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PANCHAYATI RAJ
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SINGAMMA SREENIVASAN FOUNDATION

PILOT INNOVATIVE SAMPLE HOUSEHOLD SURVEY FOR GENDER AUDIT
H. H. Serial No.
I I I 1
District:
(Enter code) |

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15

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II. TIME USE QUESTIONNAIRE
(To be filled in for each member of the household aged 5 years and above)

1. Name
.......................................
3. Age in years (code in two digits).

2. Line No. of hh member in HRF...

4. Sex (Male-1, Female-2)
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Slots
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(D

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To

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(4)

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No-2

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(7)

(8)

Code

(@)
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(10)

19
26

285
292

Col. (I): 4-5 a.m. -1, 5-6 a.m. -2, 6-7 a.m. -3............. 3-4a.tn.-24
Col. (3) and col. (4) give starting time and ending time respectively of one hour interval.
@ Activity codes enclosed.
Col. (10): Paid/Payable in cash -1, Paid/Payable in kind - 2, Unpaid - 3, Others (not payable - e.g., sleeping, eating) - 9

Type of Day : WEEKLY VARIANT

6. Particulars of Activities..........^,,,
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@ Activity codes enclosed.
Col. (10): Paid/Payable in cash -1, Paid/Payable in kind - 2, Unpaid - 3, Others (not payable - e.g., sleeping, eating) - 9

Signature and name of the Supervisor
Date :

Signature and name of the Investigator
Date :

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.

Karnataka Women's Information and Resource Centre
an activity of the Singanuna Sreenivasan Foundation
Tharanga’, 10th Cross, Raj Mahal Vilas Extension, Bangalore-560 080.
Tel : 91-80-334 0928 • Fax : 91-80-346 1762
E-Mail : ssfb@giasbg01 .vsnl.net.in

24 April 2000.

Tkt-twA, AJdvowW

(G, -

*

Dear Sir/ Madam,
We hope you have received the Report we mailed you, on the 20th March
Consultation that you attended. Please telephone us, if it has not reached you.

We would like to reconvene the same group on May 3rd
at 10.00 a.m.
at Tharanaga,
so that we may
1.
Hear your comments on the Report, your ideas for action.
2.
Report to you progress we have made since then (Report of two
committees + Tumkur conference).
3.
Also to receive from you the format we gave you to fill (ie which
locales are you working with women).

We also have a meeting in Tumkur on May 2nd (formal invitation attached). If
you are able to join us for that also we would be very happy.

We will have buses from Tharanga and will take care of all expenses you incur
getting here.
Since time is short we would be grateful if you could phone us immediately
regarding your acceptance both for May 3rd, in Bangalore and May 2nd in Tumkur.
With all good wishes.

Yours Sincerely,

Karnataka Women's Information and Resource Centre
an activity of the Singanima Sreenivasan Foundation

Tharanga', 10th Cross, Raj Mahal Vilas Extension, Bangalore-560 080.
Tel : 91-80-334 0928 • Fax : 91-80-346 1762
E-Mail : ssfb@giasbg01 .vsnl.net.in

21 &

Dear Sir/ Madam:

As part of our interest in Strengthening Women’s Participation in District Level
Governance, in 1999 we conducted an innovative pilot methodological household survey for
gender audit in two districts of Karnataka, namely, Bangalore (urban) and Tumkur. In order to
disseminate the findings of the survey and to modify/simplify (if necessary) the proformae used
for the survey, we are organising in collaboration with the Zilla Parishad, a district level
Conference in Tumkur on the 2nd May 2000 from 9-30 am to 4 p.m. The venue of the Conference
is ZP meeting hall, Tumkur.
The Conference will be attended by women Zilla Parishad and Grama Sabha members
and State level and District level officers, representatives of NGOs and research organisations.
We would seek their opinion on the tool of gender audit as well as their advice on its adaptation
and link it to the national data collection systems.
We would also elicit response and participation by the EWR’s present on the idea of
associating themselves, as a group.
We would deeply appreciate your participation in this endeavour. We would arrange
transportation from Bangalore for those who are coming from Bangalore. Lunch will be served at
Tumkur. Kindly let us know your availability and requirements.
On May 3rd, the following day we wish to have a retrospective meeting, following
through the ideas and actions coming out of the 20lh March consultation. We request you to
participate in that meeting also and confirm your availability to

Savitha or Rajeswari at 3340929 or 3462492 or Fax 346 1762
so that we may make appropriate arrangements.

