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CHAPTER 1
EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH PANCHAYATS-
A CASE STUDY
While writing in Young India in 1918 Mahatma Gandhi
said “Women is the companion of man gifted with equal
capacities, she has the right to participate in the minutest detail
of the activities of man. She has the same right of freedom and
liberty as he.” However as we run through the history of
mankind and his development, division of labour, allocation of
resources and all activities have been defined by gender in all
societies. Women have been subjected to inferior standing at
all times. The form of discrimination against women has
changed over eras but content remain firm from primitive to
modern times. Far too long and for several centuries’ women,
who constitute almost half of the humanity has suffered
discrimination and disability all over the world. The tide of
democracy, sweeping across cultures and countries, broke the
old stereotypes and shackles, however, the social, cultural,
economic and political structures, tradition bound as they were,
and still are, did not allow the equalitarian measures to
materialise into a reality.
The story of Indian women is not too different from what
one witnesses in many other societies. The modern Industrial
societies may have done little better than developing societies
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in terms of guarantying basic human rights and equality to
women, but they are also far behind an ideal type social
environment. Indian women have gone through many
transitions in their fight for equality through out its history.
Over a period of many millenniums the graph of women’s
empowerment has not shown a consistent upward swing. It
may have some kinks in it but it has eluded the much desired
movement up the ladder. In fact a research of ancient period
reveals that Vedic era is supposed to be the golden period of
women’s status in India. Although it is very difficult to
establish this claim and it would be too simplistic to accept
that, in distant past all was well with women in Indian society.
However, it is beyond anybody’s doubt that women may have
enjoyed greater freedom of movement and a greater share in
important social and religious functions. (De souza1980; 187).
On the basis of historical account of Vedic literature we can
say that women were treated much better and enjoyed more
rights than they did in later times. We shall be discussing about
historical evolution of women’s status in Indian society in
greater detail in subsequent chapters.
Women in all spheres of life have been treated secondary
to man in Indian society for centuries. This fact has been
recognised and has bothered many social reformers in past.
There have been several individual and institutional efforts to
ameliorate women’s deplorable conditions. These attempts
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have resulted in many path breaking movements, legislations
and uprisings. However, the end result of most of these efforts
has yielded limited success for women. Women were treated
as subhuman and discriminated against in most of the areas
and could never attain their due place in the society. “Women
have been deprived from availing various kinds of
opportunities and advantages by our traditional society for the
past several centuries. Discrimination against women is
commonly observed in providing opportunities of socio-
economic development, participation in social, religious
activities.” Although women have been generally deprived of
the opportunities of a respectful life in society, it can also be
concluded that many developments have taken place directly
affecting the status of women in positive manner. The sati
system of old tradition may not have died totally but it has
virtually been eliminated from society through legislative
measures and strong social movement against the system.
Similarly, the legislative measure to restrict the minimum age
of marriage has directly improved the status of women by
providing additional time to them to pursue their education and
be directly involved in decisions affecting their future. In
addition they are not forced into traumatic years into marriage
at tender age.
The independence of India brought in many hopes for the
nation. It was perceived that destiny of our citizens was in the
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hands of Indians only. The citizens of India gave themselves a
constitution which was a treatise for growth and prosperity for
everyone in the country. The constitution of India guarantees
right of equality to all its citizens irrespective of their caste,
sex, creed and religion. Indian democracy, right from the days
of independence, has been thriving on these basic principles.
The post independence era has seen some significant
steps in the direction of development of women for overall
improvement of their status in society. There have been many
agencies involved who have done commendable work in this
direction with state leading the field with many state sponsored
programs or assistance to target groups. The focus and priority
of programs have kept changing with time and evolution of
new strategies for development.
Beginning from legislative efforts to improve women’s
status during 1950’s e.g. Hindu Marriage Act, Law of
Inheritance, various programs have been designed and
implemented through five year plans and special target projects
for women. Women’s role and contribution has been
recognised at all levels. Although the process of social change
in value system of a society is long drawn, efforts have been
made to bring women into the mainstream of the society.
The involvement of women in the development process
was always advocated by the thinkers for the over all
development of the society. If we critically evaluate the
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women’s condition in our country, it is evident that despite
sincere efforts, nothing much has changed in the day to day life
of women in rural India. In urban setting access to education
and employment opportunities have benefited women but in
rural areas traditional social structures and failure of modern
institutional mechanism to percolate to village life have
prevented any significant upliftment of women in rural society.
“Many studies reveal that the place of rural women in India is
much lower in social, economic and political empowerment
than that of their urban counterparts. Although they have been
contributing significantly to the social and economic progress
of the country, their participation in the development programs
is still at the lower side. The rural women are passive
beneficiaries rather than active contributor. Politically, rural
women remain largely inactive and indifferent due to various
socio-economic constraints and lack of political and social
motivation.”
Since independence, it has been noticed that most of the
programs introduced had focussed on women as targets and
passive recipients of financial support. These early programs
were more subsidy driven short term measures lacking in any
effort towards building capacities of women for long term
empowerment. Very few thinking went into making women
participate in the decision making process. Women were
mostly excluded in top down approach to development and
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kept away from political mainstream. Reasons for women’s
exclusion can be traced partly in traditional social and political
power structure in rural India and partly to lack of larger
political willingness to share power with women. The report of
the committee on status of women in India (CSWI,1974)
which is considered a significant account on the socio-
economic conditions of women recounts that “ Though
women’s participation in the political process has increased,
both in election and in their readiness to express their views on
issues directly concerning their day to day life, their ability to
produce an impact on the political process has been negligible
because of the inadequate attention paid to their political
education and mobilisation by both political parties and
women’s organisations.”
Despite several setbacks, need for making women
empowered was felt as early in 1959 when women got place in
Panchayati Raj leadership through co option in many of the
states when Panchayati Raj system took the shape on Oct 2nd
1959. During early days PRI itself could not settle down
because of lack of political support, motivation, resulting into
theories of grass root governance and power being treated as
academic in nature. Till 1992 success of PRI remained
localised and limited. It could not drive any section of the
society out of the status quo and it was true for women also.
However the concept of Panchayati Raj never died in our
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political system. It was in 1992 that a new lease of life was
injected in to Panchayat system of governance by granting
constitutional validity through 73rd amendment to the
constitution. The new law recognised the need to empower
women at all levels by ensuring their active participation in
grass root governance and building women’s economic
capacities. The constitution 73rd amendment Act 1992 Article
243D (3) reads “not less than one third (including the number
of seats reserved for women belonging to the SC & ST) of the
total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every
panchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats may be
allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a panchayat.”
Panchayati Raj Institution is one of the most significant
political innovations of independent India. Leadership in the
context of Panchayati Raj Institution’s relevance as the
objective behind constituting local governance was to
encourage leadership according to developmental needs of the
countryside. Through the constitutional amendment serious
attempt is being made to bring all sections of society into
national mainstream including women who have otherwise
been ignored and kept on the fringe of the whole scheme of
things. The thrust of PRI is to ensure active and adequate
participation of women in decision making process at all
levels. This leads to women directly guiding and deciding their
own destiny. In this study an attempt has been made to explore
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the extent of empowerment achieved by women through the
driving force of PRI. The focus of the study is two districts of
Madhya Pradesh which are contiguous to each other in
geographical location but differ in terms of developmental
parameters. The empirical data collected has been used to
analyse the impact of PRI on women’s empowerment. The
study is not limited to women leaders and their role but the
overall scenario in rural setting.
The history of Panchayati Raj in MP after independence
can be traced back to Panchayat Act 1962 based on the
recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta committee .Over past
several decades the Act was revised several times but these
institutions continued to operate in limited sphere of local
maintenance and did not have any significant developmental
responsibilities. As a result Panchayats as an institutional
mechanism for development remained on the fringe of the
politico-economic power structure. Serious efforts towards
revitalising Panchayats in MP were started in 1990 with
Panchayati raj act 1990 followed by many administrative and
legislative reforms. These are discussed in detail in chapter
dealing with PRI in MP.
PRIs have provided a credible platform for women to
voice their concern and be involved in decisions about their
future. The experience of working of PRIs in MP has reflected
some positive indicators on women’s empowerment. Women
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leadership has emerged at local grass root level and their issues
have occupied centre stage on many decision making
processes. The road to women empowerment has been laid by
PRI Act 1992 and now it is for the socio political structure to
create space for women to emerge from the shadows of
tradition, discrimination and deprivation.
The current study is an effort to correlate women’s
empowerment with the working of Panchayati Raj institutions
in MP. The scope of the study is limited by the time and
resource constraint. Two districts have been have selected as
sample districts. These are Jabalpur and Narsinghpur. Since
focus of the present study is to analyse the impact of PRI
working on women’s empowerment in society as such and
analysis of many social indicators has been done to arrive at
the conclusion. The focus includes not only the women leaders
in PRI but also women population in general.
CHAPTERISATION
Chapter II-Status of women in Indian society.
In this chapter women’s status in Indian society has been
discussed. There have many theories regarding women’s role
in development of society. In India, women’s role and in turn
her status in overall social structure has changed in different
stages of history. During Vedic age women occupied place of
pride in society and participated in all social and religious
ceremonies equally. The same status was, however, not
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accorded to her in post Vedic era followed by brahmanical
domination in Indian society. Even during Muslim and British
rule women remained at the bottom of the social order.
Chapter III – Women’s empowerment, decentralisation
and the State- Post Independence era.
This chapter focuses on institutional growth in women’s
emancipation. During the ancient times state did not provide
any support to the cause of women. There are few evidences of
state’s welfarist policies during that period. State did not
intervene in the existing social order which was primarily
based on hierarchical order limiting the role of women in
society to house hold cores. The concept of universal equality
or gender equality was virtually non existent in ancient times.
The system continued to thrive during the Muslim era in India
and sign of reform can be traced with the introduction of
modern education by British and emergence of social reform
movements against prevalence of evil practices in society.
Some of the reform movements specifically targeted women’s
extremely deplorable condition on Indian society. Institutional
support to women’s cause started emerging during British rule
but post independence period has created more structured
effort towards uplifting women’s status in society through the
policy of positive discrimination. This chapter will primarily
deal with post independence attempts in this direction.
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Chapter IV- Panchayati Raj in Madhya Pradesh.
This chapter gives a broad outline of PRI in India in
general and MP in particular. Madhya Pradesh has been one of
the pioneer states in implementing Panchayati Raj with total
political commitment. The state has achieved a relatively
higher degree of success in ensuring Gram Swaraj in rural
areas through Panchayats. Panchayati raj has served as a driver
of growth for deprived classes of society by incorporating all
sections in the decision making process at grass root level. The
success or failure of PRI has been examined in this chapter
with particular reference to its impact on women. The
philosophy and provisions of PRI have been critically
examined for their relevance in enhancing women’s ability to
exert themselves and create an environment of higher
entitlements and access to resources and opportunities.
Chapter- V WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
THROUGH PANCHAYATI RAJ IN MADHYA
PRADESH- AN ANALYSIS
The chapter include the case study of two districts of MP
which are our sample districts for the current study. The data
collected and compiled in are analysed in with reference to
various indicators of empowerment. Indicators of
empowerment are individually analysed to isolate the impact
of PRI on specific parameters since a collective and broad
generalisation may not correctly reflect the impact in totality.
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Chapter VI- Conclusion
The last chapter briefly discusses the outcome of the
study, its effectiveness with reference to implementation of
PRI in India, policy implication of the study , broad suggestion
son the positive and negative implications of PRI.
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CHAPTER II
STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIAN SOCIETY
The status of women in any society is a function of many
variables. At any given point of time and in a particular social
setting, social structure, cultural norms, value systems are
important determinants of women’s role and position in
society. Social traditions are major influence in shaping
attitudes as well as behavioural pattern of human groups.
Social structure can stimulate certain trends of change but it
can also be a limiting factor in execution of change. It is
generally observed that changes in normative structure and in
the organizational form of society do not take place in unison.
Thus in any society, attempt at legislative or educational
reform may not always have the desired impact in terms of
expected spread across a spectrum of social class. It happens
because of the normative and structural unprepared ness of the
society to accept their goals and means.
There is a fundamental question which arises whenever
we talk about development or equality. Development is a
continuous process in any society while equality is a state of
affair in which the fruits of development are shared by various
sections of society. We have never had a utopian society in the
history of mankind except that of mythical social system of
Ramrajya during Ram’s rule. Every social system constitutes
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various communities, groups, sections differentiated on many
parameters. The stratification of society is generally based on
economic status, caste status, or some times racial base.
Society is also divided on gender basis i.e. man and women.
Depending on the relative strength and weakness of any group,
the opportunities available at any time get distributed among
different factions which in turn determines their respective
places in the hierarchy. Some time social and political structure
also permit positive discrimination in favour of an
underprivileged group and allows them to have preferential
access to resources of society.
Whenever we talk of an underprivileged section of
society we place women in the category more often than any
other section. Nature may have created man and woman as
equal but historical research establish that privileges and
opportunities have gone to men more frequently than to
women. Women have been deprived of access to opportunities
and have enjoyed limited role outside the domain of their
home. Their limited role in social and economic sphere has
determined their inferior status in social structure.
Continuation of such state of affair has been the order of
history in almost all societies with differences in degree.
Although women constitute half of humanity, they have
been perennially subjected to discrimination and disability all
over the world. The passage of time has not altered their tales
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and position in society. The world has seen many significant
developments throughout the history in its social, economic
and political structure. The autocratic rules of Pharaohs and
kings gave way to welfarist kings like Asoka and Akbar which
further culminated into rule of the masses in a democratic
political structure. The advent of democracy led to sweeping
changes in social, political, economic and cultural institutions.
Many societies broke age old traditional shackles to modernize
themselves. Substantial material changes in economic and
political structures did not, however, allow many equalitarian
measures to materialize into a reality. “ Obstacles to women’s
equality with men in all walks of life did not disappear even
when constitutional and legal provisions of far reaching
significance were made, women remains neglected or at best
sidelined, in the mainstream of the dominant process of
development.” In most societies marginal gains have been
achieved but enough space has not been created by dominant
structures to allow women to participate in mainstream
economic and political process.
