Panchayati Raj Panel To Empower Elected Women To Scrap 'Sarpanch Pati' Concept

It is not hidden that politics at the village level still runs in the hands of males despite women getting elected. The women elected representatives (ERs) in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) are usually treated as dummies or proxies by their husbands or male relatives. Now the ground-level facts have reached a higher level. A parliamentary panel in its report called for a focus on empowering women ER in Panchayati raj institutions (PRIs).

The parliamentary standing committee on rural development and Panchayati Raj consisting of 31 members and chaired by Lok Sabha MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi suggested training and capacity building to curb the idea of ‘Sarpanch Pati’ or ‘Pradhan Pati’. The committee in the report on demands for grants for 2023-24 for the ministry of Panchayati raj called for a focus on women’s training under the Rastriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. The report was presented in Parliament in the budget session in its observations and recommendations called for The committee also thinks despite having provisions for the reservation of women in PRIs, the women ERs at the panchayat level need to be strengthened. Besides, there is a need for financial empowerment of women to facilitate them in taking independent decisions.

Panchayati Raj Report On Women Representatives

The report stated- To curb prevalent concepts like sarpanch/pradhan pati (husband of woman Sarpanch) in Panchayati Raj Institutions, the committee strongly recommends that the ministry should take concerted efforts for increasing capacity building and training of women representatives of PRIs so that they can function independently without influence and help of others.

The committee for execution suggested a reservation for women ERs in all capacity-building programmes. The ministry also stated that so far over 15. 1 lakh ERs, panchayat functionaries, and other stakeholders had been trained for the financial year 2022-23. It also spoke about a special thrust on institutionalising Mahila Sabhas and Bal Sabhas. On the election front, a government report titled ‘Women and Men in India 2022’ exhibits that the Panchayati Raj ministry had over 31. 8 lakh elected representatives, nearly 46% (over 14. 5 lahks) were women.

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