NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY,BHOPAL

SOCIOLOGY

TRIMESTER - II

TOPIC – WOMEN EMPOWERMENT AND PANCHAYATI RAJ SYSTEM

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

Prof. Dr. Bir Pal Singh Ajit Jaiswal

2019BALLAB83
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind support and
help of many individuals. I would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of them. I am highly indebted to
Sociology Prof. Dr. Bir Pal Singh for his guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing necessary
information regarding the project & also for his support in completing the project.

I would like to express our gratitude towards our parents & seniors for their kind co-operation and encouragement
which help us in completion of this project.

I would like to express our special gratitude and thanks to the Vice-Chancellor of National Law Institute
University, Bhopal for giving us such ample time and opportunity.

My cheers and appreciations also go to our colleagues in developing the project and people who have
willingly helped us out with their abilities.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. Status of woman in Rural India
3. Evolution of panchayats: An overview
4. 73rd Constitution amendment act, 1992
5. Women Empowerment
6. Measuring women empowerment in rural India
7. Women empowerment in developing India
8. Tools to empower women
9. Participation of women in gram panchayats
10. Conclusion
11. Bibliography

INTRODUCTION
The suppression of the political rights of women is yet another manifestation of the patriarchal mentality
that seeks to smother women from birth to death and insists that the identity of a woman always comes from
a man, her father or husband.
In the traditional sense, a Panchayat is a body of 5 village elders who help resolve disputes among the
villagers. Nevertheless, women and lower castes were not granted membership of this body. Legal
provisions in pre-independence India made it hard for women to engage actively in politics. The Bombay
Village Panchayat Act, 1920, for example, stipulated that no female could become an elected member.
Independent India's Constitution only applied to local self-governing bodies in Part IV of the Directive
Principles of State Policy and did not make any special reservation arrangements for women in Panchayati
Raj Institutions (PRIs).
In the light of these historical circumstances, one can quite categorically say that the 73rdAmendment Act,
1992, mandating reservation in at least 1/3rd of the seats of all Panchayat Councils and 1/3rd of the Pradhan
(head of the Panchayat) positions for women, was a landmark for women’s political empowerment. This
was followed by the 74th Amendment Act, 1992, which established similar reservations in Nagar Palikas &
Municipalities. In addition, Bihar became the 1st state to reserve 50% of seats for women with Madhya
Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan & Himachal Pradesh following suit. Today, 54% of elected representatives
of PRIs in Bihar are women.
Numerically, today India can actually boast that there are more elected women representatives (EWRs) in
India that the rest of the world put together. According to the Ministry of Panchayati Raj’s mid-term
appraisal of the ‘State of the Panchayats 2006-07’, there are about 10 lakh women are in our PRIs
constituting about 37 % of all those elected. Also, there are about 80,000 female Pradhans.

PANCHAYAT NUMBER OF ELECTED

WOMEN %
LEVEL PANCHAYATS REPRESENTATIVES
District Panchayats 537 11,825 41
Intermediate
6,097 1,10,070 43
Panchayats
Village Panchayats 2,34,676 20,73,715 40
Source: M/o Panchayati Raj,(2005))
In a study by the Centre for Women’s Development Studies 1999, it was revealed that 95% of women
surveyed believed that they would not have been elected had it not been for the reservation.
A nation-wide study on EWRs in Panchayati raj done by AC Nielson ORG-MARG for the Union Ministry
of Panchayati Raj in 2008 has revealed some interesting trends making a strong case for reservation.
Amongst the 1,039,058 EWRs, 4/5ths were elected from reserved seats. Reservation was an important
motivator facilitating first-time entry into politics for nearly 83% of EWRs. Also, reservation was critical for
the disadvantaged groups as of the total EWRs 26% were Scheduled Castes & 13% were Scheduled Tribes.
Ensuing progress towards political empowerment of women is also evident from this study as a sizeable
proportion of women surveyed perceived enhancement in their self-esteem, confidence, decision-making
ability and respect within the family after winning an election.
For Mamta, a 27-year-old Dalit woman pradhan from a village in Fulwari sharif, Bihar, the provision proved
to be a boon. As a woman who came from a Dalit community it was a struggle against both caste and male
domination, yet she managed to win both votes and hearts amongst her people and today works for their
betterment.
Despite these achievements, constraints to women’s political empowerment remain large and widespread.
The cases of politically motivated violence against women have seen an increase. They are beaten, raped, or
even murdered. They are also subjected to torture such as being made to witness the murder of their
children.
Women belonging to disadvantaged sections face double oppression. A tribal female sarpanch was stripped
while unfurling the national flag on 15th August 1998 in Rajasthan. In another case, a tribal women pradhan
was stripped in a Gram Sabha meeting in Madhya Pradesh as she was not consulting the leader of the
dominant caste before taking decisions. Also, it is commonplace to find a woman dalit sarpanch sitting on
the floor during a panchayat meeting while the upper caste men sit on chairs.
This gross violation on human rights & absolute humiliation is a product of the mindset of cultural
stereotyping which is unable to accept a woman exercising power in a ‘male domain’, especially those
belonging to disadvantaged communities.
Acceptability of women as elected representatives is also an issue. Male members try to create hurdles in the
smooth functioning of the Panchayat taking advantage of the woman’s illiteracy or ignorance. Also, officials
with whom the EWRs must work can act as impediments in their work. For instance, Gayatri Devi, a
panchayat samiti member from Panchanpur village, Sirdala block in Nawada district (Bihar), who belongs to
the Musahar community, alleged that the bank officials in her block humiliated her when she approached
them for a loan. A way of ironing out this problem is to encourage EWRs to use the Right to Information
Act in order to hold government officials accountable for delays in developmental work.
Another infamous subject is that of sarpanch patis, where the husband of the woman sarpanch manages the
affairs of the Panchayat and she is only a proxy candidate. However, there is reason to be optimistic on this
count as the AC Nielson ORG-MARG study points out that this is a practice which is diminishing and
women are depending lesser on their sarpanch patis for decision making. A good way of reforming this
practice is to make training compulsory for all elected representatives (whether male or female) of PRIs in
order to help them discharge their duties more effectively.