When we focus on women’s position in Indian society on
historical time line we come across many cross sections of
theories and contradictions. Despite its deep rooted traditional
value system prevailing since Vedic age we do have evidences
of far reaching achievements attained by many illustrious
women. From the highly revered status as goddess and source
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of power, Indian women have seen the downhill journey
through ostracism to widowhood, forced burning on pyre of a
dead husband, denial of all forms of formal education,
confinement within the domain of the house to produce, rear
and look after children and other males, era of radical social
reform for their upliftment by many enlightened educationists,
reformers, being first citizens empowered to participate in
political process of a nation, constitutional safeguard to their
rights, other legislative measures identifying them as a weaker
section of society and being privileged to have positive
discrimination in access to resources.
We can discuss status of Indian women during the
process of evolution of Indian society in four phases:-
Ancient Indian society including the mythical period
Medieval period of outside intervention in Indian society
Age of social reform movement and British rule
Post Independence period
ANCIENT PERIOD
In the original Sanskrit text, the creation of women by
Tyashtri, the Vulcan of Hindu mythology is described thus “he
took the lightness of the leaf and the glance of the fawn, the
gaiety of the sun’s rays and the tears of the mist, the
inconsistency of the wind and the timidity of the hare, the
vanity of the peacock and the softness of the down of the throat
of the Swallow. He added the harshness of the diamond, the
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sweet flavour of honey, the cruelty of the tiger, warmth of the
fire and the turtle dove, the chill of snow and the chatter of the
joy. He melted all these and formed a woman.”
The above description may be an indication of the
abilities a woman may possess. Many of these features glitter
in their character many a times. But the story of woman has
always been one of unhappy subjugated living under the
coercive authoritarian control of man. The Indian women’s tale
is an endless woe. They are abandoned, divorced, bought and
sold or killed at the whims of man.
A study of ancient Indian text and religious scriptures
show that the position of women was fairly satisfactory during
Vedic age. Women enjoyed equal status with men in respect to
formal education, participation in religious ceremonies, and
choice of partners. Evidence of widow remarriage and freedom
to choose one’s husband, absence of dowry system are
available in Vedic texts. Although sons were preferred to
daughters during the Vedic period, women could be initiated to
Vedic studies and were entitled to offer sacrifices to gods, the
son was not absolutely necessary for the purpose.
Women during this period achieved great academic
status. They are known to have specialized in purvamimansa,
which discussed diverse problems connected with Vedic
sacrifices. The tradition of women scholars is mentioned in the
puranas. The admission of women to the Buddhist order gave a
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great impetus to the cause of female education in aristocratic
and well to do families.
Women regularly participated in the state and political
affairs during several kingdoms of that era. Chandragupta I
ruled the kingdom with his queen. In the Chalukya
administration queen governors and officers were quite
common.
From the above account of ancient texts, it appears that
women’s status during early society in India was significantly
better than what it became later. Society was less restrictive on
women’s role in public affairs and more receptive of their
contributions in the fields which became the captive domain of
man later. One of the factors responsible for the relatively
exalted position of women in the Vedic age was the influence
of religion. Asceticism was at a discount in the Vedic age.
Unmarried men and women had no admission to heaven. Gods
did not accept any offering from the unmarried. Wife was an
absolute necessity in the religious service as both husband and
wife had to perform the religious rituals together.
Archaeological evidences reveal that before the Aryan
invasions the local population revered the goddess. Merlin
Stone in her book- When God was a woman says “In
prehistoric and early historic period of human development,
religions existed in which people revered their supreme creator
as female.”
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One important indicator of women’s status in any society
is the prevalence of purdah system. During the Vedic age
purdah was not in vogue. Even after the Vedic age purdah was
unknown. In most of the Sanskrit dramas, we don’t find any
evidence of purdah.
We have discussed about the exalted status enjoyed by
women in ancient India. But it is also a fact that many of these
documentations are based on isolated incidents of individual
achievements. Some of the social evils which crept into the
society in later phase did not exist during early historic period
but there are many theories which account that woman had
been granted limited space to operate in any social
environment. In fact the position of Hindu women (at that time
Hinduism was the dominant religion so we can derive a
general conclusion from the study of Hindu women) has been a
subject of controversy and many debates. The ancient Indian
attitude to women was in fact ambivalent. She was at once a
goddess and a slave, a saint and a strumpet.
The historical account of Aryan society reflect that
introduction of the non Aryan wife into the Aryan family was
responsible for the general deterioration of the position of
women that gradually and imperceptibly started at about 1000
B.C. There are also evidences to suggest that position of
women was satisfactory till 300 B.C. after which it gradually
deteriorated. It continued to deteriorate in later phases when
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stringent behavioural norms were prescribed for women. This
has been legislated by Kautilya in his work Arthsastra.
When Indian society grew further and it came in contact
with outside world, the social norms became more prohibitive
and punitive. Women continued to suffer ever after that.
MEDIEVAL PERIOD
Manu Sam vita has averred that women is a subservient
dependent being and her rightful place is under the
guardianship successively, of her father, husband, and son and
her lot has not changed even after centuries. Right from birth
to death dice is heavily loaded against the girl as far as most
Indian families are concerned.
During medieval period, historical account suggest that
Indian society, when it was exposed to outside invasions,
witnessed strengthening of subjugation and repression of
women in general. Many of the customs and traditions like
child marriage, sati, purdah which had begun to show their
impact took deep roots into the social system.
Education of women received a setback from 300 B.C.
with the introduction of child marriage. Women were deprived
of all kinds of formal education as girls got married at the age
of 8 or 9 mostly much before they attained puberty. Their
training was more related to housekeeping as they were
expected to take over all kinds of household works after
marriage irrespective of their age. Society developed a general
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prejudice against girl education. It got so ingrained in the
psyche of Indian population that even after many centuries
there is still a section which prefers educating boys to girls.
The education of girl child is the first casualty of economic
hardship in family. During the Muslim rule female literacy rate
among women went down sharply and at the advent of the
British rule female education had practically disappeared.
As we have discussed above, purdah was virtually non
existent during Vedic period. Several foreign travellers
including Abu Zaid an Arabian traveller of the early 10th
century A.D. mention that in most of the courts in India queens
appeared in public without any veils. However later period
evidences show that purdah was prevalent among royal and
noble families in a restrictive form even before the Muslim
conquest. After the arrival of Muslims in India, purdah became
quite common among richer and higher classes in Northern
India to provide protection to beautiful women against
abduction and kidnapping by Muslim rulers, nobles and
officials. It appears that purdah system started as a defence
mechanism for the locals against outsiders but it ultimately
proved detrimental to the cause of women itself. Purdah led to
restriction on movement of women, their participation in
public affairs and confinement in the four walls of the house.
The influence of Muslim culture, which traditionally practiced
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purdah to shield their women, on Indian way of life further
strengthened the purdah culture.
The position of women received another setback when
custom of sati started becoming popular from 400 A. D and
firmly entrenched into the social system by 700 A.D. Sati
system had discontinued during the Aryans who found it
necessary to encourage the widows to live and increase the
population by Niyoga and remarriage. Sati system which never
existed as a cultural norm in myths, turned out to be one of the
brutal forms of repression of women. Widespread widow
burning with husband despite their unwillingness ultimately
resulted into strong social movement against this practice.
The position of widows who escaped being a sati was
satisfactory during early times but started deteriorating when
remarriage and Niyoga were forbidden from 500 A.D and
remarriage of child widow banned after 1000 A.D. Widows
were regarded as inauspicious and society prescribed strict
regulation on them which were too harsh and inhuman. The
consequences of prohibition of remarriage of widows were
disastrous. The subhuman living condition of widows after the
death of their husbands led many of them to opt for sati to
escape from humiliation for rest of their life.
During this period we find that many evil practices
against women got fully entrenched in Indian social system
with wide acceptance not only among men but also among
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women themselves who began to accept it as only way to live.
All opportunities to women virtually sealed and they were
forced into performing menial jobs inside the confines of
house. The pitiful condition of women during this period set
platform for many enlightened individuals to initiate social
movements against general deplorable conditions of women in
Indian society. These social reform movements coincided with
the era of British rule in India which introduced secular
education enabling many Indians to have access to modern
thinking and education.
AGE OF SOCIAL REFORM MOVEMENT AND
BRITISH RULE
The concept that women are inferior to man was
universally accepted by the people in medieval times. Mary
Wollstone craft was the first to challenge this theory in the
later half of 18th century. She writes in her book “A
Vindification of the right of women”, the emergence of new
ideologies of democracy, liberty, equality in western world
prompted many theorists to argue for gender equality and
elimination of all discrimination on the basis of sex. One of the
early liberal thinkers was J S Mill who argued in favour of
equal status for women and demanded it on rational grounds.
In his outstanding work “The subjection of women” he speaks
for liberal and rational approach to the problem. He explained
that the existing and other incapacities or deformities of
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women were not innate in them but were the product of the
inferior social positions they occupied in the existing society.
The role and status of women in society remained a
subject of debate from the medieval period in western world.
As a result two sets of theories emerged which had world wide
impact on women’s issues in future. It had its profound
influence in Indian context also. We shall briefly explain the
basic tenets of two schools of thoughts.
A) Biological School
B) Differences due to cultural factors
The Biological School
Havelock Ellis, Sigmund Freud, Schienfield have been
the representatives of this school of thought. They hold that
“for women to want to do everything that men do is not merely
a futile aim but an unfair one. Man cannot do everything that a
woman can do, not the least of which is having babies and
launching them safely into the world.” The theorists of this
school argue that we must acknowledge the existence of two
strains of cultural influence, one flowing from women and
another from men, but we must realize that both are surely
needed and should be developed to their fullest extent.
Thus this view implies that there are definite fixed traits
and hence fixed functions of women and that they should
therefore cultivate capacity for the efficient discharge of those
functions.
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School of cultural factors
L B Pekin, Helen B Thompson, Margreat Mead, George
Seward , the proponents of cultural theory recognize the
difference between the traits of men and women but they
disapprove of its existence because of biological differences
between them. They trace the existing different traits of man
and woman as the product of the existing social environment in
which they live as well as of the cultural patterns prevailing.
The winds of liberalism and new ideas of equality
between sexes came to Indian shores through British rule. The
traditional Indian society rooted in superstitions, cultural
constraints and impact of insulated Muslim culture of more
than 500 years, had closed all windows of opportunity to
Indian women in her quest for equality. During the time when
British were consolidating their hold on India new wave came
through English education, missionaries resulting into outbreak
of a number of social reform movements in the 19th century.
Although strictly speaking old Sanskrit scriptures, which were
the foundation stone of Indian social structure, never sanctified
many of the evil practices against women, they had been
consigned to the texts only and not preached any more at that
time.
The introduction of modern teaching brought new ideas
and awareness among Indians, In contrast to the traditional
way of looking at existing social norms, liberal outlook led
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many Indians to challenge the prevalent social order and many
institutionalized behavioural practices. It gave rise to many
social reform movements across India led by educated
enlightened Indians whose pain and anguish was reflected in
their ideology for change. The broad aim of these movements
in the social sphere was specially emphasing caste reform or
caste abolition, improvement in the rights and status of women
and generally against social and legal inequalities. Most of
theses movements began with attack on certain social
institutions and practices like child marriage, position and
treatment of widows, seclusion and denial of women’s rights to
property and education.
During the 19th century, when many of the social
movements, led by visionaries like Raja Ram Mohan Roy,
Ishwar Chandra Vidya Saagar, Jyoti Rao Phule, were taking
shape, women’s role in Indian society had been well defined in
the overall Indian Patriarchal social structure. Wifehood and
mother hood had come to be accepted as pivotal role for
women. By implication it was generally believed that these
roles were complete in themselves and women need not pursue
any specialized discipline of knowledge, art or profession.
The stereotype role ascribed to women also defined her
status in the hierarchy more often at the bottom of the pyramid.
The challenges before the educated intellectuals from the
native population of that time were unprecedented. However,
26
advent of new knowledge, new ideas and new technology
disturbed the deep and static balance of Indian tradition. Social
reformers all over the country showed their deep concern over
women’s issues such as sati, child marriage, female infanticide,
widowhood, purdah, polygyny, Devdasi and education.
Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the early rebels of his
time when he challenged the practice of sati in Bengal. He
came up with strong argument referring to many Sanskrit
scriptures and texts to prove that such practice was not
prescribed in religious texts. Ishwar Chandra Vidya Saagar
also referred to old Indian scriptures in his campaign against
ban on widow remarriage. Reformers across the country
argued in favour of education to girl as a primary instrument
towards amelioration of women’s plight in Indian society.
They argued that illiteracy was the primary cause for many of
these problems. D K Karve, Gopal Hari Das, M G Ranade,
Khwaja Altaf Hussein Hali worked in the direction of
educating people on women’s issues.
A detailed study of many of these movements reveal that
while some of the reformers were inspired by the liberal ideas
of the west some preferred to go back to the glorious tradition
of ancient India. Dayanand Saraswati and Vivekananda made
efforts to improve the status of women by evoking the ancient
Indian norm of purity and duty. Most of the Hindu social
reformers sought credibility for their ideas and actions in the
27
ancient Sanskrit texts. On the other hand, some other bold
voices challenged the set patterns. Jyoti Rao Phule spoke
against the tyranny of Brahmannical traditions and argued for
equality of opportunity.
The emergence of social reform movements against the
social evils prevailing in Indian society in general and sub
human conditions of women in particular, led to many path
breaking developments during 19th and early 20th century.
British Govt was forced to enact legislations aimed towards
addressing distressing conditions of women in Indian society.
Some of the salient legislations as a result of these movements
were-
- civil marriage Act 1872- this act permitted
inter caste marriage and divorce, prohibited polygamy and
prescribe minimum age of marriage for girl as 14 years and for
boys as 18 years.
- Sati System-Sati system was banned through
legislation passed in 1829.