With all good wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Al.|

Karnataka Women 's Information and Resource Centre
an activity of the Singanima Sreenivasan Foundation

'Tharanga', 10th Cross, Raj Mahal Vilas Extension, Bangalore-560 080.
Tel : 91-80-334 0928 • Fax : 91-80-346 1762
E-Mail: ssfb@giasbg01 .vsnl.net.in
o I 0 .&

fDDD

I'M

JArnM/4^

Dear

N lbw <ti

bfr. •

We thank you very much for attending the one day consultations with Karnataka
based Organisations on Associating Elected Women Representatives in Panchayat Raj
Institutes held on 20lh March 2000 at Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation, Bangalore and
providing your suggestions which was of great value to us.

Please find enclosed a copy of the proceedings. We thank you once again and
look forward for your kind co-operation in the near future.

Best Regards.

f-:l

.

Suman Kolhar
Programme Coordinator, KWIRC

The discussions held in the one-day interaction at Bangalore on
20lh March 1999 marked the following parameters /or an effective
programme intervention in women and their participation in
panchayati raj.
It emphasised the need for a new kind ofpolitical consciousness in elected women
representatives. One that would liberate them from existing straitjackets of identity
politics on the one hand and, on the other, from current male-defined models of
power. Thus women should come together on a broad, gender based platform of
solidarity. This would effectively bring gender into governance and so lead to good
-

-

-

-

governance.
It was the consensus that in looking at women, in reaching out to them, the first
priority should be the poor and the marginalised.
We have to go far beyond the physical entity of reservation of seats for women.

Reservations are necessary but not a sufficient condition.
Women arrive at their own priorities in local governance. These priorities deserve to
be given a high value because it shows women’s (especially poor women’s) interest
in sustainability, in social infrastructure, in equity, in good governance. Poor
women’s situation very often questions the existing paradigms of development.
These questions and these long range perspectives should be valorised.
In tandem with the above point, we need to evolve new yardsticks in order to build
alternatives, whether it is political philosophy, or networks or evaluator criteria.
The programme needs to build in accountability. The accountability of elected
women representatives to constituencies of the poor, the oppressed and the
marginalised women. These links should continue to be strong throughout. This is a
validating, supporting and empowering process for the EWR’s. It harmonizes
individual and collective leadership.
The programme needs to recognise women's multiple identities in the political
processes and should address all of them - women as voters, supporters, candidates,
resource persons, defeated candidates, former candidates, family members, members
of networks, members of gram sabhas, etc.
A sustained gender perspective has to be ensured throughout the programme,
otherwise the EWR’s will find that the burdens and the pressures of day to day
working in local government will dissipate the focus away to ‘bread and butter’ or
‘potboiling’ issues away from ‘transformational’ strategies.
One of the negative features of the present system is its lack of transparency and the
difficulties which the women experience in getting information timely. Instruments
such as the roster and the no confidence motion are used against women in the
absence of full information and knowledge. The right to information should be taken
up as a crusade in the programme.

-

The isolate which women suffer from as a feature of their gender identity should be
addressed, again, through the collective mode of functioning. Women like to
exchange their experiences through forums and networks, it lessens their feeling of
helplessness and vulnerability. Their relating to other women across caste and class
helps in the construction of solidarity in the programme. Collectivities should be a

prominent feature of any programme intervention. These networks or forums should
be built up and strengthened slowly, nurtured by the women at their own pace and
not hurried through.
Backlash against women’s entry into political activities in local government has to be
safeguarded against. The insistence on literacy, on the two child norm, on the
availability of toilets, are all instances of anti-poor, anti-women basis. Women take
themselves very seriously in local governance and these types of defeats demoralise
them. Confidence building measures become a primary concern for any programme
intervention.
There is need to construct feminist theory in India from the experiences of women at
the grass roots in political participation and governance.
The stories of
transformation of individual women through participation in these processes can be
collected and profiled to yield some useful construction of theory. Women’s agony,
their inability to articulate their feelings except through tears, their exposure to
physical violence, all these experiences should be encased when constructing theory
of discourse.

Associating Elected Women Representatives in PRI Institutions.
Proceedings of the meeting held on 20 March 2000.
A one day consultation on associating women in Panchayati Raj Institution was
held in Bangalore on March 20, 2000. Karnataka Women’s Information and Resource
Centre organised the programme in which around 45 people participated. There were
activists, journalists, Government officials and advocates. This consultation was a
prelude to the networking of elected women representatives (EWR’s) in 4 southern states
initiated by KWIRC.