STATUS OF WOMEN IN RURAL INDIA

Of India's 587 million women, more than 1/2 of them, 405 million, are in rural areas, in line with the 2011
Census. Women have been established as key marketers of sustainable change, and the equality and
empowerment of women are visible as important to a more holistic approach in the direction of developing
new styles and change processes that can be sustainable. Empowerment of women is important to ensure
that now not just their private or family health, but also the well-being of the entire society as women are
noticeable to be the number one guardians responsible for changing the nice and quantity of human sources
to be had in a nation to sell sustainable change within the next generations (UNFPA, 2005). At such
excessive global meetings as the Beijing Forum for Action, the Beijing + Five Declaration and Resolution,
the Cairo Program of Action, the Millennium Declaration and the Convention on the Removal of All Types
of Discrimination against Women, the importance of women's advancement on the global change agenda is
abundantly clear from the coverage statements made. In addition to a way of selling development, proper
governance, and that poverty, all these boards have each defined gender equality as an improvement target
in itself.

The government has issued some of the path-breaking legal guidance relating to women since Independence.
The Hindu Marriage Act (1955), the Hindu Succession Act (1956), the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961), the
Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act (1971), the Equal Remuneration Act (1976), the Child Marriage
Restraint Act (1976), the Immoral Trafficking (Prevention) Act (1986), the Pre-natal Diagnostic Technique
(Regulation and Prevention of Measure) Act (1994) are among some of the important legislative initiatives.
Moreover, the government has repeatedly taken numerous welfare steps to empower women.

There are massive differences between changes in coverage and actual exercise on the network stage,
however. The patriarchal type that rules the network and families in a good deal of India is essentially a key
element of the space in the implementation of legal guidelines and guidelines to address sexism and socio-
financial dangers to women. As such, women and women have restricted mobility, have access to childcare,
have access to fitness facilities, decrease decision-making capacity, and revel in higher abuse costs.
Moreover, they are, by and large, removed from political life, which brings the region into a public arena by
its very nature. In Indian society, whatever whiff of emancipation has blown, inhaled and loved through the
city women, their population belonging to the agricultural regions is nevertheless totally untouched by the
wind of transition.

Among rural women, there are also differences that limit the empowerment of women. The biggest ones are
schooling degrees and divisions of caste and sophistication. Women from economically disadvantaged
classes are largely responsible for maternal mortality and infant mortality (scheduled castes, various
backward castes, and tribal communities). They are also unable to get access to fitness and academic
facilities , lack the power to make decisions, and face higher levels of abuse. Among those classes, however,
a few stages of education have proven to have a beneficial impact on measures of women's empowerment.
EVOLUTION OF PANCHAYATS: AN OVERVIEW
The Panchayati Raj is not a brand new phenomenon in the world. It has its origins in historic Indian
institutions, when little republics controlled the villages with the assistance of their Panchayats.
Nevertheless, the idea of Panchayats was first evoked in the colonial era in cutting-edge India. The British,
through their brutal sales series technique and the invention of the Zamindari land tenure device, almost
ruined those historical republics and the participation of women in politics in addition. The idea of the
restoration of the Panchayats was first suggested after Independence in the Balwant Rai Mehta Committee
Report (1957), which noted democratic decentralisation as a way of creating the screw-ups of the
programme for network reform. Subsequently, the National Development Council encouraged the simple
standards of democratic decentralization enunciated withinside the Balwant rai Mehta document and laid on
States the obligation of operating out the systems appropriate to each State.1

According to nearby kingdom legislation, Panchayats were hooked up in various states in India by the mid-
60s. These, however, were differentially motivated with the encouragement of the usage of certain rules.
Women were no longer given any specific example by reservation in our bodies in Panchayat. Elections to
those of our bodies were no longer conducted regularly and governments of the kingdom sometimes
outmoded them and put them under administrators (Committee on Women's Empowerment, 2009-2010).
Two years later, the Asoka Mehta Committee Report (1978) on Panchayati Raj Institutions issued far-
reaching recommendations for the revival of the Panchayats, which also covered constitutional inclusion.

A few states consisting of West Bengal, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh revisited their respective Panchayati
Raj systems in keeping with the spirit of the Asoka Mehta Committee guidelines and undertook numerous
fresh tasks to provide extra powers to our bodies nearby. In the end, under the guidelines of various
respectable committees evaluating rural development and poverty comfort initiatives (e.g., the G.V.K.Rao
Committee, 1985; the L.M. Singhvi Committee, 1986), the importance of the Statutory prestige for the PRIs
eventually came up here. In addition, the Sarkaria Commission on Centre-State members of the family
reported that panchayats were no longer operating effectively as elections for them were no longer held
regularly and that on flimsy grounds they were constantly outmoded. At the countrywide stage, the initiative
to offer Constitutional reputation to Panchayati Raj became attempted with the aid of using the Rajiv Gandhi
authorities in 1989. Eventually, in 1993, Panchayati Raj became included into the Constitution with the aid
of using the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (Ministry of Panchayat Raj, 2008).

Notably, before the implementation of the 73rd Amendment Act, the concept of reinforcing the illustration
of women was most easily expressed within Panchayati Raj 's mainstream documents. The Balwantrai
Mehta Committee paper recommended that the 20-member Panchayat Samiti should co-decide or appoint

1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchayati_raj_in_India#:~:text=In%20India%2C%20the%20Panchayati%20Raj,a
%20constitutional%20amendment%20in%201992.&text
women "involved in women's and children's paintings" (Government of India, 1957). In its well-known
document Towards Equality (1974), the Committee for the Status of Women in India, between Balwantrai
Mehta and Asoka Mehta, strongly argued that the desires and opinions of rural women had in no way been
adequately weighted within the Government of India 's plans and rules for reform. The Report
acknowledged that co-choice and nomination had been underwritten with the aid of using the idea that
women had been incapable of contesting elections, and might now no longer allow the questioning, a whole
lot much less transformation, of energy equations in rural society.