- Widow remarriage- Widow remarriage was
permitted as legal by act in 1856
- Age of consent bill was passed in 1892
The impact of these movements and resultant
legislative initiatives had, however, been limited in overall
context of Indian society. A brief glance at the history of
Indian society reveals that a characteristic feature of Indian
28
social system is its ability to adapt itself to processes of social
change. Coupled with the extraordinary features of Indian
social structure and limited scope of reform movements, we
notice that overall impact on changing the material condition
of Indian women was at the most partial. Most of these
movements aimed at changing the conditions of Indian women
within the family and domestic framework and didn’t for see
any radical change in social structure. The issues adopted by
these movements like education, raising the age of marriage,
widow remarriage, the abolition of seclusion and right to
property were essentially attempts to improve women’s
position within the family framework and to ensure her greater
degree of dignity and independence. As a result, the reach of
these movements had also been limited to urban middle class
rather than penetrating deep into the roots of the problem at the
grass root level of society.
Despite their limited impact, focus and issue based scope,
these social reformers began a culture of defiance against age
old traditional stereo types and also an evolutionary process of
legislative intervention against socially deplorable practices.
The process of legislation to establish a system of equitable
norms continued during 20th century but no mass movement
emerged during the time of freedom struggle. However,
women in isolated pockets kept voicing their concerns through
their active participation in freedom movement. These were, at
29
best, individual efforts lacking in mass appeal as well as
mobilization. Many women’s organisations and association did
emerge during this period but faded under the shadow of
greater cause of nation’s independence.
POST INDEPENDENCE
Independence of India from British rule brought the
power to rule to people of India. From many options available,
India chose a democratic path in its tryst with destiny and a
constitution on 26th January 1950 as a vehicle of social
transformation. The concern and issues of women remained
one of the focal points of overall strategy of socio economic
transformation of India. This philosophy was reflected at many
places in the constitution addressing women’s issues with
different perspective.
The evolutionary process of legislative intervention of
British time was further broadened with state taking over many
other functions for the benefit of weaker sections of society
including women. During the last 60 years, the state, through
legislative and executive actions, has taken many path breaking
initiatives attempting to alter women’s status in society. The
fundamental premise on which state action is based is that
women constitute half of the active economic human capital
and utilizing the same gainfully is central and critical for the
progress of society.
30
The post independence period begins with the adoption
of a constitution declaring India as a democratic republic state.
Under the constitution all Indian citizens are equal irrespective
of their caste, creed, religion or sex .Thus as per law Indian
women have claim to equality of status and can rightfully
demand removal of disabilities imposed on her. Indian women
have same political rights as man. She can exercise her vote
and elect and be elected to parliament or to state legislature.
The process of empowering women through state initiative
began with constitution and has gained momentum through
many Acts and legislations. Some of the path breaking
initiatives is discussed below-
The Special Marriage Act -1954
This Act has two main provisions-
Stipulates minimum age of marriage as 18 years for girls
and 21 year for boys.
Permits marriage of people from different religions
without changing their faith.
Hindu Marriage Act -1955
It makes monogamy as universal.
Cruelty and desertion were added as grounds for divorce
and mutual consent recognized through amendment in 1976.
Hindu Succession Act -1956
31
The Act confers right of absolute ownership over
property besides other provisions for sharing of property
among the heirs.
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956
This Act makes it permissible for any female Hindu (a)
who is of sound mind and (b) who is not minor, to take a son
or daughter in adoption. The consent of father and mother is
essential for giving the child in adoption.
The Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and
Girls Act, (SITA) 1956
A landmark act in the history of Indian legislation
towards improving the plight of Indian women. This act
prohibits trafficking in women and girls for purpose of
prostitution as an organized means of living.
The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961
This Act was first legislated in 1961 and amended in
1984c and 1986 to make its provisions more stringent and
effective. The minimum punishment for taking or abetting
dowry has been raised to make it deterrent and punitive in
nature.
The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
This Act provides not only payments of equal wages for
same work of a similar nature, but also for a machinery for its
implementation and advising Govt on measures to ensure
increased employment to women.
32
The Child Marriage Restraint [Amendment] Act 1976
This Act provides minimum age for marriage for girls to
18 years and for boys to 21 years. The offences under this act
have been made cognizable.
The Contact Labour [Regulation] Act, 1978
The Act regulates the working conditions of contact
labour including women, payment of wages and provides for
welfare facilities for women.
Indecent Representation of Women [Prohibition] Act,
1986
Under this Act, representation of women in an indecent
or derogatory manner in all advertisements and publications is
prohibited.
The Commission of Sati [Prevention] Act, 1987
Under this Act commission of sati and its glorification
and for matters connected therewith or incidental to such an
abatement is punishable by the maximum penalty i.e. death or
imprisonment for life. This act provides for a more effective
prevention for a women (widow) being sacrificed as Sati.
It is evident from the above that we have many
protective constitutional and legislative measures for socio-
economic rights and responsibilities of women. The process
continues to evolve itself and efforts at grass root levels have
yielded some positive results through rural development
programmes, panchayat raj institution. However despite
33
Herculean efforts and sincere concerns for empowerment of
women in society, many studies have indicated that the status
of women has not been raised due to vested interested, pressure
groups, lack of political will to share power, and socio-
economic and cultural setting of Indian social structure. Large
majority of women continue to suffer in silence due to
illiteracy, lack of economic power and absence of strong
political will to ameliorate their deplorable conditions.
In Indian context no amount of legislation or act will
succeed without adequate understanding of the nature of
problems faced by women due to unique socio-cultural setting
of Indian society. There maybe legislations which provide
safeguards through legislative measures for the welfare and
development of women. What is required is right environment,
change of behaviour and attitude.
34
CHAPTER III
WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT, DECENTRALISATION AND THE STATE- POST
INDEPENDENCE ERA
As discussed in previous chapters women had enjoyed
limited empowerment through the ages irrespective of the nature
of political system. At many times individually powered efforts
were made to emancipate women from their downtrodden
status. But most of them met with limited success in terms of
their influence and over time line. The cultural and historical
setting of Indian society emerged too strong for incohesive and
fragmented individual efforts. However agenda for reform
always existed at subconscious level needing a pan Indian
approach for success. At the dawn of independence blueprint for
a policy on women’s empowerment was ready. As a result we
have seen direct state intervention, legal and constitutional
measures and policy reform as a top down approach to problems
of women in Indian society.
In this chapter we set to examine the role of state in
empowering women at various levels in Indian society. A
review of macro level policies provides an indication of state’s
priorities towards selected groups of sections for development.
Women have been one of the focus groups for state intervention
and grass root percolation of such policy initiatives is reflected
35
by the extent of women’s contribution in social-economic and
political sphere of life.
“The status of women in any nation portrays the progress
of that particular nation. Though Indian women have come long
way in her cultural level from the vedic period to the present
status of achieving economic independence in the 21st century,
yet due to many social, religious, cultural and political demands
on her, she is still bound by the shackles of certain traditions and
rituals, which distorts her image all around her. ( N Andal p.29)
Before we set to study the state led attempt to empower women
through various formal and informal institutions post
independence let us try to understand what it means to empower
and how status of any section is defined in social structure.
Empowerment can be defined as a process of redistribution
of resources in the society in such a way that women get equal
access and control over the resources. The process lead to
capacity building to influence the decision making process,
planning, implementation and evaluation by integrating women
into the political system. The primary emphasis of initiating the
process of empowerment is to ensure qualitative change in the
status of the target section of the society. Sushila Agarwal (N
Andal p32) clearly brings out the changing nature of the status
of women and traces its specific characteristics. The problems of
the status of women involve equality between men and women.
The women through out the world have been considered the
36
second sex or the inferior sex. Equality and status are closely
associated with power. Changing status involves the sharing of
power on equal footing and its implementation at all levels. The
societal value framework plays an important role in determining
the changing status of power equations, and hence, the status of
women involves the distribution and redistribution of power.
Any affirmative action towards empowering results in to
upward mobility of women’s position in the social framework.
The guiding principles of empowerment have led the state in
India to innovate means of empowerment for women. In the
post independence political structure state had assumed the
pivotal role of initiating and leading all reforms through top
down approach. The process started with the adoption of the
constitution of India followed by legislations and policy
guidelines towards uplifting the lower rungs of the society
which included women, rural poor specifically. The
methodology adopted by state after independence can be
categorised into two broad parts.
- Women specific approach
- Decentralisation approach to overall
development targeting weaker sections including
women.
The focus of the present study is examination of second
approach and hence only broad features of first approach are
discussed.
37
Women specific Approach
Mahatma Gandhi had referred to women as a noble sex.
According to him “If she is weak in striking she is strong in
suffering”. He has described women as the embodiment of
sacrifice and ahimsa. But, he added “I do not know a single
instance of a man having ever protected the virtues of woman
…. Rama and Pandavas did not protect the virtues of Sita and
Draupadi. Indian women have to learn not to rely on man to
protect her virtue or her honour.”
Mahatma Gandhi’s above indictment of the role of men in
shaping the status of women speaks volumes of historical
injustices inflicted on women in society. At the dawn of
independence same realisation guided the makers of constitution
to include special provisions either to ensure constitutional
equality to all or bestow upon the state responsibility to initiate
positive action to correct historical injustices.
The status of women in independent India occupies an
important role and all efforts are being made to establish
significant role that she can play in the upliftment of her own
self and the society at large. The preamble to the constitution of
India resolved to secure to all its citizens “social, economic and
political justice, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and
worship, equality of status and opportunities, dignity of the
individuals and the unity of the nation.” In theory Indian women
are entitled to all these rights as much as the men are. The
38
legacies of reformist movements of 19th and early 20th centuries
had set an agenda and platform for new initiatives to take of in
independent India. The feminist movements of pre
independence era led by middle class women had campaigned
for extension of educational opportunities and voting rights and
subsequently property rights. They encourage women to
participate in public life through forming associations and
holding conferences. The process of democratisation,
modernisation development, urbanisation, and industrialisation
has all affected the status of women at different stages.
Immediately after independence the new democratic
government initiated path breaking legislative actions
addressing whole range of issues including women. Despite
constitutional equality of woman vis-à-vis man the social norms
and traditions were too rigid to ensure accomplishment within
the existing structure without external intervention.
The Hindu Marriage Act 1956, The Hindu Marriage
( Inheritance of Property) Act 1956 etc. were enacted along with
many changes in IPC, CrPC to make some action against
women as offence. India was one of the first countries to start a
family planning policy which had direct bearing on women’s
health, family conditions, economic status and economic
opportunities.
The issue of safeguarding the rights and privileges of
women found its best expression in the constitution of India
39
adopted on 26th Jan 1950.It theoretically removed all kinds of
discrimination against women in both legal and public domain.
The fundamental rights removed all discrimination against
women on the basis of sex while state was bestowed with power
to make affirmative discrimination in favour of women. Some of
the salient features of constitution dealing with the issue of
women empowerment are best expressed in following articles.
Provisions in the Indian Constitution
India’s concern towards empowerment and development of
women is best expressed in its constitution.
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.
40
Article 51(A) imposes a fundamental duty on every citizen
to renounce the practices derogatory to dignity of women.
Article 326 of the Indian constitution guarantees political
equality to women. The elections are held on the basis of
universal adult franchise.
Article 325 prohibits exclusion from electoral rolls on the
basis of sex.
The Legislations concerning women
In order to protect the constitutional rights the government
of India has enacted many women specific and women related
laws such as:-
-The Factories Act 1948
- The Employee State Insurance Act 1948
- The Special Marriage Act 1954
- The Equal Remuneration Act 1955, Amended in 1976
- The Hindu Marriage Act 1955, amended in 1986
- The Hindu Succession Act 1956
- The Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act 1956
- The Immoral Traffic Act 1956, amended in 1984
- The maternity benefit Act 1961
- The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971
- The constitution of committee on status of women in
India 1971
- The Child Marriage Restraint (Amendment) Act 1976
41
- The Indecent Representation of women (Prohibition) Act
1986
- The Commission of sati (Prohibition) Act 1987
- The constitution of National commission on self
employed women 1987.
- The Adoption of National Perspective Plan for Women
1988-2000.
- The National Commission for Women Act 1992.
- The 73rd and 74th Constitution (Amendment) Acts 1992.
- The Ratification of convention on Elimination of all
forms of discrimination against Women (CEDAW) 1994.
- The Launching of National Policy of Empowerment of
Women 2001.
The constitutional safeguards were further strengthened
through several legislations encompassing wide spectrum of
women’s life. These include primarily- The Hindu Marriage Act
1955, The Hindu Succession Act1956 and The Hindu Adoption
and Maintenance Act 1956. Laws have been enacted to legalise
abortion, to raise age of marriage and to settle family disputes.
The issues dowry, Sati, rape, indecent representation of women,
female infanticide have also been seriously taken up by law
makers over last 60 years.
The Five Years Plans-
The post independence development philosophy is best
explained in five year plan documents. Beginning in 1952,
42
Indian planners have constructed a road map to socio economic
development of the country. The priorities of the state are best
reflected in these documents and resource distribution through
them. Sectoral approach to resource allocation best explains
thrust areas on a five year chart map. From the socialist
approach to development through state led growth in a planned
economy of first three five year plans we have moved from
poverty reduction to market driven development philosophy of
10th plan. Among all these the problems of weaker sections of
society including women have always found space in five year
plans. The approaches of looking at problems and needs of
women and identifying strategies to help women grow and
develop have changed over time. The development policies have
reflected a transition of approaches in dealing with women’s
concerns: from welfare approach (1st to Vth plan) to
development approach (VIth to VIIIth Plan) and finally to
empowerment.
Welfare Approach
The early days of planning were governed by the
traditional mindset on women as a result of which no dramatic
change could be initiated. Women were identified as target
group among weaker sections of our society. However the basic
emphasis of all planning was guided by the state’s recognition
of women as she stood in the social hierarchy. The stereo type
role of women and her status was taken as a given factor and she
43
was targeted as a passive recipient of welfare services. Need to
build women’s capacity to make a long term impact on society
was neither thought of nor adequately addressed during this
phase.
Development Approach
During early 1970s thinking about women’s role in society
started changing internationally as well as in India. Women
were identified as a potential contributor outside her traditional
domain of family. At the same time many public bodies and
commissions studying the issues of women recognised that
despite development policies and government policies, the
condition of women in society continued to be deplorable. It
was evident from many studies that even after 20 years of
independence and planned development, women constituting
half of the population, continued to suffer various forms of
discrimination and exploitation. The literacy rate among was
hopelessly low and their contribution in any form of economic
activity outside the domain of family was at the most marginal.
