Of women, politics and panchayats

Nirantar is a Dehli-based resource group that actively provides inputs to NGOs in the field. Drawing on its experience of working with women panchayat (local government) members in Banda district, Uttar Pradesh, India, this paper explores what motivates women to stand for panchayat elections and why it is difficult for them to enter the panchayat system and effectively participate in it. The paper also takes a critical look at the widespread belief that the reservation of seats in panchayat bodies for women candidates has not really empowered them. Women, it is thought, are predominantly puppets in the hands of men and vested interests, with little agency of their own. There is a need to view the issue afresh, for less visible signs of change bear testimony to the potential of women in panchayats - slow, cumulative political experience can add up to greater gender equity in politics. Reservations have forced both men and women to accept the 'political' as a credible, valid, and contested space for women. Efforts to help women function better must, furthermore, take cognisance of the limitations of the system they must operate. The approach must be multi-pronged - working with women, working with the community so as to make it more democratically oriented, and working towards changing the system.