A -tier panchayat device was advocated by the Asoka Mehta Committee Report (1978), in which the 2
women who polled the best range of votes within the panchayat elections could stand co-opted into the
panchayat, even if they were not legitimately elected. Where there were no women contesting elections, any
women perceived to be successful network employees could be co-opted. In the parallel route, with the
National Perspective Plan for Women (1988) proposing 30 percent reservation for women in those of our
bodies, the problem of the depiction of women and their inclusion in nearby-stage institutions has once
again arisen here. The identical advice became additionally made withinside the unsuccessful 64th
Constitutional Amendment Bill of 1989, however it became handiest in the end in 1992 that a redesigned
three-tier device of Panchayati Raj - alongside the provisions for women's reservation in panchayat our
bodies at each stage - became included into the Constitution with the aid of using Amendment, and in the
end ratified with the aid of using the states

73rd CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT ACT, 1992

The Amendment Bill, granting Constitutional popularity to the Panchayati Raj establishments, was
surpassed by means of each House of Parliament in December 1992. It was ratified as the 73rd Amendment
Act of the Constitution in 1993 by means of 17 State Assemblies and placed under pressure from 24 April
1993. By making the three-tier machine an everlasting feature, the Act gives the Panchayats constitutional
popularity and provides uniformity. The principal capabilities of the Act are the following:

 In each province, the village, intermediate and district degrees will constitute panchayats. The states
with a population now no longer exceeding 20 lakh, however, were given the option of no longer
getting any Panchayat intermediate degree.

 In each village, there will be a Gram Sabha exercising such powers and acting on the village degree
of such capabilities since the legislature of a State may also give by means of law.

 Members of the Panchayats may be elected via direct elections at any level. The election of the
chairman of the village Panchayat to the intermediate and district rank can be followed by oblique
 elections, and the mode of election of the chairman of the village Panchayat has been left to the
respective States.

 In all respects, seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in
accordance with their population at all levels. For women, not much less than one-1/3 of the seats are
reserved and can be allocated by means of rotation. This clause can also be questioned by the
chairperson's place of employment.

 The Panchayats were given a uniform time span of five-12 months. In the event of dissolution or
replacement, elections must be held within six months of the date of dissolution. • State legislatures
have the legislative strength to confer at the Panchayats such powers and authority as can be
important to allow them to characteristic as establishments of self governance.

 State authorities have the power to allow the Panchayats to levy, collect and appropriate suitable
taxes in the vicinity. The Government could make the Panchayats a grant-in-use resource from the
consolidated fund of the State in question.

 To make such unfastened and truthful choices for the Panchayats, a State Election Commission will
be set up.

In Part IX of the Constitution, which includes articles 243 to 243-O, the 73rd Amendment is added. Below
access five of List II of the 7th Schedule, local authorities are n separate State obstacle. It becomes binding
on the States that, within 12 months of the beginning of the 73rd Amendment Act, the imposition of the
regulation must be undertaken.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT
In the course of the 1980s, women's empowerment as an idea emerged from numerous vital analyses and
opinions created with the aid of the use of women's motion in the course of the arena, while feminists,
especially within the Third World, were increasingly upset with the usually apolitical and economic 'WID','
WAD' and 'GAD' modes of current improvement interventions (Batliwalaa). It challenged no longer the
most realistic patriarchy, but also the facilitating structures of class , race , ethnicity, and caste and religion
in India, which governed the character of the credibility and role of women in increasing societies.

Empowerment kept a critical sector of enhancement jargon with the graduation of the 1990s. And eleven
though it became carried out in loads of social-extra processes, the time period became maximum typically
used on the subject of women and gender equality handiest.

Empowerment being a procedure and now no longer some thing that may be given to humans, and
empowerment procedure being each person and collective, because it is thru involvement in institution that
humans most usually start to broaden their cognizance and the potential to arrange to do so and result in
change, women empowerment may be considered as a continuum of numerous fascinated and collectively
reinforcing components (Karl 1995). These are as under:

 Awareness constructing approximately women’s situation, discrimination, and proper and

possibilities as a step toward gender equality, collective cognizance constructing presents a feel of
institution identification and the strength of running as a institution.
 Capacity constructing and talents improvement, particularly the ability to plan, make decisions,
organize, manipulate and carryout activities, to address humans and establishments withinside the
global around them.
 Participation and more manage and decision-making strength withinside the home, network and
society.
 Action to result in more equality among guys and women

Women’s empowerment is crucial for making sure now no longer simply their non-public or family
welfare, however additionally the well-being of the complete society as women are visible to be the number
one guardians accountable for changing the quality and amount of human sources to be had in a country to
sell sustainable improvement withinside the coming generations (UNFPA 2005).

MEASURING WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN RURAL INDIA

One of the demanding circumstances is that there are always one-of-a-kind interpretations elsewhere in the
actions and qualities that symbolise empowerment in a single sense. For instance, a shift in the capacity of
women to wait for public conferences with a veil would not be a signal of empowerment in city India, but it
could be nice in rural India , especially in the vicinity of Uttar Pradesh in Bundelkhand. In order to decide
the quantity to which empowerment on the level of the family or man or woman is a determinant of
improvement performance, context is also necessary. In addition, due to the multi-dimensionality of
women's empowerment and status, multiple metrics can be used to measure the popularity of women in
different settings. In a single calculation and in a single network, greater energy or autonomy is not expected
to amount to the same in another (Sathar and Kazi 2000).