Women continued to languish on the periphery of our social
hierarchy with little hope in the existing structure of the
planning process. The sixth plan document recognised this fact
and identified women as vital human resource whose
development was expected to contribute significantly to overall
national development. Women were no longer viewed as targets
of welfare policies in social sector.
44
The sixth five year plan adopted multi disciplinary
approach with a three pronged thrust on core sector of health,
education and employment. Improving women’s access to
training and employment became the focus of the new approach.
During this plan various sector specific development programs
were initiated with target groups as focus of attention. Through
IRDP, DWCRA, TRYSEM under anti poverty approach and
women’s development corporations, efforts were made to
promote self employment among women, particularly among
weaker sections of the society, through training, credit through
micro finance, marketing support etc. through organised groups
of women. The focus of this approach was redistribution of
resources with growth. This approach continued for some time
and yielded some positive results. The subsidy based approach
targeting women as one of the beneficiaries’ ensured availability
of some resource for women. However it was not a holistic
approach as it did not focus on capacity building of targeted
units. Women remained a target of attention for decision
makers. She was not a participant in the decision making itself.
Empowerment Approach
Another approach which has shaped the ninth and finally
the tenth five year plans is empowerment approach. It implies
the process of enabling sections of people deprived of their
rights to have a level playing field with the privileged. The ninth
Plan (1999-2002) committed itself to empower as agents of
45
social change and development. It adopted the national policy
for empowerment of women (2001) with a view to creating an
enabling environment for women to exercise their rights both
within and outside their home as equal partners along with man.
The latest focus of the national policy for empowerment of
women comprises of social empowerment, economic
empowerment and gender justice.
The social empowerment aims at creating an enabling
environment through various affirmative developmental policies
and programs of development of women besides providing them
easy access to all basic minimum services so as to enable them
to realise their full potential. Economic empowerment would
ensure provision of training, employment and income generating
opportunities with the ultimate objective of making all potential
women economically independent. Gender justice seeks to
eliminate all forms of gender discrimination and enables women
to enjoy fundamental rights and freedom on equal footing with
men.
Decentralisation Approach
In the backdrop of women specific approach to their
development, we observe that a holistic approach to overall
socio economic development can be more effective while
targeting weaker sections of society particularly.
Decentralisation approach is one of the many alternatives which
have been tried in our country in various forms since
46
independence. Historically India is known to have village
economies self sufficient in all respect. The institutions of
Panchayats functioned as useful and effective instruments for
discharge of many community based activities including dispute
resolution among members and resolving law and order issues.
The dawn of independence provided with real opportunity
for materialising the dreams of democratic decentralisation in
our country. The idea was incorporated in the Directive
principles of state policy. The constitution of India incorporated
a system of political democracy and welfare philosophy. The
concept of Panchayati Raj was subsequently identified as the
most powerful driver to lead the process of democratic
decentralisation in a vastly diversified country like India. It was
realised very early in the planning process that a central control
may not yield the desired results as per the aspirations of the
people of the country. It was evident that Panchayati Raj was the
only means to ensure that majority of the people get a realistic
opportunity to participate in the nation building and make an
impact on the decision making process.
However, visualising the concept of democratic
decentralisation through Panchayats was easier in theory but a
complex issue while putting it in practice through the length and
breadth of India. The social structure of India was so complex
and diversified for any uniform approach to succeed. The
traditional self sufficient village structure had been breached
47
during the British rule and Panchayat system existed only
notionally in 1947. At the initial stages the notion of active
participation and involvement of people in plan process
including plan formulation, implementation and monitoring had
remained a myth. Despite some steps towards establishing some
administrative structure at grass root level, Panchayat system
did not develop into a formal structure at any level.
Several decades of attempts at formalising the panchayat
system failed to reengineer the process. Several committees and
sub- committees made several recommendations and proposals
for institutionalising the Panchayati raj system and these efforts
culminating in the form of 73rd amendment to the constitution
giving constitutional status to Panchayati raj institutions. Some
serious initiatives prior to 73rd amendment were following.
Balwantrai Mehta Committee
Ten years into independence did not take the country
anywhere in the direction of setting up effective structures at
grass root level leading to govt setting up a committee under
Balwantrai Mehta in 1957 to study the whole problem and
suggest ways and means for implementing the scheme of
Panchayati Raj on some uniform lines throughout the country.
The terms of reference of the committee also included assessing
the economy and efficiency of the community development
project and to study the efficacy of the program in utilising local
48
initiative and creating local institutions to facilitate the process
of socio-economic development.
The committee studied the process in detail and suggested
that it was imperative to give power and responsibility to the
community for the successful continuation of the process of
development. It recommended statutory elective bodies with
adequate resources, power and authority. On the basis of these
recommendations, the Panchayati Raj Institutions were
established for people’s participation and effective
implementation of community development projects. The
structure envisaged directly elected Panchayats for a village or a
group of villages, an executive body called panchayat samiti for
a block with directly elected and co-opted members and an
advisory body, Zila Parishad, with an ex officio member from
lower tier and the district collector as chairman.
Many states began implementing the system in right
earnest. But very soon these institutions started collapsing due to
lack of resources, political support, bureaucratic apathy and
domination of rural elites. The power equations in rural India
were too deep into the system to be breached early. The existing
structure integrated the new system into its fold and cornered all
resources to the benefit of these rural elites. The power
equations in rural India were too deep into the system to be
breached easily. In development, schemes ‘Panchayats’ played
only marginal role. The already skewed decision making system
49
continued without any real participation from the masses.
Although Panchayati Raj Institutions existed on paper it got
marginalised at all levels.
Ashok Mehta Committee
The system of ‘Panchayati Raj’ as it existed in 1950s &
1960s failed to realise dreams of its architects. It was low profile
in the overall structure of governance in rural India. In 1977,
Govt. of India set up another committee under Ashok Mehta to
suggest measures for revitalising the PRIs. The committee
noticed with regret that the activities of PRIs were meagre, their
resource base weak and the overall attention given to them was
scanty. The Ashok Mehta Committee recommended a two tier
system abolishing the Block as an administrative unit. It
suggested Mandal Panchayats at the base and Zila Parishads at
the top. Seats for SCs & STs were to be reserved on the basis of
their population. The committee did make serious effort to
revitalise the PRIs.
Although two tier systems were rejected by most of the
states, some of them did try to model their structure on the lines
but could not place it to practice.
C.H. Hanumantha Rao Committee (1984)
Another committee headed by Prof. C.H.Hanumantha Rao
went into the question of evolving methodology for district level
planning and recommended that planning process at the district
level should be sufficiently decentralised, having a good deal of
50
autonomy, administrative and technical capability and financial
adequacy.
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.
64 th 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.
73 rd Constitutional Amendment
The 73rd constitutional amendment is a watershed in the
history of governance in independent India. Gaining experience
from decades of failures and genuine needs and concerns of all
classes of society, the Govt. initiated a constitutional
51
amendment to legalise and formalise the decentralised decision
making process at grass root level. This constitutional
amendment makes it mandatory for one and all to implement all
the provisions of the Act.
The various committees and sub committees made several
recommendations and proposals for institutionalizing the
Panchayati Raj System and their efforts culminated in the form
of the 73rd constitutional amendment providing constitutional
status of the PRIs.
Several decades of centralized planning and a top down
model of development had paid dividends in terms of economic
growth and industrialisation. This development model was
adopted with the hope that the trickle down effect will involve
the poor and marginalized in the process of development. This
did not turn into a reality resulting in emergence of distorted and
lopsided development process, where the resources and
authority became further concentrated in few hands. The fruits
of development were neither shared, nor did poor and
marginalized got access to it. The marginalized sections,
particularly women, SC and SC continued to be on the fringe.
The state of affair at the end of 1990s was such that no effort in
ensuring participation of large masses in governance had
succeeded in existing model, not even notional empowerment
was experienced by poor and marginalized sections of society. It
was then apparent that to have more egalitarian and balanced
52
development, more participative, democratic and decentralized
bottom up model of development was required. There was a
need to redefine governance system through structural changes
at grass root level so as to address the issues of marginalized
sections of Indian Society. Empowerment of people at all level
particularly those belonging to weaker sections like women, SC,
ST was the only solution to grant adequate access of resources
and achieve people centric development model.
The 73rd constitution amendment bill was passed by the
Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha with unanimity on the 22nd and
23rd December, 1992 respectively. The bill was ratified by 17
state assemblies in 1993 and came into force as constitution 73rd
amendment act from the 24th April 1993. The act provides
constitutional status to the Panchayats and gives it uniformity by
making the three tier system a permanent feature.
Salient features of the Act.
The major positive features of the constitution (73rd
Amendment) Act are as follows:-
1 Seats shall be reserved for the SCs & STs in proportion
to their population.
2 Not less than one-third (including the number of seats
reserved for women belonging to SCs/STs) of the total
number of seats to be filled by direct election on every
‘Panchayat’ shall be reserved for women and such seats
53
may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in
Panchayat.
3 Provisions for the devolution of powers &
responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriate level
with respect to the preparation/implementation of plans
for economic development and social justice.
4 The legislature of a state may authorise the Panchayat to
levy, collect and appropriate such taxes, duties, tolls and
fees in accordance with such procedure and subject to
such limits as may be specified in the law.
5 Constitution of a finance commission to review the
financial position of the Panchayats every five years.
6 Conduct of all elections to the Panchayats shall be
vested in the state Election Commissions.
The constitution 73rd amendment Act 1992 is definitely
a welcome step to revive the old institution with a
presumption that power to people can
- Lead to the third stature of Govt.
- Help Panchayat retain the image of institution.
- Translate the dream of grass root democracy into
reality.
Through this Act, not only decentralisation of power has
been rationalised by law but an opportunity is provided to
people for participation in formulating plan and executing. The
54
traditionally excluded sections of society i.e. SC/ST, women
have been given opportunity to exert their stake in governance.
In the post 73rd amendment, different states have responded
with varying degrees of enthusiasm. MP has responded with
innovativeness and remarkable commitment to making the
system sustainable and successful. The state’s effort to
institutionalise the system is evident in the number of
amendments that have been made to the state Panchayat Act as a
dynamic response to the problems at the ground level. During
the process of implementation, several difficulties were found at
grass root level but they also threw new opportunities for
governance. MP as a state is a unique case because of its wide
geographical coverage, social and economic diversity within the
state. These factors significantly influenced the degree of
success or failure of PRI system in this state.
The constitutional status to Panchayats has fundamentally
altered the nature of administrative machinery at grass root level
and it has also dented a big hole in the fractional power equation
in rural India. Most of the major states have seriously initiated
the process of institutionalising PRIs. The stories of weaker
section staking strong claims for space in governance keep
pouring in. Many incidents of outstanding individual efforts
have undermined the authority of rural powers and corrupt
bureaucratic hierarchy. However, lot more need to be done in
this area. The democratisation of rural governance has started a
55
process which is still in evolutionary stages. It is yet to be
established whether PRIs have led to empowerment of various
sections of society or not. Many empirical studies have
chronicled success stories across the country but they have
mostly been individual efforts emerging out of strong resistance
from all corners in society and challenging the traditional
stereotypes but they do not fully respect the gains of
institutionalised success of PRIs. At the same time studies have
also shown manipulation of the provisions of PRI by corrupt
administrative machinery in connivance with traditional power
holder in villages. They have denied any space for weaker
sections to either take benefits of the system or emerge as
significant players in the governance mechanism. The
marginalised sections of society remain on the fringe of the
economic and political power equations.
In any study of impact of PRI it is extremely difficult to
cover the whole state because of limitations on time, research
method, and sample. In order to have a more representative
study two districts of MP were selected from Central MP areas.
These districts do not have any unique features like Malwa
region which has a unique cultural background and a mix of
tribal and non tribal areas.
This study is primarily focused on impact of PRIs in
empowering women; collection of data is generally related to
women specific issues with some generalised information. We
56
shall he discussing the details of the research in next two
chapters.
57
CHAPTER IV
PANCHAYATI RAJ IN MADHYA PRADESH
MP is the centrally located state of Indian Union. It has a
history of relative peaceful existence of people. The state is one
of the moderately developed states with many social and
economic indicators far below the national average. It has one of
the highest forest areas in the country inhabited by large number
of tribal population. The state is rich in mineral and natural
resources. During last 20 years stable political environment and
sincere efforts from political leaders have ensured that MP has
taken great leap forward in terms of creating credible
infrastructural base for overall development of the state. Madhya
Pradesh has been instrumental in providing conducive political
environment for successful implementation of Panchayat Raj
Act as an engine of decentralized governance and also
participation of masses in growth process of the state. The
bifurcation of the state in 1998 had a few set backs in terms of
loosing large forest and mineral recourses to the new state.
However, the process once initiated remained the focus area for
governance and has been perused at all levels.
Historically the institution of Panchayat has been an
integral part of Indian Society. While empires rose and fell,
village panchayats which formed an integral part of the national
life, helped to preserve democratic traditions in social, cultural,
economic and political life, survived the onslaught of centuries
58
of political upheavals and saved Indian society from
disintegration. The traditional Indian society was mainly a
village based society and villages were known to be self
independent units of governance in India. The existence of local
bodies in ancient India is a positive proof of the inherent genius
of our people to manage local affairs efficiently and on a
decentralized basis. The local government at different levels,
performing many functions, including dispensation of justice,
though not very democratic, were sufficiently autonomous. The
level of independence of village was such that it dispersed
justice for people and collective decisions of Panchayats were
law for every one. The system ensured that there was order in
society despite lack of any formal centralized command system.
The prevalent system was convenient and functional due to lack
of connectivity and integration of society. The village and tribal
society in Madhya Pradesh also had similar informal structures
to dispose common objectives of society.