The programme started at ten in the morning. Ms. Suman Kolhar, programme
coordinator, welcomed the gathering and explained the objectives of the programme. Mr.
V.S. Badari and Mr. Parthasarathy offered their felicitations.
Ms. Meera Saxena Secretary Women and Child Development, Government of
Karnataka. She has seen the functioning of the village panchayats when she was working
in the Rural Development Department in the state. She has seen the women sitting
silently, at the back. But she observed that when the matters were discussed which were
of interest to them the women spoke up. She felt that the women basically lacked self
confidence. She felt that training and exposure were the most vital interventions to build
up vyomen’s self confidence and self image. Deputy Commissioners were earlier,
disqualifying elected women members for not attending the panchayat meetings. But it
is a fact that these women are not allowed to attend the meetings. It is not women’s
choice not to attend the meetings. The position is the same in urban bodies, where
recently a legal literacy workshop was held and less than one third of the municipal
councilors attended. Realising the crucial role that access to timely information plays in
women’s political participation, she emphasised the need for transparency in the
panchayti raj programmes and processes, especially those related to the elections.
Revathi Narayan Director Mahila Samakhya, spoke of how the programme was
often confronted with outside perceptions of all the negativities of women’s performance
and participation in panchayati raj, such as ‘women can’t do it’, ‘they don’t have the
capacity’, etc. She spoke of the need for an alternative network, one that will not only
count numbers, but which combines gender and governance. Merely placing the women
in one third of the seats will not mean anything, women could be, and are, very often, coopted into the system. Mahila Samakhya, on the other hand, has strived to become a
supportive network to women, providing sustained solidarity to elected women
representatives. Mahila Samakhya’s emphasis is on poor women and in building their
collectivities. One elected woman representative would have a group or sangha of 30

women to whom she is accountable. The EWR’s keep their links with the group and call
upon their collective energies and talents to help her discharge her duties. The group
guides and briefs her on the important issues which she should take up in the panchayat
meetings. Many sangha women had stood for elections in the post-93 scenario. Many
won and some lost. Revathi stressed the importance of developing yard sticks, so
essential for building an alternative network, as well as an accountability mechanism.
Mahila Samakhya also encourages women to participate in the Gram Sabha meetings and
to interact directly with panchayats. Building up of self confidence in the elected women,
(a point stressed by Ms. Meera Saxena in her remarks), reaching, and maintaining a
critical size for the support network by building up a federation of sanghas, instilling a
gender perspective in all activities and process, encouraging women to participate in all
aspects of the political process-voting, campaigning, standing for elections, supporting
EWRS. Mahila Samakhya is developing and using learner friendly training materilas.
Dr. Revathi Narayanan mentioned that they are running a publication called
Sanchari and are willing to publish news letters regarding our net work.

Rajani from SEARCH, spoke of the institution’s experiences over the last seven
years of working with women at the Gram Panchayat level. The institution identified the
need to break the feelings of isolation that the women suffered from as the first step in
building up self confidence. The institution also realised the need to create a forum or a
space for exchange of experiences by the women, which would also help to build up
their solidarity. The women discovered a similarity of situations and contexts which
made mutual sharing and learning easy. SEARCH helped them to set up a network so
that they could meet together often. The network (which is two years old) started with 27
women which has now increased to 65. It meets once in three months, at different places
for about four days. The pace is slow and gradual, issues taken up are often small and
localised - for example, one GP’s success in tackling the liquor problem inspired the
other GP to do likewise with the help of the network. EWR’s who are defeated
subsequently, still continue with the network activities and membership. Each district
has at least 3-4 members of the network.

Another initiative taken by SEARCH was to hold camps in which potential
women candidates could be screened and identified. About 200 such camps have been
held. SEARCH also plans to cover at least 80% of the women through training
programmes at district, regional and state levels.
Dr. Shanta Mohan from NIAS traced the events which made the institution get
interested in the subject of women in local governance. It happened during the recent
elections when they saw how the women were being marginalised in the electoral
process, through the misuse of the roster, through aggression and violence, etc. The
women who were elected in the earlier two elections were not successful this time. They
were kept back. NIAS now intends to work with men as well as women, with gram
panchayat’s as well as with communities outside, with organisations who were making
interventions in the area, from the pre-election phase to the end of the present term of the
panchayats, as well as in providing training.

She compared what she called the ‘long term’ interests (violence, health,
education) of women with the ‘short term’ goals of men, (infrastructure, buildings) which
appeared more immediate and thus were able to subsume women’s more lasting
perspectives and plans. It is clear that what is ‘effective’ need not be gendered as per
conventional yardsticks. One of the dalit women who had won from a high caste
constituency had raised a question, to whom is she accountable? Her own community
which had supported and encouraged her or the community from where she stood for
election and won only because she was from a particular category?
During the last session of the day, which was chaired by Meera M. She extended
support to Associating initiatives on behalf of ISST, by disseminating relevant
information regarding SSF’s initiatives to network EWRs, through UMA PRACHAR,
which is a known newsletter of ISST.