Keeping in view the agricultural context, the existing examine has tried to degree women empowerment via
way of means of thinking about essentially five (5) essential dimensions of it. These dimensions are
dynamic, interlinked and at the same time reinforcing and realize the reality that the extent of gender
equality and empowerment are immediately proportional. These dimensions are as follows:

1. Gender Equality
Gender equality means a society in which men and women in all aspects of life experience the same
opportunities, performance, rights and obligations. Since gender equality and women's empowerment are
elements of the same coin, in a specific sense, gender equality is calculated in a way that measures women's
empowerment. In the current study , we suggest equality between men and women, women and boys in all
variables of lifestyles through means of gender equality, such as baby-related concerns, home workload,
social practises, and marriage and own circle of related issues.

2. Social Equality
Social equality means that each citizen of a community is treated at par with each other and caste, sex, faith,
etc. should not be unequal remedies on the floor. Women's advancement is directly proportional to social
inclusion and related practises in the Bundelkhand neighbourhood of Uttar Pradesh, where casteism and
feudal practises are all prevalent. The gift analysis thus conceptualises social equality as one of the main
components of women's empowerment in the field. The four contextual indications of the empowerment of
women through social equality are:

1. Increased interplay among Dalit lady kids and caste-lady kids,

2. Dalit lady kids no greater sitting one after the other in schools,

3. Equal remedy of Dalit and caste women representatives (WRs) in Panchayat conferences, and

4. Growing admire of Dalit WRs most of the village network.

3. Decision Making
Decision-making in a single shape or the opposite is on the coronary heart of a number of the excellent
recognized tries to conceptualize energy (Kabeer 1999). The gift examine consequently takes decision-
making energy of women is an essential indicator of women empowerment. It examines choose choices via
way of means of women representatives generally made in households. Decisions requested approximately
are choices concerning buy of family meals items, schooling of kids (when, how lots and in which),
shopping for and promoting of land and different foremost family property, what number of kids the own
circle of relatives ought to have, and use of own circle of relatives planning methods.
4. Financial Autonomy
One of the direct indicators of women's liberation is financial autonomy. Self-help groups (SHGs) with
women's clubs often play an important role in providing women with economic autonomy in a rural set-up,
and thereby empowering women. The current study therefore conceptualises economic autonomy as a
device for women's empowerment in terms of the five (5) signs that follow:

1. Increased volume of village SHGs

2. More women on top of things in their personal profits (which means women can spend their personal
earned profits as in line with their personal want or information without interference)

3. More women on top of things in their own circle of relatives or family profits, and

Increase in belongings owned via way of means of women or bought for women members

OTHER OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORKS

As the current look at is an attempt to look at the empowerment of women within the context of the
participation and overall performance of Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) in Gram Panchayats, and
also blocks their participation and overall performance, a brief overview of the organisational structure of
those and various related criteria is provided as follows:

 Participation in Gram Panchayats

The presence of women in Gram Panchayats could be checked out at 3 levels, at the level of the network at
large, at the level of Gram Sabha 's female contributors, and at the level of EWRs. The gift looks at but
attempts to discuss the involvement of women in Gram Panchayats in phrases of-a). EWRs' presence in the
meetings of Gram Sabha or Panchayat, and b). Participation of EWRs within the growth agenda or activities
of the Panchayat.

 Awareness

Awareness of EWRs has been studied in phrases of – a). Basic recognition of Panchayat provisions,
consisting of recognition round Gram Sabha contributors, character who can convene Gram Sabha,
frequency/regularity of Gram Sabha, etc. and b). Knowledge of key Panchayat provisions contains data on
electoral regulations for Panchayat election, roles & obligations of ERs, etc.

 Performance in Gram Panchayats

In sentences of 3 (3) overall performance measures, the operational structure for overall performance of
EWRs in Gram Panchayats was discussed. I Implementation of the Panchayati Raj Improvement Schedule's
core areas, ii). Implementation of programmes for enhancing the network, and iii). Government Gui.
Implementation of main regions of the Panchayati Raj improvement schedule has been calculated in phrases
in their overall output in line with the participation of EWRs in Gram Sabha. a). For the Panchayat, make
improvement plans, b). Preparing for
The Panchayat's price range suggestions, c). Analysis of new schemes or practises of the Panchayat, and d).
Identification of the Government Schemes recipients. The overall performance of EWRs in implementation
of network improvement programmes has additionally been taken into consideration in four (4) dimensions
as - i). Undertaking health-associated campaigns, ii). Waging pressure towards diseases, iii). Implementing
own circle of relatives making plans campaigns, and iv). Improving enrollment of women in schools.

 Blocks to Participation and Performance

There are some of blocks or limitations to participation and overall performance of WRs in Panchayat
activities, which mirror unequal electricity members of the family and negative repute of women withinside
the region. In the existing have a look at, the four (4) interrelated dimensions of those blocks are – a). Socio-
monetary blocks, b). Patriarchy-associated or gender blocks, c). Proxy or surrogate-associated blocks, and
d). Caste-associated blocks.

 Capacity Building Training

A crucial help mechanism for EWRs in the direction of powerful participation and overall performance in
Gram Panchayats is potential constructing training. The have a look at considers essentially four (4)
dimensions of potential constructing training. These are – i). Is it given? What are its constituents? ii).
Participation of EWRs in training, iii). Usefulness of training, and iv). Do EWRs want greater training? If
yes, in what?

 Value Addition through Other Structures

In the existing have a look at, club of EWRs of, and participation in parallel village bodies (Village
Education Committee, Village Health Committee, Village Water and Sanitation Committee, and Women
Empowerment Committee) and network primarily based totally organizations (Self Help Groups, Mahila
Mandals, Joint Management Committee, and Cooperative Society) withinside the villages have additionally
been conceptualized as help mechanisms, permitting them for extra participation and overall performance in
Gram Panchayats.