The Panchayat institutions lost many of its charms during
British rule. The independence gave a new fillip to the
emergence of village based economy as a vision of development
by Mahatma Gandhi. However, the new political dispensation
under Jawahar Lal Nehru did not buy the Gandhian vision
instead opted for strong two tier federal structure. Nehru
dreamed of a modern vibrant India and pursued his vision by
creating and establishing new modern institutions and structures.
59
Nehru’s approach to nation building and national reconstruction
was primarily topdwon and for this he assigned central role to
the state. Since too many frontiers were open immediate to
independence and with limited resources in hand, strengthening
of village based institutions remained a low priority area for
political system. Additionally, country had inherited a huge
agricultural base with established structures but had nothing
much to show on industrial front. So, it was essential to
prioritize the core areas to create wide base for development.
During the constitution making process and thereafter since the
inception of planning in India, certain hard choices had to be
made between the needs of national security, national unity and
economic growth, on the one hand and the consideration of
achieving a measure of distributive justice, on the other hand ,
so that the benefits of development accrue to the people at the
grass root level, and also people may participate in the process
of planning and development at different territorial levels . In
the initial years the choice was made in favour of rapid growth
and planning, and therefore decision making remained
centralized and vertical around the two political levels viz.
Union and the State. Local bodies like Panchayats functioned as
civic agencies of the state Govt and not as instruments of micro
level planning.
Amid all this we noticed that Panchayat system remained
an ignored area for political structure and received virtually no
60
attention. It was despite the fact that the Constitution of India,
enacted at the time of Independence, had given enough attention
to the idea of local autonomy and local self governance. The
concept of village Panchayat was adequately spaced in the
directive principles of the Indian Constitution. There had been
no dearth of ideas and expert opinion but what was lacking was
consistency in thinking and political will to implement the
concept of decentralized planning and development in a multi
level framework and create Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in
that framework which are democratic, autonomous, financially
strong, capable of formulating and implementing plans for their
respective areas and provide decentralized administration to the
people. However, as early as in 1957, the importance of
Panchayat system was realized and a series of committees
followed for next 35 years going into the details of self
governance experience in Indian villages. The committees came
and went but nothing concrete altered at the ground level in
villages. The position regarding PRIs remained unsatisfactory,
and no tangible action was taken to strengthen the local self
government system. Financially these bodies were weak and
dependent largely on state government which did not follow any
consistent policy. The local political structure coupled with
bureaucratic administrative structure virtually sealed all spaces
for any institution to operate in rural setting. The federal social
structure also abetted the situation. As a result for nearly 40
61
years after independence we find the rural India suffered from
deprivation, discrimination and people were treated as subjects
of administration. The top down approach to development did
not allow any direct or indirect voice of people to be taken into
account while deciding their fate.
The situation in MP was a replica of what was prevalent
elsewhere in India. Rather this situation was more precarious in
MP as compared to those states that had benefited from Green
revolution. Many states like Maharshtra, Karnataka, and Punjab
had ensured more equitable growth than MP. The pre dominant
tribal population in rural MP made the task all the more
difficult. Some of the significant parameters required as
prerequisite for development were vow fully negative in MP.
The constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 marks a water-
shed in the history of local self government in the country since
it gives a constitutional mandate to the state governments to
restructure and revamp rural local bodies in accordance with
constitutional obligations. The Act provides for (i) the creation
of three tier system of PRIs – Gram Panchayat at the village
level, Janpad Panchayat at the block level and Zila Panchayat at
the district level, with sufficient powers and functions contained
in schedule XI of the Act; (ii) The creation of State Election
Commission to ensure free fair and timely elections after the
expiry of every 5 years, and (iii) The creation of State Finance
Commission after every 5 years to recommend devolution of
62
financial resources from the State Govt to the local bodies and
also suggest measures for strengthening their financial position.
The scenario changed with the passing of 73rd
constitutional amendment in 1993. The constitutional
amendment made it mandatory for all states in India to
implement the Panchayati Raj system in a uniform three tier
structure. Different states in India responded with varied degree
of enthusiasm on this front. The effort of MP in this regard was
laudable as it responded with remarkable degree of innovation
and commitment to making the system sustainable and
successful. The state’s effort to institutionalize the system is
evident in the number of amendments that have been made to
the State Panchayat Act as a dynamic response to the problems
at the ground level. During the implementation of the
Panchayati Raj system, MP has faced several opportunities and
difficulties. The experience of the state is very rich and provides
vital insights into the process of institutionalizing Panchayati
Raj. It is not to say that state did not face resistance to this new
system. The state bureaucracy resisted the implementation since
it stood to loose its control over management of resources, there
were functional difficulties, wide social and cultural variations
within the state meant that no uniform approach could be
adopted. The Panchayati Raj was to shake these very
foundations of social and political power structure at local level
and existing power equations were bound to crumble in a
63
significant manner. On the other hand adequate safeguards had
to the provided to those who were likely to become direct
participants in the process of development but were neither
adequately prepared nor empowered to handle the new system.
More significant was to ensure that weaker sections of society
like women, SC/ST do not loose the opportunity to uplift their
life and be masters of their own destiny.
The provisions of reservation for Women, SC/ST have
ensured that these sections are not deprived of their
opportunities due to malpractices and malafide intentions of the
existing functionaries.
After the 73rd Amendment Act to the constitution
mandated three tiers of elected councils in 1993, the MP govt.
passed a new Act in that year which largely resembled earlier
legislations. M.P Govt was the first in the country which enacted
the Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Adiniyam in 1993 “with the
objective of consolidating and amending the law relating to the
establishment of panchayats, for ensuring effective involvement
of panchayats in local administration and development.” Over
the next six years, no fewer than 8 amendments to that Act were
introduced. They devolved increasing and quite significant
powers onto decentralized bodies and this made it possible for
them to function efficiently. The state has been vigorous in its
effort to ensure that all required mechanisms are in place.
64
All these amendment and efforts of state administration
have resulted into a wholesale change in the political equations
of grass root level. However, the socio-economic upliftment of
people at ground remains a concern even today. We do have
evidence to conclude that some isolated pockets and individuals
have made good use of these provisions of new legislations to
empower themselves or their communities. But the wider
impacts of these legislations have been at the most limited in its
reach. Women as a class have also got benefited to a limited
extent. Various research studies have been conducted to study
the women’s leadership at Panchayat level in different states.
The Panchayat election that took place in MP in 1994, brought
forward a large number of women, many of who belong to the
SC & ST.
A review of M.P Panchayat Raj Act 1993 shows that the
Act has made provision for the creation of democratic
institutions at the grass root level and has ensured adequate
place for the SC,ST, OBCs and women in the management of
local bodies through the inbuilt instrumentality of reservations
in the composition of every tier, at the same time, the state Govt
retains wide powers which include supervision, suspension of
office bearers, dissolution of panchayats under certain
conditions, withdrawal of functions and duties entrusted to
them, appointment of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and
65
determination of their powers, the power to regulate taxation
powers of local bodies.
The MP Panchayat Act 1993 is a culmination of previous
acts enacted by the state and borrowing its basic contents from
the 73rd constitutional amendment act 1992. The state has had a
history of attempts at decentralized governance through some
acts passed after independence. Before we set to examine the
structure and functions of Panchayat system in the state we may
briefly discuss the legislations prior to 1993 Act. Madhya
Pradesh as a state came into existence in 1956 carved out of
erstwhile central provinces and some other states during British
time. Some of the Acts which were in force at that time were
1 The Central Provinces and Berar Village Panchayat
Acts of 1946 as amended in 1947,48,49,50 and 1953.
2 The Madhya Bharat Panchayat Act 1949 as amended
in 1950, 51 and 1953.
3 The Vindhya Pradesh Panchayat Act, 1949
4 Bhopal State Panchayat Raj act, 1953
The Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Act 1962 was the first
legislation in the reorganized state in the field, and provided for
a three tier system of Panchayat Raj- at the village level, block
and district level. This Act remained dormant in absence of
mass appeal and popular support to its implementation. The
1962 Act was repealed in 1981 and replaced by an Act which
was viewed as a retrograde step, as it had dropped the Gram
66
Sabha and had taken away some of the functions of Janpad
Panchayat at the Block level and Zila Panchayat at the district
level. The Madhya Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act 1990 could not
make much advance in the direction of local self government as
no elections were held at frequent intervals and no genuine
transfer of functions could take place. The experience of
Madhya Pradesh in this area reflects that mere wishing for
democratic decentralization was not enough. For nearly 40 years
since independence no concrete step was initiated by state
administration to transfer the power, both political and financial,
to Panchayats. There was no constitutional obligation to do so
also. To be successful, decentralization has to be backed by the
strong political will, right type of institutional framework, solid
practices, necessary technical and administrative support and
right attitudinal changes in bureaucratic mindset.
The new Act of 1993 introduced three tier system of PRI
in the state, Gram Panchayat at the village level, Janpad
Panchayat at the block level and Zila Panchayat at the district
level, excluding urban areas from the jurisdiction of these
bodies. The State finance commission was constituted in
accordance with the provisions of article 243-I and 243-Y of the
constitution and also in pursuance of the M.P. State Finance
Commission Act. The devolution of financial powers took place
from state to local bodies for 1996-2001 period in accordance
with the recommendations of the finance commission. The
67
elections to the panchayats were also conducted by the state
election commission in 1994 and in 2000.
Thus we notice that M.P set the plate form for local self
governance very early after the constitutional amendment and
began in right direction. Gram Sabha was conceived to be the
cornerstone of the whole system and consist of all persons who
are eligible voters in the state assembly and whose names are
registered in the electoral rolls relating to villages comprising
the area of Gram Panchayat.
The roles and functions of each organ of PRIs have been
defined and their sources of finance are also clearly spelt at
various points of time. The local functionaries and the members
of community are directly empowered to conceive, design, and
execute projects beneficial to the community. The Gram
Panchayats have been assigned certain obligatory functions and
also a number of optional functions which are in the nature of
civic functions, welfare activities and developmental functions,
the Janpad panchayats and Zila panchayats have not been
assigned any obligatory functions but have to function mainly as
agents of the state government and also perform certain
coordinating and supervisory functions.
Madhya Pradesh Government has been dynamic in its
effort to ensure effective operation of PRIs at grass root level
which is reflected in many amendments enacted in the Act
keeping in view the logistics of implementation and ground
68
realities. Through an amendment in 1997 additional powers and
functions were assigned to Gram Sabhas, which included
identification of schemes of economic development of the
village and determination of the priorities of schemes, making
appraisal of plans for economic development and social justice.
The mandatory inclusion of SC, ST, OBCs and women in
different elected bodies through reservations ensured that voices
of these classes did not go unheard in decision making.
The state of Madhya Pradesh took a big leap forward in
the direction of complete self governance by introducing the
concept of Gram Swaraj through an amendment to the 1993 Act
which has been rechristened as “ Madhya Pradesh Panchayat
Raj and Gram Swaraj Adhiniyam” 2001.The amended act
came into force with effect from 26th January 2001 under which
Gram Sabha has been made the major instrument of bringing
about socio-economic transformation in the villages, with the
ultimate objective of ushering in the era of Gram Swaraj. For
that purpose almost all functions and powers of taxation of
Gram Panchayat under the earlier act have been transferred to
Gram Sabha.
The amendment of the act makes provision for the
constitution of 8 standing committees by the Gram Sabha
through which the functions of Gram Sabha are discharged. In
addition to these standing committees Gram Sabha has been
69
empowered to constitute one or more ad hoc committees as it
may deem necessary.
The standing committees of Gram Sabha include following
1 Gram Vikas Samiti
2 Sarvjanik Sampada Samiti
3 Krishi Vikas Samiti
4 Swasthya Samiti
5 Gram Raksha Samiti
6 Adhosarovachna Samiti
7 Shiksha Samiti
8 Samajik Nyay Samiti
From the above it is evident that Gram Sabha has been
adequately empowered to take care of local needs as well as
maintain a reasonable level of order in the society. The members
can decide their own priorities and execute it through their own
committees eliminating any possibility of outside influence. In
such a scenario it may not be difficult for any particular section
to exert its pressure for genuine needs of the community.
However despite having a well defined structure of governance
at village level it’s still a long way to go for some of the weaker
sections like women. Many studies have shown that women are
still being kept away from the vital decision making process in
the PRIs.
A study on role of women in Panchayati Raj in MP by
Rashmi Arun, found that a majority of women Panches are
70
housewives and are either illiterate or educated merely up to the
primary level. In large number of cases the decision to
participate in the election was not their own. If a seat was
reserved for a women, the men who were politically active
convinced their wife, mother or sister-in-law to contest the
elections in order to keep his family’s presence intact in local
politics. It is also observed that, it is the men who more often
exercise the power by proxy in most times. The institution of
“Sarpanch-Pati” or “Adyaksha Pati” might not have any legal
sanction, but it thrives in many Panchayats not only in MP but
in other States also. The situation did improve gradually when
women began to realize their own positions and started exerting
themselves.
71
CHAPTER V - WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT
THROUGH PANCHAYATI RAJ IN MADHYA
PRADESH-AN ANALYSIS
Nationwide implementation of Panchayati Raj Institutions
in India through Constitutional amendment in 1993 was a path
breaking initiative in the direction of ensuring balanced
development and involvement of all stakeholders in nation
building. Panchayats, as self governing institutions at grass root
level have been a subject of debate, discussion and research for
last 15 years. Many individuals, institutions, national and
international, have gone into studying the processes, successes,
failures of Panchayati Raj experiment in a socially, culturally,
economically and politically diversified country like India.
There have been no questions on the intentions of policy makers
towards Panchayati Raj Institutions but the methods of
implementation, administrative structure and grass root realities
of Indian society have been either viewed as impediments or
inadequate in ensuring success for the system.
It is universally accepted that self governing institutions at
grass root level are an integral part of democratic process and
are essential for participatory development initiative. Grass root
democracy based on small units of government, enable people to
feel a sense of responsibility and inculcate the values of
democracy. After 40 years of independence, it was realised that
72
in a vast, diverse, complex sub continent like India democratic
decentralisation is a political and administrative imperative.
Through the 73rd Constitutional amendment Act, it was expected
that Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) will awake political
consciousness in the country side and engender democratic
process in rural India.
