cleavages of caste, class, religion, region and ethnicity.
For the purpose of the present chapter, the real implications of the rise of
numerical strength of women in PRIs through affirmative action are being
studied. In this context, instances are also drawn from the participation and
representation of SC and ST women in PRIs. The examination of the case of
affirmative action in PRis brings forth some very critical understandings. It may
be observed that on one hand, elected women representatives of the PRis have
been reduced to mere proxies through an interplay of various factors such as
prevalence of corrupt practices, dominant male society violence against women
(mostly in cases of SC Women), societal practices and restrictions and such
others. However, on the other hand, there are also a number of instances that
indicate that elected women members of the PRis are gradually moving forward
towards realization of their political goals. Even in instances of SC and ST
women's political participation in PRIs, a gradual shift is visible not only in the
perception of society towards them but also the way they have come to perceive
their own role and vision in local governance. It also observed that in cases
where women have played a critical role in decision making processes of the
PRIs, there was greater attention paid to development issues that affected the
daily realities of local life. It is further observed that elected women members in
PRIs have been successful in making a difference in political decision making at
the local level where there was adequate support mechanism in terms of
education, access to resources and information. Thus one of the key
understandings that emerge from the study is that in many instances the problem
of marginal development can be overcome by the sustained utilization of
existing funds by newly elected leaders combined with a high degree of
awareness of the rules of procedure within the panchayat itself. Women in PRIs
are being termed as 'first generation learners', who are creating the grounds for a
larger socio-political change to come. It is also significant to note in this context
that without a system of reservation, women's presence in PRIs was almost
negligible. Hence it is recognized that given the deep structural inequities that
women are challenged with, special provisions such as reservations may play a
significant role in achieving in equality of results. Thus reservation of seats for
women may be viewed as an 'enabling' condition that has the potential to
facilitate women's political empowerment with the support of adequate
structural mechanisms.