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN DEVELOPING INDIA

Since the older instances, women were handled as 2nd charge residents of all throughout the globe. Women
were relegated to secondary role in spite of the reality that they numerically represent approximately 1/2 of
the arena populace today.

This state of affairs has brought on vast loss to their self-dignity as people and additionally their unbiased
entities, related to guys, other than different be counted, in context with highbrow and expert capability.

In the very starting of civilization, women loved a decent role in society-at par with guys. They actively
participated in social, spiritual affairs in addition to in warfare. The social, spiritual ceremonies have been
taken into consideration incomplete until women participated in them. However, it became their bodily
charter which acted as hurdles at the manner to doing their diverse one of a kind tough tasks.

They have increasingly become dependent on guys for meals, protection for their various necessities. It was
due to the robust build-up of men who endangered their lives in the search and meal collection course. It is
without a doubt ironic that the honest intercourse that is responsible for sporting ahead lives on the planet is
not always granted dominance, but to men who have muscle energy with the help of which they might
subjugate others.

During the route of social development, the location of women additionally changed. When society became
formed, patriarchy became established. Gradually, men have become dominant in society. They have been
to put in writing the codes for all instances and glaringly women have been given a subordinate role. A
outstanding characteristic of hegemonic ideologies is the projection of the dominant standpoint as
universally true.
The architect of the Indian Constitution was of the opinion that nothing would lead to any change in their
fate before and until women were empowered. At that time, the women were bound up with the slavery of
superstitions inside the call of the sansakars, which they needed to carry into their lives until the final breath.
They were considered just a treat and a supply of amusement to be counted. According to the Hindu
Shashtra, she became a bonded slave to her father when she was young, to her husband when she was
middle-aged, and to her son when she was a mother. In India, all the epigrams, aphorisms, proverbs,
platitudes and truism were bare facts about the stature of women.

It no longer means that attempts to put dignity inside the life of women have not been made anymore.
Through our saints and social reformers, there has been a prolonged subculture of social reforms, including:
Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Mahadev Govind Ranade, and Jyotiba Phule, to call a
few who tried their fine to change the life of women. However, their efforts bore fruit to a few degrees, but
the surplus of the masses no longer distinguished themselves excessively. In this regard, Dr. Ambedkar tried
to break down the barriers to women's advancement in India. By codifying the Traditional Civil Code for the
Hindus, he encouraged concrete and honest efforts and the concept is capable of spreading to various parts
of Indian society. Besides, he additionally made provision withinside the Constitution to make sure a
dignified social repute to women. He, through codifying Hindu Law in admire of marriage, divorce and
succession rationalized and restored the honor of women.

Society has thrown up women of calibre, who can equal, even exceed, the skills of men, even in a long
period of strict supremacy over men. In different fields of life, they grew enormously and accomplished
enormous achievements as teachers, physicians, engineers , scientists, explorers, squads, and pilots. Without
a doubt, this achievement is possible because it was achieved in a remarkably unfavourable state of affairs
and because of the importance of strong social criticism, undoubtedly also ostracism. The desire for
women's equality stems from the subordinate position they have been given for a long time. It is difficult to
fathom how sluggish shifting the subculture change of the arena is while you discover that there are
numerous locations throughout the us of a wherein dangerous customs of the historic global coexist with
cutting-edge home equipment and thought. However which can come as rarely any marvel to one that has
lived in India.

Challenges Prevalent in India:  There are numerous demanding situations which might be presently
plaguing the troubles of women’s rights in India. A few of those demanding situations are supplied below.
While quite a few those are redundant and pretty primary troubles confronted throughout the united states,
those are contributory reasons to the overarching fame of women in India. Targeting those troubles will at
once gain the empowerment of women in India.
1) Illiteracy: While the United States has risen from leaps and limits on the grounds that it is autonomous in
terms of education, the disparity between men and women is serious. Though 82.14 percent of individual
men are educated, 65.46 percent of individual women in India are recognised to be literate. An illiterate
woman on the mercy of her husband or father is not the most handy, but she now no longer understands that
this is not necessarily the way women live globally. In addition, the norms of tradition that the monarchy is
the being-all and end-all of its own circle of family choices are progressively spoiling the culture of the
united states. Eradicating this void and educating women about their real region within the world is a step in
order to make this entire movement roll down the hill to crash and break the wall of intolerance, negligence
and exploitation.2

2) Poverty: Around a third of the population of the United States lives on even less than USD 1.25, in
accordance with the day. Over the years, the GINI index has continued to rise steadily, suggesting that
disparity within the distribution of income within the United States is growing. The greatest danger to
international peace is taken into account by poverty, and poverty eradication must be a country-wide target
as important because of the eradication of illiteracy. Women are oppressed as home makes because of abject
poverty and other half whose earnings are usurped by means of the household person's means. In addition,
slaves of intercourse are a final outcome of poverty right away.
For almost 1/2 of all cases of intercourse trafficking in India, Andhra Pradesh owes the bulk to teenage
women. A startling 300,000 women and women were trafficked for exploitative intercourse paintings from
Andhra Pradesh, according to police estimates; of those, only 3,000 have so far been rescued. The kingdom
is fantastically wealthy, ranking fourth in phrases in India in line with capita GDP, but it is also domestic
within the United States to a lot of the poorest people.
If poverty is no longer a problem, the lady toddler will be able to comply with her wishes on issues of sexual
harassment, home neglect and any paintings.

