The 73rd amendment has definitely facilitated the empowerment of women in the decentralized governance. Women are functioning more or less on the same level as their male counterparts. In spite of the deeply rooted patriarchic values there is support from the family, from the development functionaries and their colleagues. As noticed in the study their priorities differ to that of their male colleagues. Their concern is education, health, sanitation and drinking water. This position as the head of the Local Self Government is acting as an effective ladder for higher strata in the social hierarchy. Though role-conflict may not be denied, the mahila pradhans are not facing any special problems in their functioning as women. Thus undoubtedly the positive discrimination for women has provided one such base for women to usher in to development. Let we take some cases of the women who set an examples for the other women leaders.

Pushpa Devi, an illiterate, low caste woman from a backward village in Uttar Pradesh, overcame insurmountable odds to become sarpanch (head of village council) and command the grudging respect of the villagers. As the sarpanch, she ensured that the benefits of government schemes went to the needy. She encouraged the participation of Dalit (lower caste) women at Gram Sabha meetings and pushed for transparency and accountability in the functioning of the panchayat. Similarly, Bhagwan Devi from Bihar broke the shackles of illiteracy and oppression to spearhead a movement against alcoholism in her village and its resultant violence against women. Her joy, however, was tempered by the fear that her illiteracy made her vulnerable to manipulation, so at the first opportunity she underwent a workshop for panchayat leaders. Here she learnt all about the different development programmes which would help the village.

Meenakshi Chauhan is the sarpanch of Meghraj village in Sabarkantha district (Gujarat). She undertook the challenge of dealing with the acute drinking water shortage in her village. "If you all support me, we may be able to do something about it," she told in village meeting. Kunwar Bai of gram panchayat Khairi, block Kaunch in Jalaun established a Panchayat Soochna Kendra (Panchayat information centre) in the village, which is enlightening the village people about their rights.

If we came in south part of India, Ashwatthamma Narayana Reddy and M Munirathnamma are pictures in contrast. The former is from a dominant caste and a well-off family while the latter is a Dalit with a strip of land as a bare means of sustenance. Under Ashwatthamma's leadership, the annual earnings of Chandapur gram panchayat in Anekal taluk, Bangalore Urban, grew from Rs 4,998 to over Rs 11 lakh. She constructed a library, a primary health centre and anganawadis in all the six villages within the GP limits. Her efforts won her the `Outstanding Woman Panchayat Leader' award. In the neighbouring Attibele GP, Munirathnamma, a Dalit activist, was elected from a woman general ward. She has got the panchayat sink a borewell, eight drinking water taps. Under various schemes, she got two houses allotted to her constituents, one of them is Muslim. P Baby Balakrishnan was elected president of the Madikai gram panchayat in Kasaragod district at the age of 21. She went on to become an MLA and is now a member of parliament.

Take the case of Anita Ramu Dhangada, a tribal from Thane district in Maharashtra, who was sold as a bonded labourer to a rich local landlord. She was freed through the intervention of a local non-government organisation, the Shramjeevi Sangathana, which encouraged her to stand for panchayat elections. Anita not only went on to win the elections, but also is now working to free bonded labourers in her region. Geeta Rahore of the Jamonia Talab gram panchayat in Sehore in Madhya Pradesh has for the last decade been at the forefront in promoting education, organising health campaigns and mobilising women to fight a slew of evils including alcoholism, child marriage, domestic violence and gambling.

South Tripura has a nine-member gram panchayat led by Tulabati Debbarma. Of these, five are tribal women and four are members of scheduled castes (SCs). Better known are West Bengal’s 21 all-women panchayats. The women were elected to power in 1993 and subsequently re-elected in 1998. Their first task was to end illiteracy; their second, to ensure that all the villages in their jurisdiction were provided drinking water through wells and tubewells.

Nandu Devi, pradhan of the Rai Mangra panchayat in Rajasthan, pointed out how male panches tried to take advantage of her illiteracy by asking her to sign all kinds of strange documents. Now, before signing any document, she make a neutral person read out its contents. Durga Devi from Sarbari village in Rajasthan’s Sikar district belongs to the Mehtar community, and she refused to give up her job as a sweeper. She works as a sweeper in the morning, and her afternoons are devoted to carrying out her duties as sarpanch. Her first job, on being elected, was to ensure that every child in the village was enrolled in school. You can’t get better than that.

Some women panches in Punjab have made great progress. Rajinder Kaur, a sarpanch in Begowal in Ludhiana district, has helped set up a state-of-the-art dispensary, modern schools and a milk producers’ co-operative. She operates out of an air-conditioned panchayat ghar and in 1996 her village was judged the best village in Asia.

Maina Devi of Dhulkot village Panchayat has been chosen to serve her second consecutive term as a Pradhan. Maina Devi managed to contribute electricity and roads towards village development. She has decided to take on the all-powerful land mafia in the village. Sarla Devi, Pradhan of the Prithvipur Gram Panchayat, also disapproves of the existing state of affairs. She condemns the method that the previous Pradhans had been adopting to access development funds. When Sarla Devi made legitimate efforts to acquire the funds earmarked for her Panchayat, she was refused access to them. She could not bring herself to compromise or engage in corrupt practices like offering liquor and money as a bribe for releasing funds.

Lokendra Singh Kot