Ms. Meera intervened to present before the gathering two important points

1.

The emerging scenario as seen during present elections of “unopposed and
unanimous” elections to the GPs and that this number is comparatively very high for
women members.

This trends commands greater understanding in terms of “what exactly is unanimous?
Who did not oppose? Who proposes etc?”
2.

Another point placed by Meera. M was the need to juxtapose the above scenario with
the prevailing power structures within the villages and how much of a deciding factor
it is? And how are women coping and performing their roles as EWRs within the
given conficting power paradigms in rural India. How do we plan to equip them to
perform effectively?

And she felt, solidarity networks/ Association of EWRs could strengthen them more
so in this context.
Asha Ramesh from NIAS, referred to her previous studies on Karnataka and
Gujarat, profiling the elected women. The instrument of the ‘no-confidence motion’ was
harsh on women. The elected women resented the total control exercised over them by
the male panchayat secretary, they preferred a woman to take charge of the office. Asha
presented disturbing statistics from the recent gram panchayat level elections showing
that a large number of women were elected unopposed. As against 54 odd thousand
elections that took place, about 19,000 candidates were elected unopposed. Women
were not very visible in the election campaigns here. It was the men who went round
campaigning, distributing liquor sachets!! Women distributed blouse pieces with betel
nuts. She re-iterated the finding that all women who came this time to the panchayats
were first timers. Women have now realised that they were being controlled, used and
manipulated. They are disillusioned. Women are very earnest and conscientious about
their responsibilities as EWR’s and hence tend to take even a slight set back very

seriously. Echoing most of the other speakers, she dwelt on the need to build up the
confidence of the EWR’s. When she asked the newly elected women about their priority
task, they replied that alcoholism was their first concern. Women were kept away from
information about training programmes. In Karanataka there are lots of training
programmes but most of the women are not able to take advantage of these opportunities.
Disempowering strategies were also being proposed by men, such as the insistence that
women who stand for elections should be ‘somewhat’ literate. She said even Deputy
Commissioners were beginning to sing this tune.

NIAS representative said that often.elected male representatives go for short term
agendas which are more tangible in nature like roads or buildings and EWR’s go for
eradicating liquor menace and reaching drinking water facility to the villagers etc. That
means the priorities set by women and men are not the same. There comes the question
of setting the standards for evaluation. Hence there is a vital need for redefining what
good governance is. She observed that in pre-election scenario, post-election scenario,
and in election scenario women are excluded completely. NIAS have plans to work with
both men and women to reset the norms of gender governance in the next five years. A
new letter in Kannada is sent to all EWR’s. There is a need to make it mandatory for
female Secretaries for women Presidents, otherwise Secretaries tend to take superior
roles. Mobility is a problem faced by EWR’s so the training programs should be
conducted closer to the Taluk quarters. Many times EWR’s feel that they are not fairing
well. This is because women take up their work seriously.
Dr. Subha from ISS spoke about the efforts made by the organisation to link up
the elected women from Karnataka with those of Kerala. In spite of initial reservations,
inhibitions and shyness the experiment ended with a sense of great achievement and
solidarity. 2 teams of women from Karanataka went to Kerala. Women who were
elected to the gram panchayat level now are planning to stand for elections at the next
higher levels. They are also conducting research regarding women in gram panchayat.
Dr. Shubha also mentioned that ‘Update’ a newsletter has been published about gram
panchayat in Kannada and English and is willing to contribute their views in connection
to our network in “Update” on appropirate payment basis. She also explained about the
outcome of the exposure trip they conducted to Kottayam in Kerala for a group of
EWR’s. They showed much enthusiasm in learning new things. She said that the little
little things made a big difference to them.

C.P. Sujaya presented her paper, which is still work-in-progress, entitled “Towards a
New Synergy in Political Consciousness. Elected women representatives in Panchayats,
grass roots groups of women, volags and other organisations of civil society”
The paper first presents findings on the performance and participants of women in
local governance arrived at in various reviews and evaluations. Then if dwells on the
interventions of local ngo’s which have helped the elected women to broaden and deepen
their social action agendas and the relationship between the elected women and the
volags. The next part of the paper presents some details of existing networks of elected
representatives in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. She then

