Empowering women in politics: Article by Pamela Philipose

Pamela Philipose, Women are from Mars, Hindustan Times, September 16, 2009

The story of Fatima Bi — an illiterate woman from Andhra Pradesh who found herself married at 14 and went on to transform the face of her small village as its ‘sarpanch’ — is often told. The United Nations Development Programme recognised her achievements by bestowing upon her its Race Against Poverty award for the Asia-Pacific region.

If it were not for the 73rd amendment of 1993, which mandated that there be 33 per cent reservations for women in local government, the commitment of a woman like Fatima Bi would have been lost on her community. According to a study by the Panchayati Raj Ministry, in August 2008, of the 27.8 lakh panchayat representatives, around 10.41 lakh were women. About 80 per cent of them did not have a political background.

Today, the movement has reached another milestone. The government has increased the percentage of reservations for women at the panchayati raj level to 50 per cent. It’s a formal recognition of women’s equal representation in the public space and a validation of their good work. We will now have two million women leaders at the local level, with the number of women at chairman-level rising from the present 80,000 to 120,000.

But numerical representation alone is an insufficient condition for women’s political participation at the grassroots. It needs to be accompanied by at least three major changes. The first involves the creation of a public sphere that enhances women’s participation. Political philosopher Martha Nussbaum, in an essay on gender and governance, made the prescient observation that effective political participation would require “material and institutional empowerment”. Laws and customs must be such that “a woman really can go out and participate, her efforts to participate will not be thwarted by unequal, legal, or financial, or physical obstacles”.

The second change deals with the nature of the intervention itself. It’s known that the devolution that panchayati raj was supposed to have ushered in has proved largely elusive. It’s because panchayats are still seen as only the implementers of schemes and programmes designed either by the central or state governments.

The reality is that financial and administrative powers are still controlled by the higher tiers of government and mostly by men. In fact, of the 29 subjects the panchayats are responsible for under the Eleventh Schedule, only a few have actually devolved to the panchayats.

At the village level, the Eleventh Schedule expects the panchayats to list out the felt needs of the village, prioritise local needs on the basis of available resources and prepare plans. At the Block level, they should aggregate all village plans, among other responsibilities. At the district level, they have to consolidate all Block plans, estimate costs and prepare final plans to be presented before the district planning committee.

Subjects that come under the purview of panchayats include measures as far-reaching  as land reforms and important sectors like minor irrigation, education, roads and bridges, rural electrification etc. But in reality, the sphere of influence of panchayats — especially those headed by women — has been consciously narrowed.

Experts like Bidyut Mohanty from the Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi, believe that women panchayat leaders should be given complete control over all 29 subjects under the Eleventh Schedule. This would, in turn, demand a third important change: Capacity and awareness building. Today, many women sarpanchs and pradhans don’t realise their real powers. Even if they do, they remain ignorant about how to exercise them. If women leaders at the grassroots are to fulfil their constitutional role, this area of darkness must be addressed.

Unless numbers translate into actual participation equality in numerical representation would remain a hollow thing.

Pamela Philipose is Director, Women’s Feature Service

Increased reservation for women in Panchayats

Quota for women in panchayats to be raised to 50%, Times News Network, Times of India, August 28, 2009.

NEW DELHI: The country seems set to have an army of women politicians. UPA-2 may have failed to deliver on its promise of 33% reservation for women in legislatures within 100 days but it has kept its word on empowerment at the grassroots with the Union Cabinet on Thursday clearing a proposal to increase reservation for women to 50% in panchayats. The proposal, reported by TOI earlier, aims to amend Article 243D of the Constitution that currently provides for 33% reservation for women in panchayats. This is proposed to be increased to 50%. The “women only” seats in panchayats are rotated. States where 50% women’s quota is already in force has boosted their status. In Bihar, it has seen the spouses of women heads of panchayats styling themselves as `mukhiyapatis’ in a sybolic yet significant role reversal. Panchayats are expected to serve as nurseries for women leaders, preparing them for tasks they may have to shoulder in case the addiction for politics endures. It was during Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as PM that the idea of decentralising power and empowering women at the grassroots was mooted. The one-third reservation for women in panchayats came through the 73rd constitutional amendment during PV Narasimha Rao’s tenure as PM. The move will at one stroke boost the number of women politicians at the grassroots as the experience of Bihar — the first state to reserve half of the panchayat seats for women — shows — making the a dministration more gender-sensitive. Taking the lead in women empowerment, five states — Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — already have 50% reservation for women as states have the power to bring in amendments in their state laws to increase women’s representation up to 50%. Rajasthan has also announced 50% reservation that will be implemented in the next panchayat election in early 2010. Kerala, too, has announced 50% reservation for women in panchayats and other local bodies. In Uttarakhand, women have an overwhelming 55% representation in panchayats as many of them contested even from non-reserved seats and won. But the state works through the UP Panchayat Act and is yet to have its own law. With the proposed constitutional amendment, the number of elected women’s representatives at the grassroot l evel is expected to rise to more than 14 lakh. At present, women account for 36.87% of the total 28.1 lakh elected panchayat representatives. I&B minister Ambika Soni said after the Union Cabinet meeting that a proposal to have 50% quota for women in urban local bodies is likely to be taken up later. Panchayati raj minister CP Joshi called Thursday’s decision as historic saying it would take empowerment of women to another level. All India Democratic Women Association general secretary Sudha Sundararaman said, “This will facilitate increased participation of women in decision making and strenghten the d emocratic process. But this measure must be followed up with the passage of the women’s reservation Bill in Parliament.”