3) Female infanticide:  Killing of the woman toddler continues to be a not unusual place exercise in among
the rural areas. Further woman foeticide is not unusual place in a few elements of India, in spite of the
passage of ‘Prenatal Diagnostic techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection) Act in 1994. In case they survive,
they're subjected to discrimination all through their lives. Traditionally, on the grounds that sons are notion
to attend to their dad and mom for the duration of antique age and daughters are taken into consideration a
burden due to dowry and different fees that should be incurred for the duration of their marriage, woman
kids are left out withinside the subjects of nutrition, schooling and different critical elements of properly-
being. The Sex ratio in our united states is abysmally low. It turned into handiest 940 women in line with a
thousand men in step with the 2011 census. The Sex ratio is an critical indicator of development.
2
The 15th official census in India was calculated in the year 2011. After the 2011 census, literacy rate in India was
found to be 74.04%. ... Today the female literacy rate area 65.46%
4) Domestic Violence: Females face the hassle of early marriage and childbirth during their youth. They are
not properly cared for the duration of pregnancy, mainly in many instances of maternal mortality. The MMR
(Maternal Mortality Rate) is 212 (as in 2012) in India , i.e. the number of women who die for the duration of
transport, in line with one lakh person. They are also subjected to dowry harassment and various styles of
domestic violence. In addition, acts of violence, exploitation and discrimination are rampant in the painting
region, public locations and elsewhere.3

5) Attitude of the society: It is a trendy notion that women from a sure elegance handiest are in want of
empowerment. But this isn't always actual. Even the knowledgeable and people with a excessive social fame
won't be empowered withinside the actual sense. It wanted the proper Attitude and Accountability.
Preventive mechanisms need to accept extra awareness than punitive mechanisms to make certain on the
spot abatement of violence. Woman is empowered while society adjustments its attitude.

6) Health & Safety: The fitness and protection issues of women are paramount for the properly being of a
rustic and is an critical thing in gauging the empowerment of women in a rustic. However there are alarming
issues wherein maternal healthcare is concerned. While there are numerous programmes which have been
set into movement via way of means of the Government and numerous NGOs withinside the united states,
there's nevertheless a huge hole that exists among the ones beneath safety and people now no longer.
Poverty and illiteracy upload to those headaches with nearby quacks giving useless and downright
dangerous treatments to troubles that women have. The empowerment of women starts with a assure in their
fitness and protection.

3
Vishaka Vs State of Rajasthan
TOOLS TO EMPOWER WOMEN

1) Education: On this account, education is an exceptional determinant. To gain empowerment,

women in a cutting-edge society should be knowledgeable in order to be privy to their rights and
privileges. It is preparation that can result in their focus being connected to their social popularity,
inequality and distinction.

2) Co-Education: It helped college students cast off pre-conceived notions approximately the
opposite gender.

3)Economic Independence: It is a primary concern that may lead to women's empowerment. In

the very beginning, India discovered this need. It has certainly become a primary step towards
women's prominence and empowerment in India. This provides a property-specific child, which
completely strengthens her social status. In spite of most of these political initiatives, women's
empowerment in India remains a far-off hope. Besides this, the Sharda Act is also very worth
noting. It has put the seal of authority on the social changes that have been implemented and
inevitable by the representatives of orthodoxy. A part of social engineering law is the Hindu Code
Bill, which covers issues concerning land, order of succession to land, maintenance, marriage ,
divorce, adoption, minority, and guardianship. Needless to say, it turned into a gradual phase.

4) Political Empowerment: it's miles a key to improvement on this society. It is a ought to for an
all- round improvement of women. It is the want of the hour to make certain her participation
withinside the decision-making at home, in network and on the country wide level.

5) Actions taken via way of means of govt. to empower women:-4

i) Criminal legal guidelines: Like the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, the Hindu
Marriage Act 1955 and other marriage acts, criminal legal guidelines for sati, dowry, lady
infanticide and foeticide,' eve teasing', incest, immoral trafficking and other crimes relating to
women were enforced similarly to civil law guidelines. In 2005, the Prevention of Domestic
Violence Act was issued.

www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports
ii) National Commission for Women
The National Commission for Women is a Department in the Ministry of Women and Child
Development. It turned into installation solely to assist women thru the Constitution – via way of
means of reviewing Legal and Constitutional safeguards for women, recommending remedial
legislative measures, via way of means of facilitating short redressal of grievances and via way of
means of advising the Government of India on all coverage topics affecting women. The internet
site lets in for on-line submission of lawsuits and speedy redressal solely for women. Additionally
it's also a great useful resource of records for women and the Commission is dedicated to
supporting out women in want.

iii) Women’s Reservation Bill : The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill, generally referred to
as the Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to order within the Lok Sabha and the State
Legislative Assemblies one-0.33 seats for women. On the one hand, the solution should envisage a
two-pronged assault on culture that is responsible for allocating low popularity to women within
society and, on the other hand, the outrages committed against them.

iv) Protection of Women towards Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010: If enacted, the
new Bill would ensure that women are involved in sexual assault at all locations of the paintings,
whether public or private. This will make a contribution to their proper realisation of gender
equality, lifestyles and independence and equality in running circumstances all over the world. The
administrative centre 's security experience would increase the involvement of women in paintings,
arising from their monetary empowerment and inclusive boom. This is to ensure a healthy
atmosphere for women in painting areas, whether or not organised or unorganised, both in the
public and private sectors. The certificate would help to achieve female empowerment and
equality.

v) Gender Equality: Gender disparity withinside the u . s . may be tackled simplest thru proactive
intervention in regions which includes monetary empowerment of women, constructing of good
enough social and bodily infrastructure and enhancing women’s function in governance.

vi) SEWA: SEWA is a change union registered in 1972. It is an company of terrible, self-hired
women employees. These are women who earn a residing thru their personal labour or small
businesses. They do now no longer reap everyday salaried employment with welfare advantages
like employees withinside the organised sector. They are the unprotected labour pressure of our u .
s .. Constituting 93% of the labour pressure, those are employees of the unorganised sector. Of the
lady labour pressure in India, extra than 94% are withinside the unorganised sector. However their
paintings isn't always counted and consequently stays invisible. Self Employed Women’s
Association (SEWA) empowerment of women turned into the important thing to now no longer
simplest assembly the goal of gender equality however additionally to eliciting complete
participation in nation-constructing.