Against the above backdrop, PRIs were introduced in most
of the States in India in 1993 through State Acts. Madhya
Pradesh was one of the pioneers in this direction and passed a
State Act in line with 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. The
setting up of State Election Commission ensured first Panchayat
election in 1994 followed by two more elections. Madhya
Pradesh is viewed as one of the better performing states in India
in respect of its initiatives for democratic decentralisation
through Panchayati Raj.
Madhya Pradesh is one of the less developed states in
India. On many development indicators Madhya Pradesh ranks
lower than the national average. The state’s large size, varied
climatic conditions, prevalence of many dominant cultures,
large forest area and huge tribal population pose several
formidable challenges for any development initiative and also
challenge to service delivery system. The complexities within
the state also throw an opportunity for participatory system of
governance and public good delivery for the overall
development of the economy and society.
73
The implementation of PRIs in Madhya Pradesh had wide
ranging impact on the socio-economic –political environment at
grass root level. The top don approach based on trickle down
theory and bureaucratic strangleholds have been loosened at
many levels releasing a mass of energy at ground level. Many
new frontiers have been opened and several historic
achievements attained on road to PRIs and Gram Swaraj. Since
the PRIs encompass a whole range of activities and objectives it
is not possible to cover all its dimensions in any study. In this
research we have made attempt to study and understand the
trends of empowerment of women on some key indicators. The
focus of study is two districts of Madhya Pradesh i.e. Jabalpur
and Narsimhapur which are adjoining districts at the centre of
the state. Before we discuss individual indicators of two
districts, the general profile of Madhya Pradesh state is shown in
Table below.
74
TABLE 1 MADHYA PRADESH AT A GLANCE
Population (2001) 60385118
Male 31456873
Female 28928245
Districts 48
Tehsils 263
Blocks 313
Total Villages 55392
Populated Villages 52143
Gram Panchayats 22029
Literacy 64.11%
Male 76.80%
Female 50.28%
Density of Population 196
Male-Female Ratio 920
Infant Mortality Rate (1996) 96
Source: MP Human Development Report 2002
From the above table it is evident that Madhya Pradesh is a
large State in size and low on many indicators of development.
Literacy rate of Women in state is only 50.28% in 2001 and
much below among rural women. The literacy rate is one of the
key indicators of state of development.
The gender ratio in the state is also below the national
average. The infant mortality rate was on higher side in 1996.
Since the State was bifurcated between two census periods
of 1991 and 2001 many indicators at two different points of time
are not truly comparable. However from the general profile of
75
the state it is observed that despite some marginal gains during
last 15 years, the overall scenario remains challenging both for
policy makers as well as for stakeholders at grass root level.
Jabalpur and Narsimhapur districts
There is little doubt that despite many constraints, one of
the positive impacts of Panchayati Raj system has been on the
empowerment of women, particularly the rural poor. During this
study many indicators of women’s growing emergence on the
forefront of self governance were examined to reach at
conclusion.
The general profile of two districts is shown in the table
below.
TABLE -2 TOTAL POPULATION
1991 2001
Jabalpur
Total 1768037 2151203
Male 928898 1127304
Female 833139 1023899
Narsimhapur
Total 785496 957646
Male 336981 501645
Female 313464 456001
Source: MP Human Development Reports
The total population of two districts has grown at 21.67%
for Jabalpur and 22.96% for Narsimhapur district. The gender
ratio for Jabalpur district has improved from 897 to 908 during
76
this period while for Narsimhapur there is significant decline in
gender ratio from 930 to 909 which reflects a general bias
against women in the society.
TABLE-3 GENDER RATIO
1991 2001
Jabalpur 897 908
Narsimhapur 930 909
Source: Census of India, 2001
The two selected districts are moderately developed
districts in Madhya Pradesh. While Jabalpur is one of the major
cities of the state located almost at the centre of the country, it
has limited industries in and around the city. There is no big
industrial cluster like Pithampur for Indore and Mandideep for
Bhopal. Narsimhapur is a small town near Jabalpur and
dependent on Jabalpur for market, trading and business
opportunities. Thus both these places have significant rural
economic base. The land is fertile on both sides of Narmada
which flows between these districts. The rural profile of both
districts is shown in table below
TABLE-4 RURAL PROFILE
Jabalpur Narsimhapur
Janpad 7 6
Gram Panchayats 525 422
Villages 1449 1040
Total Rural Population (2001) 923863 804536
Source : District Panchayat Offices
77
One of the vital indicators of participation of any section
of society in any area is the numerical strength of that section
directly contributing towards the effort. In the traditional social
structure many of the weaker sections of society were excluded
from even participation and all decision making were centralised
in a few hands. The allocation and utilisation of resources
remained skewed in favour of privileged or powerful sections.
The numerical strength and visibility of women and SC/ST in
Panchayati Institutions has eliminated this possibility through
the provisions of reservations. From the current data available
about Panchayats it is observed that the number of Sarpanches
and Punches is roughly around one third of total Sarpanches/
Punches. Although the number is significant one important
aspect to notice is limitation on women getting elected from
unreserved seats. That would improve their percentage in total
and would show their growing confidence in contesting and
winning unreserved seats.
TABLE -5 NUMBER OF SARPANCHES AND PANCHES
Jabalpur Narsimhapur
Total Panchayats 542 457
Sarpanches 542 457
Women Sarpanches 180 152
Panches 8194 5158
Women Panches 2676 2676
Source: District/Janpad Panchayat offices
78
A significant observation during the study was low
percentage of attendance of women members in Gram Sabha/
Gram Panchayat meetings. Not more than 15-20% of total
strength in any meeting usually comprised of women and in turn
lacked adequate numerical strength to force any women specific
issues. Even women who attend the meeting are accompanied
by male member of the family and remain mute spectator most
of the time. The reason for their passive participation could be
general illiteracy and lack of awareness about procedures and
modalities of meetings. Many of the meetings in which serious
development related issues and welfare schemes are on agenda
find no women voice at all. The general response of women is
either ignorance of its intricacies or apathy to participate. The
burden of looking after the family affairs at home also plays a
part in women’s absence from meetings. It was also observed
that the male members also try to manipulate the situation like
scheduling the meeting at such time which is inconvenient for
women to participate in them.
The agenda of Panchayat meetings at Gram Sabha level
broadly include following items-
- Social and Welfare Schemes
- Health
- Sanitation
- Education
- Child and women Development
79
- Aanganwadi
- Mid day meal Scheme
- Malnutrition
- Child Development
In both districts it was noticed during personal interaction
that there is some change in the profile of elected representatives
among women in Panchayats. Many of the women Sarpanches/
Panches are more educated and aware about the powers given to
Panchayats and they are keen to make use of these powers for
women’s development. They have been able to influence the
decisions of Gram Sabha or Janpad through their awareness and
knowledge of the working of PRIs. However, one distressing
fact noticed was lack of training among members of Panchayats
in general and among women in particular. Women or even men
in villages are largely dependent on either local educated
persons or state officials to guide on even minor issues like
construction of road in village or purchase of some assets by
Gram Sabha. Even the Gram Sabhas which have been delegated
vest powers to devise their own plan and execute it through own
committees find it difficult to concretise any proposal into
formal project resulting in state officials intervening and
suitably modifying their projects to either allow certain
individuals to gain or to suit their own interests.
The above situation allows development to take place in
skewed manner. Improvement in some critical areas appears to
80
be absent or at best marginal. Some of the vital indicators which
reflect general improvement in women’s position in society are
discussed below.
Literacy rate
As discussed earlier literacy is the one of the most
important factor determining the role of women in any society.
The table below shows the literacy rate among male and female
in 1991 and 2001.
TABLE-6 LITERACY RATE
1991 2001
Jabalpur
Total 64.6% 76.1%
Male 75.64% 84.91%
Female 52.23% 64.4%
Narsimhapur
Total 55.7% 78.3%
Male 68.4% 86.8%
Female 41.6% 69.0%
Source: MP Human Development Report, 2007
It is noticed that there is significant improvement in
literacy rate among population in general and among women in
particular in Narsimhapur district. Although there is some
improvement in Jabalpur district also but the impact is not that
much.
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Infant Mortality Rate
The infant mortality rate in both districts stood at 151 in
1981 but improved to 110 in Narsimhapur and 101 in Jabalpur.
The health of child at birth determines the women’s health
during child birth.
TABLE-7 INFANT MORTALITY RATE
1981 1991
Jabalpur 151 101
Narsimhapur 151 110
Source: MP Human Development Reports
On this issue it was noticed that in both districts rural areas
severely lack hygienic and adequate medical services during
pregnancy. A large number of deliveries continue to be at home
and assisted by untrained nurses. The reach of medical services,
both private and Government, to rural areas is still not wide
spread depriving people of quality medical services and women
are more often first casualty. The remote villages of both
districts do not have quick access to medical help and people
have to travel at least 2-3 hours to get medical attention in
Jabalpur. Sometimes the time factor determines the fate of the
ailing person and particularly in cases of complicated
pregnancies it lead to death of mother and child.
Female Life expectancy at Birth
The female life expectancy at birth is lower than general
life expectancy in both districts. As against 56.5 in Jabalpur in
1991 the female life expectancy improved to only 57.3 in 2001
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while corresponding figures for Narsimhapur stood at 51.4 in
1991 and 54.4 in 2001.
TABLE-8 FEMALE LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH
1991 2001
Jabalpur 56.5 57.3
Narsimhapur 51.4 54.4
Source: M P Human Development Report 2002
If compared to the general life expectancy at birth the
situation in Jabalpur is better than Narsimhapur. The general life
expectancy at birth in Jabalpur was 57.5 in 2001 which is almost
same as female life expectancy but for Narsimhapur general life
expectancy is 56.9 while female can expect to live upto the age
of 54.4 only.
Work Participation Rate of Women
The work participation rate of women is shown in both
districts over last 20 years in table below
TABLE-9 WORK PARTICIPATION RATE-WOMEN
Jabalpur Narsimhapur
1981 22 23
1991 23 25
2001 22.4 29.1
Source: MP Human Development Reports
From the trend it is seen that female work participation has
improved in Narsimhapur from 23 in 1981 to 25 in 1991 and to
29 in 2001 while for Jabalpur it is more or less static at around
22-23.The trend shows that women do participate as work force,
83
their presence is low and not showing any perceptible
improvement. Women in rural areas either work on their fields
or prefer to remain at home. Most of the respondent replied in
negative about their desire to work unless forced into it because
of economic conditions of their family. Male members of the
family also prefer to keep their womenfolk within the house to
look after children and kitchen. The general perception among
men emerged that who would look after the home if women go
out to work. Some men and women also responded that division
of labour is defined in society and they would not like to deviate
from that order. The peer pressure and social pressure also keep
women within the confines of home.
Such a scenario leads to economic perennial dependency
of women on men and creates a situation where women do not
enforce their views even within the family. It was observed that
most of the economic decisions are sole prerogative of men of
the family while women are never even consulted on many vital
issues.
Self Help Groups
One of the significant developments noticed in both the
districts were emergence of large number of self help groups.
Many of them are purely women self help groups which reflect
that local enterprise among women is gradually developing. Self
Help Groups harness local resources and local talents to engage
into economically independent units.
84
TABLE-10 SELF HELP GROUPS
Jabalpur Narsimhapur
Total SHGs 5089 2324
Women SHGs 2482 1264
% of Total 48.8 54.4
Source: MP Human Development Report 2007
As per 2004 data available Jabalpur district had 5089 Self Help
Groups (SHGs) out of which 2482 are fully women SHGs. This
comes to 48.4% of total SHGs in the district. In Narsimhapur
District out of a total of 2324 SHGs 1264 are fully women
SHGs which is more than 50% of the total SHGs in the district.
These SHGs are fully managed by women in all respects. SHGs
have been supported by the Panchayats at all levels and state
officials have also extended support to them. The SHGs
movement has resulted into mass participation of women of all
sections in economic activities outside their home.
From the above it is observed that PRIs have been
instrumental in generating interest among people at grass root
level for self governance. The Gram Sabha has been made the
cornerstone of the system armed with wide range of powers
including budget preparation, planning and execution of
projects. Gram Sabha can also constitute their own standing and
ad hoc committees for execution of projects. Through this
mechanism the stakeholders in society can directly plan and
execute their projects without any outside intervention.
85
During interactive observations it was noticed that seeds of
dissent among weaker sections are growing against traditional
power elites who have been directly threatened by reallocation
of state resources in favour of community development through
Panchayat institutions. There are many individual voices of
dissent among women also but they are not as visible as some
other sections. Women still find it difficult to mobilise
themselves in large number to force issues in their favour. Many
individual women leaders have exercised their constitutional
authority as Sarpanches to scuttle any attempt by men to usurp
their powers. However the truth behind most of the Panchayats
is that even on reserved constituencies the men exercise the real
power through proxy representation. Presence of a few lone
women voices doesn’t affect the outcome of Panchayat
decisions. The concept of Sarpanch Pati and Adhyaksha Pati
keep doing rounds among villagers and indicate who wields the
real power in the Panchayat.
From the observations made during the study it seems
clear that PRIs are right road to achieve the goals of
participatory governance at grass root level in India. The
constitutional amendment has provided necessary framework
and legal arm to move in this direction and despite impediments
and roadblocks it has dented the traditional administrative
structure and age old power equations in rural India. Some of
the major findings of the study can be listed as following
86
The political will at the top to implement PRIs had
profound positive impact on state administrative machinery in
Madhya Pradesh particularly in their responsiveness to the new
system. Whereas many states got into the loop of litigations,
bureaucratic tangle in even conducting Panchayat elections
Madhya Pradesh rapidly got in to action in this direction.
Constitutional sanctity to PRIs ensured that no frivolous
methods were adopted to bypass the provisions of the Act and
avoid implementation.
Successful conduct of elections assured representation of
masses in Panchayat bodies. It also enhanced the level of
confidence of people in PR institutions.
The mandatory provision of reservation of seats for SC,
ST and women ensured their numerical visibility in all
Panchayat bodies at all levels. This itself generated interest
among all sections of society in the efficacy of Panchayat
system.
The selected districts have shown significant improvement
on many development parameters for women. The rate of
growth of literacy in both districts is an evident outcome of
women’s willingness to come forward and participate in
governance and be masters of their own destiny.