went on to describe the growth of grass roots groups and other similar collectivities under
varying situations and their contributions to the advancement of women’s collective
strength. Finally an attempt is made to explore the possibility of a more meaningful
partnership between different types of women’s organisations and collectives and how
this can be used to further the political agenda of women in governance through the
panchayati raj system.
The findings presented by Sujava included the following:Elected women are keenly aware of the constrains in their working environment.
But they also feel that they would be able to function much better if these external
constraints are removed.’
Women from the dalit and other marginalised groups suffer from special problems
which need to be addressed with strategies of collective strength.
Women face tremendous physical, mental and psychological violence and abuse in
their life as elected representatives in the panchayats.
- Women EWR’s priorities livelihood and everyday struggles, outside interventions
create new spaces for action and though.
- There are many examples of how local action groups have inspired EWR’s and local
women to take up issues of environment and sustainability. An example from
Maharashtra is of village women able to access their property through the efforts of a
campaign for women’s rights. Another example from the same state is the action
initiated by two gram panchayat’s to recycle organic wastes on their own, under the
tutelage of local volags. This led to a paradigm shift in the priorities of the largely
male dominated panchayats who were earlier interested in construction and
infrastructure. The Rights to Information campaign of MKSS led to panchayat
campaigns fought on shoes string budgets and ethical principles, with manifestoes
reflecting equity based proposals.
- Existing networks of elected representatives in the northern states as well as Andhra
Pradesh have been set up by elected male representatives, though they have created
spaces for women. Their main agenda seems to be advocacy and lobbying for
increased powers to panchayats. More information is needed on these networks.
- The number of women’s groups, collectives, user associations, mahila mandals etc.
has grown exponentially in the last two or three decades. Many of them have come
up in response to new Government-guided strategies of women’s development and
planning (as for example, DWCRA, RMK, etc.) Many have been set up with greater
autonomy on women’s part but still linked to Government programmes such as
Mahila Samakhya, WDP, etc. Self help groups, more recently, are being set up in
large numbers to involve women in a variety of activities, credit being the main
activity.
Most of these groups have discovered the flexibility to experiment with different
inputs and broaden their working. Even the ICDS has been able to use the
anganwadi as the trigger for forming “anganwadi self help groups” as in Karanataka,
which are being funded by the State Women’s Development Corporation. Many
Mahila Mandals are not longer status-quo entities but have been yoked to radical and
activist platforms by volags such as CINI, SUTRA, etc. The panchayats in general

and EWR’s in particular, should interact with these collectives so that decentralised
planning is becomes both ‘effective’ and ‘gendered’.
There was also some disquiet regarding the parallel lines of functioning in the rural
areas by many organisations, which directly affected the jurisdiction and autonomy
of local government.

-

Sujaya also summed up the presentations and interactions that took place in the morning
sessions.

Issues raised during the discussions

Some of the important issues that came during the discussions on the
presentations are recounted here Deepa Dhanraj brought out the dangers inherent in the
elected women vacating the political space at the grass roots, in their search for a new
individuality that is sought to be far removed from the corruption of identity politics of
caste and class variety. The questions that was being thrown up then, is whether women
can carve out a new political ethos, or in other words, can women use the panchayats to
transform the present politics of confrontation, violence, money use and exploitation of
voters through a new feminist political personality? Aleyamma Vijayan pointed out the
examples coming into prominence in Kerala where the party structure is so strong that it
inhibited women from political self expression. Examples were also quoted of apolitical
women whose growing awareness and conscientisation were seen as threats to keep them
out of elections. To what extent women will use the existing power structures, alliances
and processes was also debated.
Commitments made by the participants at the conclusion of the meeting.

-

-

-

-

It is to be noted whether these EWR’s are able to make a political constituency of
their own.
Now ‘not making money’ is out in the open for discussions. The newly elected
representatives say that they won’t do the same ‘mistake’ as their predecessors did of
not making money.
Control of political parties in Panchayat elections are strong now than earlier.
Women should also be able to ‘use’ or utilise the political parties.
Residency is an issue which comes up during elections. One Dalit women was
picked up and made to stand for election in a non-dalit area and she won the election.
She wonders whom she represent in the Panchayat. Her own people or the people
who made her won the election. So it should be made mandatory that only those
belonging to a particular ward should contest from that particular ward. Like it is for
the MLS’s and MPs’s.
There should be something like ‘mobile training teams’ which does vertical as. well
as horizontal integration programs. For this we can make strong EWR’s as key
resource persons.
Should be able to link press with the'activities so that the success stories of women
get influenced.
Remuneration of EWR’s presently given is quite less. It should be increased.