vii) SHG: As terrible women have been regularly incapacitated to behave individually, social
mobilization for his or her monetary redemption turned into a essential necessity. Participatory
group constructing thru self-assist corporations has been discovered to be one of the handiest gear
for the empowerment of women in growing countries. As on thirty first March 2012, there have
been round sixty three lakh all-women self-assist corporations in India that had mixed financial
institution financial savings of extra than Rs. 5,one hundred crore. The range of such self-assist
corporations is increasing, with a boom fee of 9.2, 14.eight and three.three according to cent at
some point of 2009-10, 2010-eleven and 2011-12 respectively.

viii) Agriculture Sector: Agriculture Training is the important thing to empowering women.
Vocational schooling in agriculture is an crucial step toward empowerment of massive sections of
women withinside the State. They had higher self-esteem, extra participation in family decision-
making and manage over resources. There turned into development in monetary elements which
includes accessibility to credit, family income, acquisition of property and an boom in financial
savings.

xi) Ministry for Women & Child Development

Within the year 1985, the Ministry for Women & Child Development became established as a
branch of the Ministry of Human Resource Development to emphasise the holistic improvement of
women and children within the country. This division became famous in 2006, given the
prominence of a ministry with the powers to :—
Formulate plans, regulations and programmes; enact/ amend legislation, direct and coordinate the
activities of each governmental and non-governmental organisation working in the field of
development for women and children.
It provides such initiatives, including Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), a bundle of
deals that include supplementary nutrition, activity tests and immunisation. As noted earlier, with
their security and fitness, the empowerment of women begins to grow and this Ministry is
committed to delivering them.
xiii) Five Year Plans: The authorities consists of provision of allocation for the welfare of women
withinside the 5 yr plan, provision of backed mortgage centers and so on. The year 2001 has been
declared because the ‘women empowerment yr’ via way of means of the Government of India and
24th January because the National Girl Child Day.

Some Provisions and committees regarding women empowerment:

Article 14 ensures gender equality by conferring equal rights and opportunities on men and
women in the political, economic and social spheres.
Article 15 prohibits discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of sex, religion, race,
caste etc.
Article 15(3) empowers the state to make affirmative discrimination in favour of women.
Article 16 provides for equality of opportunities in the matters of public appointments.
Article 39 enjoins the state to provide adequate means of livelihood to men and women and
also equal pay for equal work.
Article 42 directs the state to make provisions for ensuring just and humane conditions for
work and maternity relief.

G.V.K. Rao Committee

It was constituted in 1985 to review the administrative arrangements for rural development
programs and poverty alleviations schemes. This committee agreed on district as a basic unit of
policy planning and program implementation but it emphasised the need for regular elections to the
Panchayats.
Sanghvi Committee (1987)
This committee examined this functioning of PRIs and recommended reorganisation of
villages for creating viable Gram Panchayats. It also strongly recommended greater financial
resources to PRIs to make them viable and effective.
64th Constitutional Amendment Bill
The bill introduced in Parliament in 1989 included setting up of Panchayats in every state at
the village level, intermediate level and district level. The intermediate level was not obligatory in
states with a population of less than 20 lakh. This bill was passed by Lok Sabha but could not see
the light of the day in Rajya Sabha.
 73rd Constitutional Amendment
A milestone in the history of governance in independent India is the 73rd constitutional
amendment. The Govt. Gaining experience from decades of failures and real needs and interests of
all social classes. To legalise and formalise the decentralised decision-making process at the
grassroots level, a constitutional amendment was instituted. This constitutional amendment makes
all the provisions of the Act obligatory for one and all to follow.
PARTICIPITATION OF WOMEN IN GRAM PANCHAYATS
In general, their representation in terms of numbers or percentages is the reference point for the
participation of WRs in the Panchayati Raj. This does not lead to sufficient comprehension, since
representation in itself does not constitute evidence of participation. This research therefore aimed
to gather evidence of participation in terms of three basic measures I instead of resorting to broad-
brush inference based on data on representation. Gram Sabha organisation and frequency, ii). Gram
Sabha Engagement, and ii). Panchayats' engagement in the growth agenda. This is based on the
premise that representation is a necessary prerequisite for participation, but by no means sufficient.
As such, we start by recording the number of Gram Sabha organized in villages, in which WRs, by
virtue of their special responsibilities, are expected to participate.

Participation in Gram Sabha

Five women members, to research the level of participation in Gram Sabha,
Separate participation-related questions (in Gram Sabha) were asked by the respondents. These
questions were primarily about the frequency and punctuality of WRs attending Gram Sabha, their
speaking patterns, and making prior arrangements and exercise of voting rights in Gram Sabha
using the Likert scale in the interview schedule.5

5
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/128015/16/09_chapter%204.pdf
Table below shows a moderate level of participation of WRs in Gram Sabha meetings. Apart
from 31.9 percent of the WRs never participating in Gram Sabhas and 35.1 percent being
unaware of their participation, around 33 percent of WRs did participate in Gram Sabhas in
one way or the other. Participation was reported more by Pradhans than Ward Members and
by Non-Dalit representatives than Dalit representatives.
Compared to low attendance, non- punctuality, and lack of eloquence, poor prior
preparedness and non- exercise of voting rights by women representations emerged as main
reasons for the moderate participation level of women representatives.
For the proportion of ‘no’ and ‘don’t know’
Table 4.11: Participation in
response categories, 95 (66 plus 29) percent
Gram Sabha Meetings
and 84 (38 plus 46) percent, respectively, were
No Don’t Yes N
highest for questions relating to prior
know
preparation and exercise of voting rights by Ward 33. 33.7 32. 17
WRs in Gram Sabha. Thus participation of Members 9 4 1
WRs in Gram Sabha appears to be more Dalit 39. 32.6 28. 87

