INTRODUCTION:

Participation has long been acknowledged as the central theme of democratic governance, where citizens enjoy the right to participate in governance. Political participation in a democracy has a wider connotation, which ranges from popular participation in electing representatives to the actual participation of representatives in the process of governance. Gender differences were observed with regard to raising in politics and public life in India has been abysmally low.

There is a huge gap between men and women in political activities beyond voting. Entrenched patriarchal system and mindset, rigid caste divide and rampant caste discrimination in the rural society, massive female illiteracy and female dependence on male have ensured that, by and large, the real levers of power are still in the hands of males.

Participation of tribal women at the higher level is lower in comparison their participation at the lower level of governance structure. In the domestic arena leadership and managerial skills of women are silently recognized however, they are not given space in the public arena. While other marginalized communities such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes got reservations in the Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies, no reservation for women was given in the Constitution of India in the beginning which restricted their political empowerment.

The United Nations (UN) adopted Convention on the Political Rights of Women in 1952. UN has organized four World Conferences on Women. Fourth was held in Beijing in 1995 and it declared that women’s equal participation in decision making is not only a demand for simple justice or democracy but can also be seen as a necessary condition for women’s interests to be taken into account. It also affirmed that women should have at least a 30% share of decision making positions.

IMPACT OF 73^rd CONSTITUIONAL AMENDMENT:

The constitution 73^rd Amendment Act, 1992 can be described as an epoch-making event in the history of democratic decentralisation in the country, which provided for 33 percent of reservation for women in Panchayat and urban local bodies. These amendments, as the strategy of affirmative action served as major breakthrough towards ensuring women’s equal access and increased participation in political power structures. The most significant and salient features of the 73 Amendment Act is the provision of reservation of l/3^rd of seats for women in all the 3-tiers of rural local governance system. It lays down in Article 243D (3) that not less than one third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat shall be reserved for women and that such seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat.

The Constitutional amendment further lays down in Article 243-D (1) that seats shall be reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in every Panchayat and Article 243-D (2) states that not less than one third of the total number of the seats reserved under clause (1) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes women would be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a Panchayat. Article 243-D (4) provides that the office of the Chairperson in the Panchayats at the village or any other level shall also be reserved for, women and such reservation shall not be less than one-third of the total number of offices of Chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level. The offices so reserved at the level of the Chairperson would also be allotted by rotation to different Panchayats at each level. Besides, where there are no women Chairpersons at all 3-tiers of Panchayati Raj system, the post of Vice-Chairman shall be reserved for women at all levels of rural local governance. After this constitutional amendment, a large number of women have been elected to the PRIs as a result of the mandatory reservation provisions. The reservation provision under the Constitutional 73^rd Amendment Act, 1992 made to ensure that women play a major role in rural local self-governance system. It also provided women an opportunity to demonstrate their potential and to prove their capability as partners in the process of rural development by participating with their male counterparts.

CONSTRAINTS FACED BY TRIBAL WOMEN:

Patriarchy:

Tribal women have not been able to utilize effectively their constitutional opportunity due to private, social and institutional reasons. They are suppressed and disadvantaged by patriarchal social system, social and cultural prejudices, financial dependence, lack of media support and exposure to political processes, limited training opportunities, insufficiency of funds from government for development work, No work is initiated without bribe, low level of knowledge in respect of PRIs and development programmes and child care duty and by the criminalization of politics. Elected tribal women representives often faces the issue of patriarchy system. Many tribal elected women continue to work as a rubber stamp for their family members and also at times as proxies of rural elites. Their male co-workers show insensitivity and refuse to cooperate. Burden of household responsibilities, purdah (veil) system and domestic violence negatively affect their functioning. The most crucial obstacle in the way of real political empowerment of tribal women through Panchayati Raj occurs at the stage of the filing of the nomination for candidature itself.