-

-

The notion of good leader is redefined now.
Women facing common problems have a tendency to bond together across various
divisions.
Just by putting 33.3% of women in Panchayats can’t ensure gender governance.
Women are facing problems during elections as they are deprived of their rights and
are not in a position to take shelter under the existing law. Hence it is a must that
training should be provided to these women to assert their rights.

Dr. Devaki Jain who chaired the session held that she sees the need of the network of
women representatives as of two reasons, the reservation policy and of component plan
that is executed in places like Kerala.

Sujaya presented a paper afterwards based on her observation on elected women
representatives.

Later in the evening Mr. V.S. Badari and Ms. Ahalya Bhat explained about the
concepts of gender audit and the Report brought out by this Foundation on
"Strengthening Women’s participation in District Level Governance through Gender
Audit” based on the pilot survey funded by GEF (CIDA). The study was conducted to
develop intelligible Gender Audits at the district level and to demonstrate how the data
can be obtained from a survey that is simple enough to be collected periodically by
district agencies. Bangalore urban and Tumkur districts were selected for the survey and
on a sample basis 2500 households in each district was canvassed through a well
designed questionnaire. The final set of indicators recommended by the Department of
Women and Child Development, Government of India, and some of the indicators
suggested in the Conference held at the Foundation were included. Besides the Focus
Group Discussions were conducted separately for male and female respondents on major
issues such as owning assets, violence, harassment linkage, decision making, mobility
etc. The survey covered the data on sex ratio, work participation, ownership of assets,
time spent on economic activities, literacy, sterilization, savings, violence, harassment,
decision making etc. including the data on women’s well being. The data was presented
through a projector with relevant explanations by Mr. Badari.
Based on the data collected through the survey and also using the secondary data
the indicators used in the computation of GDI and GEM using the UNDP methodology
was demonstrated through the projector by Mrs. Ahalya Bhat. She also mentioned that
the two measures focussed on the inequality between male and female.
The findings and the experience of the household survey including focus group
discussion reveal that it is possible to conduct sample household surveys for this kind of
meangingful data preferably by simplifying the questionnaire.

At the fag end of the day, it was the time to draw up conclusion. Ms. Suman Kolhar
and Ms. Meera requested the participants how they could help to form the network of
EWR’s in Karnataka. On the basis of the opinion of the participants, it was decided to
form committees on two aspects - training and documentation in order to support the
networking programmes.

In the end Ms. Suman Kolhar, Programme Co-ordinator proposed a vote of thanks to
one and all.

List of the Participants
Who attended the meeting
Name and Address
1. Ms. Meera Saxena
Secretary
Women and Child Development
Bangalore.

Phone No.s

2. Dr. N. Shivanna
Institute of Social And Economic Changes
Nagarbavi
Bangalore - 560 072.

3355468/3355519

3. Ms. Ammu Joseph
ST Bed Layout
Koramangala
Bangalore - 560 034.

5521831

4. Dr. Thelma Narayan
Co-Ordinator
Community Health Cell
Srinivasa Nilaya
Jakkasandra 1S1 Main
Koramangala 1st Block
Bangalore - 560 034.

5531581/5525372

5. Dr. Revathi Narayan
Mahila Samakya Karnataka
1st Cross, 2nd Main
HAL III Stage
Bangalore - 560 075.

5277471/5262988
Fx:5297765

6. Ms. Meera
Associate Director
ISST, 6lh Floor
Manipal Centre
Banglore.

5583701
Fx:5583704

7. Ms. Deepa Dhanraj
No. 268, 3rd Main
5th Cross, Koramangala
Sarjapura Road
Bangalore - 560 034.

5534964

8.

Dr. ShubaK.
Institute of Social Sciences
Flat No. 203,11 Floor
Nishant Manor Apartments
8th Main Road, 9* Cross
Malleshwaram
Bangalore - 560 003.

3315017

9.

Ms. Sarita Rai
Journalist (Indian Express)
Defence Colony
Indira Nagar, GG Hospital
5th Main Road, 4th Cross
Bangalore.

2866893 (off)
5282283(Res)

10. Ms. Rajani
SEARCH
6th Main, 4th Block-Jayanagar
Bangalore - 560 Oil.

6344226/6635361
Fx: 6635361

11. Dr. N. Shanta Mohan
WOPRA Unit
National Institute Of Advanced Studies
IIS Campus,
Bangalore-560 012.

3346594

12. Ms. Asha Ramesh
GSU Unit
NIAS
IIS Campus
Bangalore - 560 012.

3346594

13. Dr. Anuradha Prasad
Swiss Development Co-operation
Lavelle Road
Bangalore.

2243763

14. Ms. Chitra Balakrishnan
Human Rights Activist
Bangalore.

6639107

15. Dr. Sangeetha Purushothaman
Best Practice Foundation
Bangalore

5545347/5368319

16. Ms. Hemalatha Mahishi
Legal Activist
Bangalore.

3347114

17. Mr. Vimalanathan
New Entity For Social Action
Bangalore.

5369310 (Res)