It is observed that the level of effective participation of
women in Panchayat affairs is still low because of low
educational level of women leaders but the profile is likely to
87
change in future with spread of literacy across the board and
emergence of more literate women in Panchayats. The
traditional power equations in rural areas have shown cracks in
structures which are likely to widen in future due to emergence
of new institutions of governance which are more people centric
and democratic in nature. However, there is still lot to be done
on this front to totally eliminate old myopic institutions which
determined relations in rural areas based on wealth and political
alignments of rich only. At present on many occasions
traditional economic and political elites have somehow
manipulated the new system through their superior knowledge
and awareness.
Despite some pessimistic signals it is observed that since
development and empowerment are long drawn processes
Panchayati Raj institution will gradually take over the whole
process of development. The mass literacy campaign will
strengthen the Gram Sabha who is already vested with
substantial powers to harness local potential and channelise
resources for community’s benefits.
There is need to continue reforms in Panchayati Raj Act to
devolve more powers to people. At present although Sarpanches
are directly elected by the electorates but they can be removed
by the members of Gram Panchayat through a two third
majority. Even a state official like SDM can remove a Sarpanch
for misuse of financial powers. This provision is subject to
88
manipulation by state administration as well as by political
parties to settle scores with uncompromising Sarpanches. There
is need to reform such provisions to allow more transparent
mechanism for election and removal of Panchayat leaders.
From the observations made during this study it can be
cancelled that PRIs are the right alternative to democratisation
of governance in India. In a diversified country like India local
solutions for local problems optimally utilising local talent and
resources involving all stakeholders of the community can
ensure balanced equitable development in a democratic
transparent governance environment.
89
CHAPTER VI – 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
90
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
91
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
92
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
93
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 can not 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.
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APPENDIX-I
FUNCTIONS OF GRAM PANCHAYATS
It shall be the duty of a Gram Panchayat in so far as the Gram Panchayat funds allows, to perform within its areas the following functions:-
1. Sanitation. Conservancy and prevention and abatement of nuisance;
2. Construction, repair and maintenance of public wells, ponds and tanks and supply of water for domestic use;
3. Construction and maintenance of sources of water for bathing and washing and supply of water for domestic animal;
4. Construction and maintenance of village roads, culverts, bridges, bunds and other, work and building of public places;
5. Construction, maintenance and clearing of public streets, latrines, drains, tanks, wells and other public places;
6. filling in of disused wells, insanitary ponds, pools, ditches and pits and conversion of step wells into sanitary wells;
7. lighting of village streets and other public places;
8. removing of obstructions and projections in public streets or places and in sites not being property or which are open to use of public, whether such sites are vested in the Panchayat or belong to the State Government;
9. regulating and control over entertainment shows, shops, eating houses and vendors of drinks, sweets, fruits, milk and of other similar articles;
10. Regulating the constructions of house latrines, urinals, drains and water closets;
11. Management of public land and management, extension and development of village site;
12. (a) regulating places for disposal of dead bodies, carcasses and other offensive matters;
(b) disposal of unclaimed corpses and carcasses;
13. earmarking places for dumping refuse;
14. regulation of sale and preservation of meat;
15. maintenance of Gram Panchayat property;
95
16. establishment and management of cattle ponds and maintenance of records relating to cattle;
17. maintenance of ancient historical monuments other than those declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance, grazing lands and other lands vesting in or under the control of the Gram Panchayats;
18. establishment, management and regulation of markets and melas other than public markets and meals;
19. maintenance of records of births, death and marriages;
20. rendering assistance in the census operation and in the surveys conducted by the State Government or Central Government or any other local authority lawfully constituted;
21. rendering assistance in prevention of contagious diseases;
22. rendering assistance in inoculation and small pox vaccination and enforcement of other preventive measures for safety of human being and cattle prescribed by Government Department concerned;
23. rendering assistance to the disabled and destitutes;
24. promotion of youth welfare, family welfare and sports;
25. establishment of Raksha Samiti for:
(a) safety of life and property;
(b) prevention of fire and extinguishing fire and safety of property during outbreak of such fires;
26. Plantation and preservation of Panchayat forests;
27. removal of social evils like dowry;
28. granting loan for the purpose of
(i) providing medical assistance to or indigent persons in serious and emergency cases;
(ii) disposal of dead body of an indigent person or any member of his family; or
(iii) any other purpose for the benefit of an indigent person as may be notified by the State Government from time to time subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed.
29. (a) carrying out the directions or orders given or issued by the State Government, the Collector or any other officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf with respect to the measures for amelioration of the conditions of the Scheduled Castes and
96
Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes and in particular in regard to the removal of untouchability.
(b) perform such functions as may be entrusted to it by the State Government, Zila Panchayat or Janapad Panchayat by general or special orders;
(c) with prior approval of Janapad Panchayat may also perform other functions as may desire to perform;
Provided that where any such functions are entrusted to the Gram Panchayat it shall act as an agent of the State Government, Zila Panchayat or Janapad Panchayat, as the case may be, and necessary funds and other assistance for the purpose shall be provided to it by the State Government, Zila Panchayat or Janapad Panchayat, as the case may be.
97
APPENDIX-II
FUNCTIONS OF JANPAD PANCHAYAT
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder, and subject to general or special orders, as may be issued by the State Government, from time to time, it shall be the duty of a Janapad Panchayat, so far the Janapad Panchayat funds allow to make reasonable provision in the block for the following matters:-
(a) Integral Rural Development, Agriculture, Social Forestry, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Communication and Public Works, co-operation, Cottage Industries, Welfare of Women, youth and children, welfare of backward classes, family planning and sports and rural employment programmes;
(b) provision of emergency relief in case of distress caused by fires, floods, drought, earthquake, scarcity, locust swarms, epidemics and other natural calamities;
(c) arrangement in connection with local pilgrimage and festivals;
(d) management of public ferries;
(e) management of public markets, public melas and exhibitions; and
(f) any other function with the approval of the State Government or Zila Panchayat.
(2) The Janapad Panchayat shall control and supervise the administration of the community development block or tribal development block within its jurisdiction, as the case may be and the functions and schemes assigned to such block by the State Government shall be implemented under the superintendence, direction and control of the Janapad Panchayat in accordance with the Instructions issued by the State Government from time to time.
98
APPENDIX-III
FUNCTIONS OF ZILA PANCHAYAT
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder, it shall be duty of the Zila Panchayat to:-
(i) control, coordinate and guide, the Janapad Panchayat and Gram Panchayat within the district;
(ii) coordinate and consolidate the Janapad Panchayat plans;
(iii) coordinate the demands for grants for special purpose received from the Janapad Panchayats and forward them to the State Government;
(iv) secure the execution of the plans, projects, schemes or other works common to two or more Janapad Panchayats in the district;
(v) advice the State Government in the development activities, social forestry, family welfare, welfare of the disabled, destitutes, women, youth and children and sports;
(vi) exercise and perform such other powers and functions as the State Government may, confer on or entrust to it;
(2) The Zila Panchayat shall control and supervise the administration of District Rural Development Agency within its jurisdiction and all functions and schemes assigned to the District shall be implemented under the superintendence, direction and control of the Zila Panchayat in accordance with the instructions issued by the State Government from time to time.
99
APPENDIX-IV
FUNCTIONS OF GRAM SABHA
6. In Section 7 of the Principal Act, in sub-section (I), for Amendment of Section 7 clause
(k), the following clauses shall be
(k) sanitation, conservancy and prevention and abatement of nuisance;
(l) construction repair and maintenance of public wells, ponds and tanks and supply of water for domestic use;
(m) construction and maintenance of sources of water for bathing and washing and supply of water for domestic use;
(n) construction and maintenance of village roads, culverts, bridges, bunds and other works and building of public utility;
(o) construction and maintenance and clearing of public streets, latrines, drains, tanks, wells and other public places;
(p) filling in of disused wells, unsanitary ponds, Pools, ditches and pits and conversion of step wells in to sanitary wells;
(q) lighting of village streets and other public places;
(r) removing of obstructions and projections in public streets and places and sites not being private property or which are open to use of public, whether such sites are vested in the Panchayat or belong to the State Government;
(s) regulating and control over entertainment shows, shops, eating houses and vendors of drinks, sweet meats, fruits, milk and of other similar articles;
(t) regulating the construction of house, latrines, urinals, drains and water closets;
(u) management of public land and management, extension and development of village site;
(v) (i) regulating places for disposal of dead bodies, carcasses and other offensive matters;
(ii) disposal of unclaimed corpses and carcasses;
(w) earmarking places for dumping refuse;
(x) regulation of sale and preservation of meat;
(y) maintenance of Gram Sabha property;
100
(z) establishment and management of cattle ponds and maintenance of records relating to cattle;
(aa) maintenance of ancient and historical monuments other than those declared by or under law made by Parliament to be of national importance, grazing lands and other lands vesting in or under the control of the Gram Sabha;
(bb) maintenance of records of births, deaths and marriages;
(cc) rendering assistance in the census operation and in the surveys conducted by the State Government or Central Government or any other Local authority lawfully constituted;
(dd) rendering assistance in prevention of contagious diseases;
(ee) rendering assistance in inoculation and vaccination and enforcement of other preventive measure for safety of human being and cattle prescribed by Government Department concerned;
(ff) rendering assistance to the disabled and destitutes;
(gg) promotion of youth welfare, family welfare and sports;
(hh) establishment of Raksha Samiti for :-
(a) safety of life and property;
(b) prevention of fire and extinguishing fire and safety of property during outbreak of such fires;
(ii) plantation and preservation of Village forest;
(jj) Removal of social evils like dowry;
(kk) granting loans for the purposes of -
(i) providing medical assistance to indigent persons in serious and emergency cases;
(ii) disposal of dead body of an indigent person or any member of his family; or
(iii) any other purpose for the benefit of an indigent person as may be notified by the State Government from time to time subject to such terms and conditions as may be prescribed;
(II) (i) carrying out the directions or orders given or issued by the State Government, the Collector or any other Officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf with respect to the measures for amelioration of the condition of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and other backward classes and in particular in regard to the removal of untouchability;
101
(ii) perform such functions as may be entrusted to it by Zila Panchayat or Janapad panchayat by general or special orders;
(iii) to exercise and perform such powers and functions as the State Government may confer on of entrust to under this Act or any other law for the time being in force in the State;
(iv) with prior approval of janapad panchayat may also perform other functions as it may desire to perform:
Provided that where any such function is entrusted to the Gram Sabha, it shall act as an agent of the State Government, Zila Panchayat or Janapad Panchayat, as the case may be, and necessary funds and other assistance for the purpose shall be provided to it by the State Government, Zila Panchayat or Janapad Panchayat, as the case may be;
(mm) plan and manage basic amenities;
(nn) select beneficiaries under various programmes;
(oo) implement, execute and supervise development schemes and construction work within the Gram Sabha area;
(pp) control and monitor beneficiary oriented schemes and programmes;
(qq) promote general awareness amongst the people at large;
(rr) organise voluntary labour and contribution for community work and promote
the concept of community ownership;
(ss) to plan, own and manage minor water bodies up to a specified water area situated within its territorial jurisdiction;
(tt) to lease out any minor water body up to a specified area for the purpose of fishing and other commercial purposes;
(uu) to regulate the use of water or rivers, streams, minor water bodies for irrigation purposes;
(vv) to exercise control over institutions and functionaries in all social sectors transferred to or appointed by the Gram Sabha."
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APPENDIX-V
THE CONSTITUTION (SEVENTY-THIRD AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992
Statement of Objects and Reasons appended to the Constitution (Seventy-second Amendment) Bill, 1991 which was enacted as the Constitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992
STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS
Though the Panchayati Raj Institutions have been in existence for along time, it has been observed that these institutions have not beenable to acquire the status and dignity of viable and responsivepeople's bodies due to a number of reasons including absence ofregular elections, prolonged supersessions, insufficientrepresentation of weaker sections like Scheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and women, inadequate devolution of powers and lack offinancial resources.
2. Article 40 of the Constitution which enshrines one of theDirective Principles of State Policy lays down that the State shalltake steps to organise village panchayats and endow them with suchpowers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function asunits of self-government. In the light of the experience in the lastforty years and in view of the short-comings which have been observed,it is considered that there is an imperative need to enshrine in theConstitution certain basic and essential features of Panchayati RajInstitutions to impart certainty, continuity and strength to them.
3. Accordingly, it is proposed to add a new Part relating toPanchayats in the Constitution to provide for among other things, GramSabha in a village or group of villages; constitution of Panchayatsat village and other level or levels; direct elections to all seatsin Panchayats at the village and intermediate level, if any, and tothe offices of Chairpersons of Panchayats at such levels; reservationof seats for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in proportionto their population for membership of Panchayats and office ofChairpersons in Panchayats at each level; reservation of not lessthan one-third of the seats for women; fixing tenure of 5 years forPanchayats and holding elections within a period of 6 months in theevent of supersession of any Panchayat; disqualifications formembership of Panchayats; devolution by the State Legislature ofpowers and responsibilities upon the Panchayats with respect to thepreparation of plans for economic developments and social justice andfor the implementation of development schemes; sound finance of thePanchayats by securing authorisation from State Legislatures forgrants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fund of theState, as also assignment to, or appropriation by, the Panchayats ofthe revenues of designated taxes, duties, tolls and fees; setting upof a Finance Commission within one year of the proposed amendment andthereafter every 5 years to review the financial position ofPanchayats; auditing of accounts of the Panchayats; powers of StateLegislatures to make provisions with respect to elections toPanchayats under the superintendence, direction and control of thechief electoral officer of the State; application of the provisionsof the said Part to Union territories; excluding certain States andareas from the application of the provisions of the said Part;
103
continuance of existing laws and Panchayats until one year from thecommencement of the proposed amendment and barring interference bycourts in electoral matters relating to Panchayats.
4. The Bill seeks to achieve the aforesaid objectives.
NEW DELHI; G. VENKAT SWAMY.
The 10th September, 1991.
THE CONSTITUTION (SEVENTY-THIRD AMENDMENT) ACT, 1992
[20th April, 1993.]