symbolic and less substantive in nature. 3 0

Non- 28. 34.8 36. 84
Lower participation of WRs in Panchayat
Dalit 3 9
meetings has been supported by many earlier Pradhans 26. 39.0 34. 60
studies. Sarkar (2004) observed that the 3 7
participation level of the respondent elected Dalit 33. 35.0 31. 28

women members in Panchayat meetings in two 6 4

Non- 20. 42.5 37. 32
backward districts of northern part of West
Dalit 0 5
Bengal was also quite low – only 21 percent Total ERs 31. 35.1 33. 23
respondents participated fully and a 9 0 1
considerable number did not participate at all. Dalit 37. 33.2 28. 11
Sukhdev Singh and Verminder Kaur (2007) 9 9 5
Non- 26. 36.9 37. 11
revealed that majority of the women Panchayat
Dalit 0 1 6
members (51.7%) never participated even in
case of invitation, largely due to pre-occupation in domestic chores and social obstacles. The
level of participation
 Figure 4.4: Participation of WRs in Gram Sabha Meetings
16%
Exercise voting rights? 38% 46%

5
Prior preparation? 66% 29%
%
51%
Speak up?16% 33%

44%
How punctual?22% 34%

48%
How often?19% 33%

NoDon't knowYes

was also not very encouraging as only one-fifth of the total respondent women members held
that they “fully” participated in the decision making process. About half of them did not give
any time at all towards the Panchayat work.

CONCLUSION
“Women in India have had a turbulent journey during the course of history. From the
revered citizens of sanity having equal rights to their male counterparts being eligible for all
ritual performances in religious ceremonies they have seen the turbulence of widowhood,
sati, child marriage, prohibition, subjects of torture, discriminations, deprivation to Purdah,
denial of educational rights, confinement in house, declared biologically inferior, suited for
only household jobs. In between enlightened individuals fought for the rights of women and
some individual women attained high knowledge, respect in society. However, these efforts
remained of the most localized and died with those highly motivated individuals. No mass
movement ever happened in the direction of ameliorating women’s deplorable life in society.
The introduction of liberal education and educated British rule did make attempt to
remove some of the evil practices against women through more structured legislative
initiatives. However, deep rooted traditional ways of Indian social structure and mindset
thwarted such spirited attempts and women kept languishing on the fringe of the social
system in India for centuries.
During post independence period the initial philosophy for nation building
was inducted into various provisions in the constitutions of India. Various measures were
enshrined in the constitution to guide the society into a more equitable social environment.
Women were recognized as a target group and addressed prominently through various
articles in constitution. However, the ground realities of Indian society remained unaffected.
During the same time efforts were being made to attain equitable distribution of
development. The traditional concept of Panchayat was recognized as a pivotal institution of
self governance in a diverse, fragmented, complex Indian Society. The Panchayats had
existed in India since centuries ago as an institution of self governance and were known to
discharge state functions to maintain order in society.
The attempts on revival of Panchayats as viable institutions in rural areas were made
very early into independence but for a long time they could hardly make any impact on grass
root democratization of governance. No section of society ever benefited from Panchayat
Institution. During early nineties it was realized that lack of constitutional mandate was one
of the key factors in failure of Panchayats in India.
When constitutional amendment was conceived in 1992 it was emphasised to allow
the weaker sections of society adequate representation in overall governance at grass root
level. Woman was identified as one such weaker section along with SC, ST and OBCs. Thus
in the 73rd constitutional amendment Act 1992 a mandatory provision was included to reserve
one third of the total seats of all tiers of Panchayats for women. The reservation of seats was
to be operated on rotation basis to allow women from different regions, opportunity to
participate in election.
Thus, empowerment of women through Panchayats was one of the key objectives of
PRIs. Madhya Pradesh was one of the pioneers in implementing PRIs through its own Act in
1993 amended from time to time to remove hurdles in implementations. Women have been
forthcoming in Panchayats and have begun exercising their powers. In the study of two
districts of Madhya Pradesh it was noticed that on key development parameters both districts
have shown varied degree of improvement. They have managed to benefit from reservation
as well as by the mechanism of Gram Sabha. The planning and execution of development
plans by Gram Sabha has ensured that women along with other sections of society are no
longer subjects of planning at top.” They are no more beneficiaries of schemes/projects
decided at the top without considering ground realities and constraints of grass root level.
During the study it was observed that although women have gained on many fronts it is still a
long journey for them in their quest for total empowerment. PRIs can be a vital instrument in
this direction, but there is need for other initiatives like movement for mass literacy,
expansion of economic activities in rural areas, channelising rural resources and talent for
economic development, availability of quality health services, sanitation facilities. Each of
them has to complement each other to ensure holistic development. PRIs have been vibrant
institutions in Madhya Pradesh and their vast potential in not only empowering women but
for overall development of rural areas will release untapped energy at grass root level. The
need for correct social and institutional reform also cannot be overlooked to create conducive
social and political environment for development. Women shall remain on the forefront of all
development initiatives and their potential need to be utilized for nation building.
BIBLIOGRAPHY & REFERENCES

 Dak, T.M and Purohit, P.M. (2008), Empowerment of Women

through Participation in Panchayati Raj
 Marilee Karl (1995), Women and Empowerment, Zed Books Ltd., London

 Ministry of Panchayati Raj (2011), Roadmap for the Panchayati Raj (2011-16):
An All India Perspective

“www.humanrightsinitiative.org

www.mp.gov.in/finance

www.sndp.undp.org/gender/resources

www.planningcommission.nic.in/reports

www.indiatogether.org/women/media

www.nird.org.in/pan

www.ncrw.nic.in”

www.action.web.ca/home/sap/attach