Priyanka Saurabh
In India, the proportion of women in the Lok Sabha has increased from 10.6% in 2009 to 11.4% in 2014 and 14.4% in 2019. This is the highest number of women in Parliament in the country’s history. However, despite showing steady growth, the proportion of females is still not impressive and remains very low. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Global Ranking of Women’s Parliamentary Representation, India ranks 143rd in 2020, behind Asian counterparts such as Pakistan (106), Bangladesh (98), an Nepal (43).For the empowerment of women, the government has arranged for women’s reservation in the posts of people’s representatives who are continuously elected from among the public. Through the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, one-third of the seats in Panchayats were reserved for women. Many states increased the number of reserved seats to fifty percent. Its objective was to empower women and ensure their participation in the political process and decision-making at the grassroots level. However, due to the poor socio-economic status of women and the prevailing patriarchal setup, women could not get the full benefits of leadership at the panchayat level. Political power and decision-making are exercised by the husbands of the elected women representatives and this phenomenon is known as Sarpanch Pati.
The sarpanch’s husband attends the meetings and the female sarpanch is kept imprisoned in a veil. As long as the veil remains, women cannot move forward. Many such cases have come to the fore in which it has been told that the Sarpanch’s husband interferes in all the work of Gram Panchayat, as well as he has been accused of indecency. The law has given rights to women. When the law gives rights to women, they should also get the opportunity of political leadership. They should move forward in social and economic work as well as in political work. Reservation of seats in Panchayats was a revolutionary step for the empowerment of women.Patriarchy is one of the reasons why underrepresentation is still there today, women though have power but they do not feel it because decisions are influenced by male partners or other family members. This is very much visible in Panchayati in the form of the creation of Sarpanchpati. Lack of political education affects the social mobility of women. Formal education imparted in educational institutions creates leadership opportunities and imparts the skills required for leadership. Due to a lack of understanding of politics, they are not aware of their basic and political rights.Women in a work-life culture are more confined behind walls, thus ensuring domestic tasks such as child-rearing. This affects his political career. Lack of resources Lack of economic resources is the biggest obstacle preventing one from participating in politics and public life. Women do not get enough financial support from political parties to contest elections. Overall the environment of political parties is also not favorable for women, they have to fight hard to make a place in the party and face multi-faceted issues. Violence in politics is increasing. A significant increase in criminalization, corruption, and insecurity has pushed women out of the political arena. Germany, New Zealand, and Taiwan were some of the countries that effectively controlled the pandemic rapidly when it came to women’s participation in politics. The common thing among them is that all are ruled by women as heads of state. Even in the United States, states with female governors outnumbered their male counterparts. Women legislators or heads of state are perceived to be more woman-centric. Can be seen in the Indian Panchayati system where women heads have focused more on issues like public toilets, self-help groups, domestic violence, etc.
The rate at which women accumulate wealth in the office is 10 percentage points less per year than men. These findings coincide with experimental evidence that women are more judgmental, risk-averse, and less likely to engage in criminal and other risky behaviors than men. It found that male and female politicians are equally likely to negotiate federal projects for road construction in their constituencies. However, women are more likely to oversee the completion of these projects. Example: The share of incomplete road projects is 22 percentage points lower in constituencies headed by women. Male legislators are almost three times more likely to have pending criminal charges against them when they stand for election.
Women should have equal rights with men in political, social, economic, and cultural fields. Even though the constitution guarantees equal rights to women in all spheres, sociocultural factors need to be adapted to the modern ethos of equality. Institutions of governance like courts, police, administrative bodies, etc. should focus on gender equality. The zipper system is a practice followed in countries such as Rwanda where every third seat in the party is reserved for women.
Such changes can be adopted for better results. Providing education and equal health access to all walks of life can empower women to participate in politics and the public sphere. Both education and health are important for women’s participation. Despite women’s legal rights in ancestral property, women are denied property rights and thus lack economic resources. There is a need to reinforce to society and women their property rights.
The long-standing prejudices against women need to be eradicated through concerted social campaigns with the help of social awareness campaigns, educational institutions, media, religious leaders, celebrities, political leaders, etc. We certainly don’t want to wait for 135 years as per the Global Gender Report 2021 to bring about equality between men and women. Women’s participation has been going on for centuries and considering the dire circumstances we are in, these are crude steps, therefore, there is an urgent need for policies that can ensure better reforms.
But the sarpanch husband system has made women stand where they were before. For this, the government should control the sarpanch husband practice through an effective law. In terms of governance, further additional work is needed on capacity building. There is a need to raise awareness in society about women’s rights and sensitize Naukar Shahi about the importance of women’s participation at the panchayat level.