An Act further to amend the Constitution of India.
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Forty-third Year of the Republic ofIndia as follows:-
1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called theConstitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992.
(2) It shall come into force on such date_680 as the CentralGovernment may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
2. Insertion of new Part IX.- After Part VIII of the Constitution,the following Part shall be inserted, namely:-
`PART IX THE PANCHAYATS243. Definitions.- In this Part, unless the context otherwiserequires,-
(a) "district" means a district in a State;
(b) "Gram Sabha" means a body consisting of persons registered inthe electoral rolls relating to a village comprised within the area ofPanchayat at the village level;
(c) "Intermediate level" means a level between the village anddistrict levels specified by the Governor of a State by publicnotification to be the intermediate level for the purposes of thisPart;
(d) "Panchayat" means an institution (by whatever name called) ofself-government constituted under article 243B, for the rural areas;
(e) "Panchayat area" means the territorial area of a Panchayat;
(f) "population" means the population as ascertained at the lastpreceding census of which the relevant figures have been published;
(g) "village" means a village specified by the Governor by publicnotification to be a village for the purposes of this Part and
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includes a group of villages so specified.
243A. Gram Sabha.- A Gram Sabha may exercise such powers andperform such functions at the village level as the Legislature of aState may, by law, provide.
243B. Constitution of Panchayats.- (1) There shall be constituted inevery State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate and districtlevels in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
(2) Notwithstanding anything in clause (1), Panchayats at the in-termediate level may not be constituted in a State having a populationnot exceeding twenty lakhs.
243C. Composition of Panchayats.- (1) Subject to the provisions ofthis Part, the Legislature of a State may, by law, make provisionswith respect to the composition of Pancayats:
Provided that the ratio between the population of the territorial areaof a Panchayat at any level and the number of seats in such Panchayatto be filled by election shall, so far as practicable, be the samethroughout the State.
(2) All the seats in a Panchayat shall be filled by persons chosen bydirect election from territorial constituencies in the Panchayat areaand; for this purpose, each Panchayat area shall be divided intoterritorial constituencies in such manner that the ratio between thepopulation of each constituency and the number of seats allotted to itshall, so far as practicable, be the same throughout the Panchayatarea.
(3) The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for the re-presentation-
(a) of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the village level, in thePanchayats at the intermediate level or, in the case of a State nothaving Panchayats at the intermediate level, in the Pancayats at thedistrict level;
(b) of the Chairpersons of the Panchayats at the intermediate level,in the Panchayats at the district level;
(c) of the members of the House of the People and the members of theLegislative Assembly of the State representing constituencies whichcomprise wholly or partly a Panchayat area at a level other than thevillage level, in such Panchayat;
(d) of the members of the Council of States and the members of theLegislative Council of the State, where they are registered aselectors within-
(i) a Panchayat area at the intermediate level, in Panchayat at theintermediate level;
(ii) a Panchayat area at the district level, in Panchayat at the
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district level.
(4) The Chairperson of a Panchayat and other members of a Panchayatwhether or not chosen by direct election from territorialconstituencies in the Panchayat area shall have the right to vote inthe meetings of the Panchayats.
(5) The Chairperson of -
(a) a Panchayat at the village level shall be elected in such manneras the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide; and
(b) a Panchayat at the intermediate level or district level shall beelected by, and from amongst, the elected members thereof.
243D. Reservation of seats.- (1) Seats shall be reserved for-
(a) the Scheduled Castes; and
(b) the Scheduled Tribes,
in every Panchayat and the number of seats of reserved shall bear, asnearly as may be, the same proportion to the total number of seats tobe filled by direct election in that Panchayat as the population ofthe Scheduled Castes in that Panchayat area or of the Scheduled Tribesin that Panchayat area bears to the total population of that area andsuch seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies ina Panchayat.
(2) Not less than one-third of the total number of seats reservedunder clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to theScheduled Castes or, as the case may be, the Scheduled Tribes.
(3) Not less than one-third (including the number of seats reservedfor women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes)of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in everyPanchayat shall be reserved for women and such seats may be allottedby rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.
(4) The offices of the Chairpersons in the Panchayats at the villageor any other level shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes, theScheduled Tribes and women in such manner as the Legislature of aState may, by law, provide:
Provided that the number of offices of Chairpersons reserved for theScheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the Panchayats at eachlevel in any State shall bear, as nearly as may be, the sameproportion to the total number of such offices in the Panchayats ateach level as the population of the Scheduled Castes in the State orof the Scheduled Tribes in the State bears to the total population ofthe State:
Provided further that not less than one-third of the total number ofoffices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level shall bereserved for women:
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Provided also that the number of offices reserved under this clauseshall be allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level.
(5) The reservation of seats under clauses (1) and (2) and thereservation of offices of Chairpersons (other than the reservation forwomen) under clause (4) shall cease to have effect on the expirationof the period specified in article 334.
(6) Nothing in this Part shall prevent the Legislature of a State frommaking any provision for reservation of seats in any Panchayat oroffices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at any level in favour ofbackward class of citizens.
243E. Duration of Panchayats, etc.- (1) Every Panchayat, unlesssooner dissolved under any law for the time being in force, shallcontinue for five years from the date appointed for its first meetingand no longer.
(2) No amendment of any law for the time being in force shall have theeffect of causing dissolution of a Panchayat at any level, which isfunctioning immediately before such amendment, till the expiration ofits duration specified in clause (1).
(3) An election to constitute a Panchayat shall be completed-
(a) before the expiry of its duration specified in clause (1);
(b) before the expiration of a period of six months from the date ofits dissolution:
Provided that where the remainder of the period for which thedissolved Panchayat would have continued is less than six months, itshall not be necessary to hold any election under this clause forconstituting the Panchayat for such period.
(4) A Panchayat constituted upon the dissolution of a Panchayat beforethe expiration of its duration shall continue only for the remainderof the period for which the dissolved Panchayat would have continuedunder clause (1) had it not been so dissolved.
243F. Disqualifications for membership.-(1) A person shall bedisqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of aPanchayat-
(a) if he is so disqualified by or under any law for the time being inforce for the purposes of elections to the Legislature of the Stateconcerned:
Provided that no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he isless than twenty-five years of age, if he has attained the age oftwenty-one years;
(b) if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by theLegislature of the State.
(2) If any question arises as to whether a member of a Panchayat has
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become subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in clause(1), the question shall be referred for the decision of such authorityand in such manner as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.
243G. Powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats.- Subjectto the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature of a Statemay, by law, endow the Panchayats with such powers and authority asmay be necessary to enable them to function as institutions ofself-government and such law may contain provisions for the devolutionof powers and responsibilities upon Panchayats at the appropriatelevel, subject to such conditions as may be specified therein, withrespect to-
(a) the preparation of plans for economic development and socialjustice;
(b) the implementation of schemes for economic development and socialjustice as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to thematters listed in the Eleventh Schedule.
243H. Powers to impose taxes by, and Funds of, the Panchayats.-TheLegislature of a State may, by law,-
(a) authorise a Panchayat to levy, collect and appropriate such taxes,duties, tolls and fees in accordance with such procedure and subjectto such limits;
(b) assign to a Panchayat such taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviedand collected by the State Government for such purposes and subject tosuch conditions and limits;
(c) provide for making such grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from theConsolidated Fund of the State; and
(d) provide for Constitution of such Funds for crediting all moneysreceived, respectively, by or on behalf of the Panchayats and also forthe withdrawal of such moneys therefrom,
as may be specified in the law.
243-I. Constitution of Finance Commission to review financialposition.-(1) The Governor of a State shall, as soon as may be withinone year from the commencement of the Constitution (Seventy-thirdAmendment) Act, 1992, and thereafter at the expiration of every fifthyear, constitute a Finance Commission to review the financial positionof the Panchayats and to make recommendations to the Governor as to-
(a) the principles which should govern-
(i) the distribution between the State and the Panchayats of the netproceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees leviable by the State,which may be divided between them under this Part and the allocationbetween the Panchayats at all levels of their respective shares ofsuch proceeds;
(ii) the determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may
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be assigned to, or appropriated by, the Panchayat;
(iii) the grants-in-aid to the Panchayats from the Consolidated Fundof the State;
(b) the measures needed to improve the financial position of thePanchayats;
(c) any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by theGovernor in the interests of sound finance of the Panchayats.
(2) The Legislature of a State may, by law, provide for thecomposition of the commission, the qualifications which shall berequisite for appointment as members thereof and the manner in whichthey shall be selected.
(3) The Commission shall determine their procedure and shall have suchpowers in the performance of their functions as the Legislature of theState may, by law, confer on them.
(4) The Governor shall cause every recommendation made by theCommission under this article together with an explanatory memorandumas to the action taken thereon to be laid before the Legislature ofthe State.
243J. Audit of accounts of Panchayats.- The Legislature of a Statemay, by law, make provisions with respect to the maintenance ofaccounts by the Panchayats and the auditing of such accounts.
243K. Elections to the Panchayats.-(1) The superintendence, directionand control of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and the conductof, all elections to the Panchayats shall be vested in a StateElection Commission consisting of a State Election Commissioner to beappointed by the Governor.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any law made by the Legislature of aState, the conditions of service and tenure of office of the StateElection Commissioner shall be such as the Governor may by rule de-termine:
Provided that the State Election Commissioner shall not be removedfrom his office except in like manner and on the like grounds as aJudge of a High Court and the conditions of service of the State Elec-tion Commissioner shall not be varied to his disadvantage after hisappointment.
(3) The Governor of a State shall, when so requested by the StateElection Commission, make available to the State Election Commissionsuch staff as may be necessary for the discharge of the functions con-ferred on the State Election Commission by clause (1).
(4) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the Legislature ofa State may, by law, make provision with respect to all matters re-lating to, or in connection with, elections to the Panchayats.
243L. Application to Union territories.-The provisions of this Part
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shall apply to the Union territories and shall, in their applicationto a Union territory, have effect as if the references to the Governorof a State were references to the Administrator of the Union territoryappointed under article 239 and references to the Legislature or theLegislative Assembly of a State were references, in relation to aUnion territory having a Legislative Assembly, to that LegislativeAssembly:
Provided that the President may, by public notification, direct thatthe provisions of this Part shall apply to any Union territory or partthereof subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may specifyin the notification.
243M. Part not to apply to certain areas.-(1) Nothing in this Partshall apply to the Scheduled Areas referred to in clause (1), and thetribal areas referred to in clause (2), of article 244.
(2) Nothing in this Part shall apply to-
(a) the States of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram;
(b) the Hill Areas in the State of Manipur for which District Councilsexist under any law for the time being in force.
(3) Nothing in this Part-
(a) relating to Panchayats at the district level shall apply to thehill areas of the District of Darjeeling in the State of West Bengalfor which Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council exists under any law for thetime being in force;
(b) shall be construed to affect the functions and powers of theDarjeeling Gorkha Hill Council constituted under such law.
(4) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,-
(a) the Legislature of a State referred to in sub-clause (a) of clause(2) may, by law, extend this Part to that State, except the areas, ifany, referred to in clause (1), if the Legislative Assembly of thatState passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the totalmembership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirdsof the members of that House present and voting;
(b) Parliament may, by law, extend the provisions of this Part to theScheduled Areas and the tribal areas referred to in clause (1) subjectto such exceptions and modifications as may be specified in such law,and no such law shall be deemed to be an amendment of thisConstitution for the purposes of article 368.
243N. Continuance of existing laws and Panchayats.-Notwithstandinganything in this Part, any provision of any law relating to Panchayatsin force in a State immediately before the commencement of theConstitution (Seventy-third Amendment) Act, 1992, which isinconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall continue to be inforce until amended or repealed by a competent Legislature or othercompetent authority or until the expiration of one year from such
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commencement, whichever is earlier:
Provided that all the Panchayats existing immediately before suchcommencement shall continue till the expiration of their duration,unless sooner dissolved by a resolution passed to that effect by theLegislative Assembly of that State or, in the case of a State having aLegislative Council, by each House of the Legislature of that State.
243-O. Bar to interference by courts in electoral matters.-Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,-
(a) the validity of any law relating to the delimitation ofconstituencies or the allotment of seats to such constituencies, madeor purporting to be made under article 243K, shall not be called inquestion in any court;
(b) no election to any Panchayat shall be called in question except byan election petition presented to such authority and in such manner asis provided for by or under any law made by the Legislature of aState.'.
Constitution, after sub-clause (b), the following sub-clause shall beinserted, namely:-
"(bb) the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a Stateto supplement the resources of the Panchayats in the State on thebasis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of theState;".
Constitution, the following Schedule shall be added, namely:-
"ELEVENTH SCHEDULE
(Article 243G)
1. Agriculture, including agricultural extension.
2. Land improvement, implementation of land reforms, landconsolidation and soil conservation.
3. Minor irrigation, water management and watershed development.
4. Animal husbandry, dairying and poultry.
5. Fisheries.
6. Social forestry and farm forestry.
7. Minor forest produce.
8. Small scale industries, including food processing industries.
9. Khadi, village and cottage industries.
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10. Rural housing.
11. Drinking water.
12. Fuel and fodder.
13. Roads, culverts, bridges, ferries, waterways and other means of communication.
14. Rural electrification, including distribution of electricity.
15. Non-conventional energy sources.
16. Poverty alleviation programme.
17. Education, including primary and secondary schools.
18. Technical training and vocational education.
19. Adult and non-formal education.
20. Libraries.
21. Cultural activities.
22. Markets and fairs.
23. Health and sanitation, including hospitals, primary health centres and dispensaries.
24. Family welfare.
25. Women and child development.
26. Social welfare, including welfare of the handicapped and mentally retarded.
27. Welfare of the weaker sections, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
28. Public distribution system.
29. Maintenance of community assets.".
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REPORTS
A Decade of Women’s Empowerment through Local Government in India-Workshop Report, 2003, New Delhi
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Madhya Pradesh Human Development Reports
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Report of the Working Group on Empowerment of Women fro the XI Plan, Government of India
UNDP Human Development Reports
WEBSITES CONSULTED
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
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