Empowerment of Women through Participation in Local Government (A case of Maharashtra) By – Dr. Ruby Ojha Associate Professor, Department of Economics, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai

Introduction Throughout the world, the power relations that shape social, political, economic and cultural life prevent women from participating fully in all areas of their lives, whether it’s in the home, or in the public arena. Mainstreaming women through their active involvement in the formulation and implementation of policies is acknowledged as a precondition for achieving equitable development of the society in any developing country.

Introduction One of the strategies to empower women and to overcome barriers preventing her equal participation in decision-making process is to allow her to obtain political power. Politics still continues to be a male bastion where self-made women are the exceptions rather than the rule. There can be no true democracy, no true people’s participation in governance and development without equal participation of women and men.

Local Government The reservation for women in local government through 73 rd and 74 th Amendment of the Indian constitution, 1993 has opened a new chapter in the history of democratic decentralization in India. It has helped in devolving power and giving opportunities to the disadvantaged people and women at the grass roots level to express their voice in the decision making process. The 73 rd and 74 th constitutional amendments also revitalized the local government in rural and urban areas by granting special representation to women so that they have their share of power and responsibility too.

Local Government As a result, more than a million elected women representatives are present today in the institutions of local governance in rural and urban India. Thus, the social and economic opportunities available to these women, particularly to those belonging to socially disadvantaged groups such as SC and ST, is an extraordinary phenomenon which is there in spite of otherwise terribly poor human development indicators of Indian women.

Elected Women’s Participation in Maharashtra The three tiers of panchayat system are spread across the state of Maharashtra and the e-panchayat services are made available for the employees/users and citizens across the state. The deployment envisages coverage of 34 Zilha Parishads, 351 Panchayat Samities and Gram Panchayats to bridge the digital divide and further socio-economic opportunities for its citizens. Maharashtra cabinet has increased the women’s quota from 33% as per the 73 rd and 74 th Amendment to 50% seats in local self-government bodies. The State Election Commission is implementing the Kranti Jyoti scheme to make women representatives competent to handle governance.

Evidence of Women Participation in Local Government in Maharashtra No.Particulars Statistics Total no. of Districts3334 2Total no. of Zilha Parishad Members (District Office) Total no. of Zilha Parishad Women Members Chairmen of Zilha Parishad33 5Women Chairperson of Zilha Parishad1115 6Total no. of Panchayat Samiti (Block Office) Total no. of Gram Panchayats Total no. of Gram Panchayat Members Total no. of Gram Panchayat Women Members Percentage of Gram Panchayat Women Members(33.33)(49.9%) 11Chairmen of Gram Panchayat Women Chairperson of Gram Panchayat

While the mandatory provisions of the Constitution regarding elections and reservations are adhered to in all the States, the devolution of powers and resources to Panchayats from the States has been highly uneven across States. As per the Panchayat Devolution Index (Alok, V. N, 2013) which is prepared using 26 indicators drawn from Framework, Functions, Finances, Functionaries, Capacity Building and Accountability, Maharashtra is holding the number one position in

Source: Alok, V N (2013), Strengthening of Panchayats in India: Comparing Devolution across States, Empirical Assessment , Sponsored by Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India, The Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi

Participation at Assembly Level Despite having implemented the 50% reservation for women in local self-government bodies, and having such high achievements at local levels, the participation of women at assembly level is very low. The four main political parties have together not given more than 25 to 35 seats to women politicians in the last four elections. The reason is that only 4.2% to 5.9% of the total women candidates have been contesting the assembly polls (Ghoge, Ketaki, 2014). There are many grassroots party workers who do not get a chance to contest assembly elections.

Case Study - 1 Grampanchayat in Sangamner Taluka of Ahmednagar District- Benke, Suvarna Ashok, The study finds that due to reservation for women in local governments under the provisions of 73 rd constitutional Amendment Act, a new set of women representatives have come into Grampanchayat. Reservation has created a space for women’s needs within the structural framework of politics and legitimized women issues. But this affirmative action of reservation has not been successful in ensuring “Proper and effective representation” of women in Panchayats.