Two Child Norm:

In rural areas women hardly have any say in the number of children in the family and such laws restrict their entry into Panchayats. Another major impediment on the way of elected tribal woman is the 'two-child normthat has been made a criterion for contesting elections in many a state like Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Rural India has a high fertility rate and children are borne early. Hence due to such norm it becomes extremely difficult for women to enter the PRIs and even when they enter they are mostly confined to household responsibilities letting the male members of her family (mostly husband) run the office for her.

Encroachment and Non-Payment of Taxes/Fees:

Elected representatives in general and especially tribal elected women face resistance from community if they want to remove encroachment from Panchayat land/properties. Many a times they are subjected to violence from powerful elements of the society. Violence has also come to dominate the PRI elections in many states thus making participation of women more difficult.

Ineffective participation of tribal women:

The tribal women realized that the guarantees provided by the constitution do not ensure them effective participation and political equality as well as their due place in the political process. Hence they wanted to gain entry into political institutions and in the functioning of the state, and to share control over the political power for the fulfilment of their ambition. Their participation in political and social decision-making processes in abysmally low. They have no knowledge of importance in the formulation of social norms, political and legal rules and regulations, which control their lives. Women entered into politics due to mandatory provision of reservation. Most of the women are from non-political background and entered into politics due to persuasion by their family members or pressure from the village community. The women representatives are ignored and they are invariably influenced by family members.

Lack of Financial Power:

Effective devolution is so uneven and inadequate that oftentimes, even the most able tribal women are crippled for want of the rightful allocation of functions, finances and functionaries without which effective Panchayati Raj is rendered impossible. Grants from Finance Commission play an important role in the implementation of schemes by Panchayats.

Non-Cooperation of Bureaucracy:

As the Panchayati raj institutions are used as implementing agency, so the bureaucrats feel that they are the bosses and the first timer leaders are there to obey them. In a nut shell, men support women in Panchayats so long as women do not challenge them to fulfill the 'practical needs'. Further bureaucracy is not been cooperating to empowering the tribal women representives. They are feeling more superior than the women elected representative of the Panchayat. The bureaucratic apathy is one of the serious bottlenecks in the smooth functioning of the Panchayat raj system.

Economic dependence:

Economic dependence plays a crucial role in changing the perception of women about themselves and adds to their self-confidence. A case in point is the participants of various Self-help Groups (SHGs) where their say in family matters increased when they started to earn from the SHG"s business. The hitherto mentioned data about marginal participation of women in election funding processes also points a finger towards their economic dependence. This situation hampers the participation in two ways. Firstly, it becomes easier to place a dependent candidate as a proxy. And secondly, the voices and opinions of the dependent women from households are neglected during the Gram Sabhas and their husband's or relation's opinions are taken as their opinions as well.

Non- Involvement of Development Decisions:

Among those who expressed priorities for the beneficiaries oriented development activities only small proportion of tribal women involved in decision making on such activities. More of tribe men are involved than women leaders in the 'development decision making in Panchayats.

VARIOUS INITIATIVES:

Ashok Mehtha Committee:

At a later stage, the Ashok Mehta Committee has tried to strengthen the system of Panchayati Raj. It suggested two tier structures in place of three-tier structure. They were seen as political institutions with a goal to ensure local self-government. However, its concept and its scheme of restructuring failed to create any impact. The Committee also suggested for a Committee of women to be set up within Panchayats to operate specific programmes for women.

Balwant Rai Mehta Committee (1956):

A Committee was appointed under the Chairmanship of Shri Balwantrai Mehta to study people's participation and involvement at the grassroots levels. It was to take into account of the existing conditions in different parts of the country to consider the functioning of the Community Development Programme during the First Five Year Plan and to make recommendations in the light of its past functioning. It was to suggest a uniform system of Panchayati Raj throughout the country. The committee recommended a three-tier system of rural administration.

Dantawala Committee and Hanunantha Rao Committee:

The Working Group on Block Level planning headed by M.L. Dantwala (1977) and the Working Group on District Planning headed by C.H, Hanumantha Rao (1983) suggested that decentralized planning should be done at the district level. They recommended various changes necessary to make the district planning process more effective. They also suggested some changes in the institutional arrangements and planning methodology. These suggestions provided a solid basis for recasting and revamping Panchayati Raj Institutions.

