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For the last 45 years, independent India kept experimenting with the issue of rural development. In the process, many institutions and approaches were designed by the National or State level political leadership and implemented by the bureaucracy. However, 1992 was a landmark year, which granted Constitutional Status to the local self-governments through 73rd Amendment. Now, the country is politico-legally committed to empower rural governance and usher in prosperity & growth for the country, as a whole.
The objective of institutionalizing Panchayati Raj was to promote people’s participation in the developmental process, which could not be brought about through ‘centralized polity’ or ‘bureaucratic arrangements’. One of the most revolutionary contribution was reservation of 30% elected seats for women including the posts of Panchayat Adhyaksha/Upadhyakshas.
Dependence Syndrome
Women elected representatives feel that they were unable to fulfill the aspirations of their constituents as there are hardly enough funds to meet their needs. As a result, they feel ‘subordinated’ rather than self-reliant or empowered. Although States like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka have made serious attempts to decentralise, yet it is a distant reality in most other States. The Elected Women Representatives (EWRs), however, have realized that self help is the best help. They have started taking up development issues vociferously in Panchayat meetings as well as in Gram Sabhas. They go and meet the Block/District functionaries for mitigating the problems of their village.
Lack of Support Systems
The members complained that neither the bureaucracy nor the politicians at higher levels pay any heed to their grievances. This has depleted their self-confidence as well as trust in the system of governance.
It is heartening to note that many EWRs had developed links with a plethora of NGOs and voluntary organizations, which play a catalytic role in mobilizing the elected representatives into cohesive groups with a mission approach. If more than one NGO worked in a village panchayat, it ensures that individual biases and village level factionalism are counter- balanced. If there were no NGOs, then women Self Help Groups (SHGs) have organized themselves as pressure groups to lobby for their cause. The media has also come to their rescue in a big way.
United Efforts
The report of Deptt. Of Rural Development states that Gram Sabhas conducted by women have better people’s participation. Individual efforts are likely to be doused by the dominant group having vested interests. Women members have given a tough time to the miscreants, when they have united themselves and have a whole lot of village women to back them up.
The SHG movement has been a role model for EWRs to realize their true potential. For example, the Andhra Self Help Groups running credit societies have not only raised family incomes through micro credit but also taken up the social causes, e.g. enforcement of prohibition among rural men by putting up a unified front.
Training in Planning Functions
Women members feel that the funds given to PRIs are too meager when compared to a list of 29 subjects of governance handed over to them. Besides, works keep happening in their village without their knowledge or consent. They do not know about the existing government schemes and how to avail them for their people. On the contrary, the women empowered under the schemes of Government of India such as Swashakti & Swayamsidha have received intensive training on planning, accounting, budgeting and even government schemes through a process of convergence. Such women have displayed their strength by not only initiating individual enterprises but also taking up of Social Infrastructure creation using group funds and government grants. Today women have built anganwadi or day care centers and even shops for sale of groups products. They have used their savings for improving the health & education standards of the family besides providing alternative means of income.
Linking Social with Economic Empowerment
Members feel that people do not participate in government programmes unless any economic benefit is derived out of the activity. As a result, PRIs exist for only those privileged few who have been ‘selected’ as beneficiaries of the government schemes, as others are isolated and alienated from the process of governance. Women members have, therefore, tried to organize more and more women into SHGs.
The dynamics of Self Help Groups is such that women not only avail interloans but also derive tremendous social strength out of economic growth & development. It is a matter of pride that women SHGs have not only proved their credibility in terms of cent-percent repayment, but also established themselves as a catalyst for women’s empowerment in both social & economic terms. The social mobilization of women which has resulted from Central Government programmes like SWASHAKTI, SWAYAMSIDHA, RASHTRIYA MAHILA KOSH, NABARD etc. along with State Government’s innovative scheme in this area, has presented a powerful tool for the Planners. Here lies the key to economic development. It would not be an exaggeration to say that women, through SHGs and elected platforms, have shown the way to men. One empowered woman means one empowered family, one empowered village, one empowered society!
Today, when we are talking about the Women Reservation Bill in the Parliament, we need to take a look at the outcome of Panchayati Raj reservations for women. The fact remains that a silent revolution is brewing in the countryside. It only needs a nourishing environment, which cannot just be ensured through legislation alone. The administrative system and political mindset needs a proportionate re-orientation. But without waiting for either of these, the women through Awareness Generation Programmes, skill and capacity building can fight all the socio-economic constraints, hitherto impoverishing Rural India.
The business of empowerment of people needs to be given a serious thought and not just a legal (lip) service. If a special drive is undertaken to train and mobilize these women for joining the Self Help Group Movement, not only the Panchayati Raj Institutions would work more efficiently and effectively, the people would own up development of self and village as an ongoing process. The steps involved in this process are information and awareness generation, followed by group formation on economically sound & socially strong foundations. The guiding spirit would be – ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE. It is only in the form of groups that women can feel secure and strong to take on the evils of mal-administration, malnutrition, poverty, illiteracy etc. Besides, economic or financial power drawn out of their savings, credit linkage or income generating activities cannot only make them self-reliant but also present a sole model for the village as a whole.
*Director, Department of Women & Child Development
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