18. Ms. Mangala
Journalist
Deccan Herald
M.G. Road
Bangalore - 560 001.

5588999
Fx: 5587675

19. Ms. Alyamma Vijayan
Programme Co-ordinator
SAKHI
T.C. 27/2323
Trivandrum -1.
Kerala

0471-462251

20. Ms. Lakshmi Krishnamurthy
3C, SPL Habitat
138 Gangadhara Chetty Road
Bangalore - 560 042.

5599601

21. Ms. Hasnath Mansoor
46, Belinton Street
Richmond Town
Bangalore-25

2211109

22. Ms. Shobha Bhavikatti
Advocate
Bangalore

3226161

23. Ms. Veena Jadav
Advocate
No. 23, 5th'B’Cross
16th Main, M.H.C.S.
B.T.M. Layout
Bangalore.

2867042

24.

Ms. C.P. Sujaya
New Delhi

25.

Dr. K.S. Krishnaswamy
Retd. Deputy Governor
RBI
Bombay

26.

Ms. Renuka Viswanathan, IAS

27.

Ms. Armaithy Desai
Former Chairman
U.G.C.

28.

Ms. Vasantha
NESA

29.

Ms. Deepa Vasant Kumar
1SST,
Bangalore.

30.

Mr. Venkatramana A.
Janodaya (Branch Office)
Public Trust
Devanahalli

31.

Ms. Susheela
Janodaya (Branch Office)
Public Trust
Devanahalli.

32.

Mr. Veena S. Kumar
Hengasara Hakkina Sangha
Jayanagar,
Bangalore.

33.

Ms. Sandhya J.
Sakhi,
T.C. 27/2323
Convent Road
Trivandrum - 1.

34.

Mr. Charles Geigev
SDC
Bangalore.

6429401

35. Mr. V.S. Badari
Hon. Director
Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation
•Tharanga’ 10th Cross,
RMV Extension
Banglaore - 560 080.

3340928
Fx: 3461762

36. Ms. Suman Kolhar
Programme Co-Ordinator
Residence
At Post Tikota
Bijapur District
Office
Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation
•Tharanga’ 10l11 Cross,
RMV Extension
Banglaore - 560 080.

08352-31539 (Res)

3340928
Fx:3461762

37. Ms. Ahalya Bhat
Consultant
Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation
‘Tharanga’ 10Ih Cross,
RMV Extension
Banglaore - 560 080.

3340928
Fx:3461762

38. Dr. Devaki Jain
Trustee
Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation
‘Tharanga’ 10lh Cross,
RMV Extension
Banglaore - 560 080.

3462492/3344113
Fx:3461762

WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE
EXPERIENCE IN ANDHRA PRADESH
A paper presented at the seminar organised by the Institute of Social Studies Tnist
Bangalore on Women in Local Governance: Experiences and Effective Strategies in
fcevftlo. , Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra
1st and 2nd of June, 2000

P. Manikyamba
Department of Political ScienceUniversity of Hyderabad
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

The revitalization stage of Panchayati Raj , which had set in the late 70s ,
brought about several structural and functional changes in the system. One significant
change is the passing of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment in 1993 which provided
for reservation of not less than one third of seats and chair-positions to women in the
Panchayati Raj bodies . The amendment, which could be regarded as one of the
important achievements of the Indian Women’s Movement, created high hopes among
all those concerned about the increased and active involvement of women in grass
roots politics, especially in decision-making. The expectation is that reservations to
women could facilitate ‘bigger and better share’ to them in the whole process, ‘infuse
democratic way of functioning’ in local government, help for decline in corruption
and provide a space for women in the male dominated political sphere. Reservations
are also considered to be responsible for offsetting and unsetting the status quo and
for beginning the process of bringing out ‘simple women’ in the task of governance.