73^rd Constitutional Amendment:

The 73^rd Amendment is considered landmark in the evolution of democratic decentralization in India. This Amendment was implemented in all the States of Indian union, through conformity legislations by 1994.This Amendment not only accorded constitutional status but also sought to make the PRIs as institutions of self-government by empowering them to make and implement the plans for economic development and social justice pertaining to 29 items listed in 11th Schedule of Constitution of India which are to be devolved on PRIs by the State Legislatures.

The Pesa Act:

‘PESA is a incomparable legislation, often described as a Constitution within the Constitution, which attempt to bring together in a single frame two totally different worlds - the simple system of tribal communities governed by their respective customs and traditions, and the formal system of the State governed exclusively by laws.’

The National Perspective Plan:

The National Perspective Plan (1988) for women dwelt on the question of political participation of women at the grass-roots democratic institutions. The core group set up by the Government of India pointed out that political power and access to position of decision making and authority are critical prerequisites for women's equality in the process of nation building.

CONCLUSION:

To sum up, reservation for women in PRIs provided by 73rd CAA and subsequent increase in the quota by States have brought an unprecedented huge number of women in governance arena in India. Tribal women’s political empowerment of such magnitude is among the best in the world. A quarter century has passed since the abovementioned Act came into force and in most of the States fourth or fifth generation of Panchayats are in place. Women leadership in Panchayats which started with a shaky beginning has definite signals of getting well established and recognised. However, EWRs have still not been able to realise their full potential as they face many challenges including patriarchy, inadequate capacities and self-confidence, rotation of terms etc. Government of India and State governments are making sincere efforts to strengthen EWRs through various initiatives of capacity building, promoting network of EWRs, SHGs-PRI convergence etc. Much more is desired to be done to further strengthen the hands of EWRs in future.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. The tribal women must challenge the existing uneven such as rigid restrictions and the rigid role differentiations based on gender, and must be alert of their self rights and responsibilities , powers and duties in the framework of Panchayati Raj.

2. The government need to provide safety to women candidates from criminals and anti parties during and after elections, till they are in office.

3. The gram sabhas must be fully intricate in the plan formulation, implementation, guiding and evaluation of the developing works to be undertaken by the gram Panchayats.

4. There should be increased emphasis on ensuring the participation of women in the leadership qualities and confidence so that they can perform in a better way.

5. Women’s collectives like SHGs and sanghas should focus for encouraging, helping and motivating the women’s involvement within the Panchayats both as a candidate and as an aware citizen.

REFERENCES:

1. Buch, Nirmala, 1996, Panchayati Raj in MP after 73rd Amendment, Mahila Chetna Manch, Bhopal. (mimeo).

2. Datta, Bisakha (ed.) 1997: And who will make the Chapatis? A Study of All Women Panchayats in Maharashtra.

3. Government of India: 1958 Proceedings of the 4th meeting of the Central Council of Local Self Government New Delhi 1958 Para 9.1. Pages 48 and 162.

4. Panda, S. (1996). “Empowering Pattern of Leadership among Rural Women in Orissa”, Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 42.No. 3-4.

5. Bharti, Dr.I.J. (2011). “50% Reservation of Women in Panchayats: A Step towards Gender Equality”, Orissa

6. Rajput P (2001), Women’s Political Participation in India: An Agenda for Empowerment, in Promilla Kapur “Empowering the Indian Women” Publications Division, Government of India, New Delhi, pp. 226-

7. High Level Committee on Status of Women (2015), Report on the Status of Women in India, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Govt. of India, New Delhi. P.34

8. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (2010), Study on EWRs in Panchayati Raj Institutions, Govt. of India, New Delhi.

Received on 01.10.2022 Modified on 10.11.2022

Asian Journal of Management. 2023;14(1):15-18.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5763.2023.00004