It has been noticed that the elected Women representatives are treated ‘as puppet’ in the local bodies. The majority of them stays as silent audience in the events of the Gram Panchayat meetings and seldom takes part in the deliberations. They hardly express their own views relating to identifying beneficiaries, assigning contracts, locating development projects, budget preparation, planning etc. Just sitting and listening to the deliberations in meetings has been their style of involvement. The reasons that distress the route of women empowerment and participation are identified as lack of awareness, experience, knowledge, skill, leadership quality, low level of education, lack of exposure, influence of family, caste, social outlook, patriarch etc.

2. A study by Gadpale, Smita (2014), Exploring Challenges and Issues Faced by Women Councilors in Urban Local Bodies in Thane District, Maharashtra. As per the officials’ opinion very high number of women candidates, about 90%, act as puppets in hand of their family members. In short very few are working independently. At the same time officials also stated that there are lots of expectations from Women Councilors as they only can bring change in the form of non-corrupt, clean and participative governance.

The officials said that Women Councilors are raising meaningful questions in the meetings in respect of issues mainly related to basic services- water supply, electricity, road construction, small repairs in wards, sanitation, collection of garbage, health services to women and children, education to children, issues pertaining to women and children. However, they hesitate to raise question with respect of an incidents of corruption and unauthorized construction. In such situations they mostly follow their political party’s stand and never express their opinion.

In Interview with Women Councilors, the study found that most of them are in the process of learning and understanding the municipal functioning. They have accepted the fact that their learning period is longer than that of any male councilor. This is because they are facing challenges in accessing all types of information, lack of experience and confidence. Besides, family responsibilities, time pressure, always burdened with 'no stigma on her character' they also face pressures from within the political parties. Very few are able to work independently or get supportive environment in the family. Women councilor have shared that they are not directly involved in processing the tenders and dealing with contractors.

In interview with Political Party officials it was found that reservation for women in municipal bodies is not in their priority agenda. Some political party representatives of Thane City expressed that party officials are always providing opportunities to capable candidates irrespective of gender. Still it has been observed that only few Women Councilors have been able to get entry into critical, higher positions in municipal committees like standing committee, transportation committees and planning committee. 50% reservation for women in ULBs is definitely putting challenge in front of all the political parties.

Problems, obstacles and challenges Family 'Responsibilities' and 'Support' Support from Municipal Administration Support from party members and colleagues including male councilors Lack of experience and knowledge Time and Place of meetings Interference from family members Control of resources

Conclusions Although the constitution guaranteed the equal rights for women, the reality is that they are not seen as equal. The case studies reveal that patriarchal society enforces rules and laws in such way that has detrimental effect on self-confidence of women, limit their access on resources and information, restrict their freedom of movement in the public place and thus keep them in a lower status than men. If numbers are indicative of progress, Maharashtra does not seem to fare badly in respect of women’s representation in panchayats. The 50 per cent reservation has been largely successful in this State.

As quantity itself is a quality the introduction of direct election to the reserved seats at local levels is undoubtedly a breakthrough. In no other way could these women in large numbers have moved in to these institutions and participated in them. Though improvements are clearly visible but still there is a gender imbalance that prevents elected women members to influence decisions. Low literacy levels, absence of education and limited or no exposure lead to a lack of confidence. As a result, women at local levels are unable to comprehend the true spirit of political decentralization and recognize the opportunities that it provides.

Policy Recommendations Due to socio-political and religious bindings, elected women are not able to live up to the expectation. To ensure a meaningful participation of the elected women members as an essential step to empower them, the following policy suggestions may be taken into consideration:

There should be unbiased distribution of work among the men and women members so that participation of women members is ensured in all type of functions. Opportunities for education, health care and employment should be expanded and there should be motivational programs to create greater awareness about improving the status of women. Specific programs should be undertaken by the government and non-government organizations to create realization about the benefits of women’s full participation in decision making in their empowerment. Women should be given various opportunities and support for leadership training in order to take up political and leadership positions. There is urgent need to undertake research on women’s participation in politics, their voting behavior, consciousness and participation in the political parties. Finally, measures to increase the quantity of women representatives need to be accompanied by measures to improve the quality of participation.

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