This paper would focus on the pattern of recruitment and performance of
women members and chair-persons in Panchayati Raj institutions in Andhra Pradesh;
experience of the writer in awareness generation, information dissemination and
training of women in general and elected women members in particular; identification
of future trends and the strategies for the political empowerment of rural women.
EXPERIENCE : Andhra Pradesh is one of the few states to introduce the system of
Panchayati Raj as early as 1959. The component of the present three tier system are
Zilla Parishads , Mandal Parishads and Gram Panchayats. The Mandal Parishads are
smaller units than the former Panchayat Samithis and the Mandal Parishads are
organised with the objective of ‘going nearer to the door steps of the rural public’.
Andhra Pradesh is the first state to provide early in 1986 reservation of chair positions to women in Panchayati Raj bodies. The Andhra Pradesh Mandala Praja
Parishads, Zilla Praja Parishads and Zilla Pranalika Abrivruddhi Sameeksha Mandals
Act, 1986 provided reservation of 9 % of the total number of offices of chairman of
Zilla Praja Parishads and Prsidents of Mandala Praja Parishads to womel This Act is
important in that it ensured representation to women in key positions. The state is
implementing the provisions of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment and one
generation of women members and chair persons have completed their term.

Seven years have passed since the passing of the Constitutional Amendment
and it is appropriate to take stock of the experiences to plan for the future. The male
dominated social setting, including the political has been strongly against the sharing
of power by men and women. In a large number of cases, caste, familial or social
nearness to the presidents of panchayat bodies have been given greatest importance
in the recruitment process.
Hence the quality of membership got heavily
compromised in the first two decades of the implementation of the system of
Panchayati Raj in general. Significant variations between the attendance in records
and actual attendance were present. While the above had been the general trend, some
women, though very few in number, had made real contributions. They moved
resolutions and participated in deliberations and decisions. Women in key positions
with interest-and talent could play considerably important roles in decision- making.
Sitamahalakshmi, who sewed as Sarpanch of Mukkamala Gram Panchayat in early
sixties was a very active and promising woman and her Sarpanchship provided a
source of inspiration to other women. Sl}e had several achievements to her credit, but
was later forced to surrender her office. Threats, deadlocks, challenges, non­
cooperation by officials and traditional objections- all have had their impact on the
forced surrender of the office by this woman5 During the period when 9% reservation
of chair-positions was in operation, two women became Zilla Parishad persidents and
1C1 women served as presidents ofMandal Parishads. Of the 101 women Presidents
of Mandal Parishads, 3 got elected to positions unreserved for women. These figures
indicate a quantitative increase in respect of women’s position in leadership roles and
this was because of reservations. Selection of capable women must have led to
qualitative improvement. It is needless to say that all sorts of manipulations have had
their play in the choice of women candidates. But micro level studies made very clear
that a new and young women’s leadership had emerged. This is a sign of
revitalization in the context of women’s participation in the Panchayati Raj bodies. In
a study conducted by the writer in 1989, it was found that not a negligible percentage
of women (12%) contested for and assumed leadership roles. It is personal interest
•and initiative, that had contributed to their decision to contest. Familial connections
continued to have influence on recruitment but the impact was less than what it was in
the 60s and 70s. Thirty two percent of the women elected as presidents, though
nominally inducted, performed effective roles with the help of family members and in
some cases with the very active cooperation of husbands. Twenty eight percent of
the women presidents were endowed with the ability to perform independent roles5
Ganta Deenamma, former president of Yelamanchili Mandal Parishad West
Godavari District, Subbalakshmi, former president of Undi Mandal Parishad in West
Godavari District, Nagamani, former president of Bashirabad Mandal in Ranga Reddi
District, Mallela Gouri, former president of Bikkavolu Mandal Parishad in East
Godavari District, Parvati, former president of Anaparty Mandal Parshad in East
Godavari District, Nalini Ram, former president of Kuppam Mandal Parishad in
Chittore District, Amudavalli, former president of Pichatur Mandal Parishad in
Chittore District, Gandu Savitramma, former president, Kesamudram Mandal
Parishad in Warangal District and presently, member, State Commission for Women,
Andhra Pradesh, Subhadramma, former president of Jammalamadugu Mandal
Parishad in Cuddapa District are among the efficient women who served as chair­
persons at the middle level institutions. Mrinalini, former president, Srikakulam Zilla
Parishad, Rajeswari, former president of West Godavari Zilla Parishad, Geeta, former
president of East Godavari Zilla Parishad have been successful women presidents at

the district level institutions. Very recently, Geeta has been elected to Rajya
Sabha.The role of nominal performers was over shadowed
by the officials or
husbands thereby, defeating the purpose of reservation.
POST AMENDMENT SCENARIO: The post amendment phase proved beyond
doubt that the women in Panchayati Raj moved from peripheral to leadership roles. In
fact young and new women’s leadership has increased which is made clear by field
investigations in Andhra Pradesh. Several success stories have also come to lime
light. A few examples could be given here. Karuna who had completed her term
very recently contested and won a general seat in Chimvenla Mandal of Nalgonda
District and later got elected as Mandal President , which position was reserved to
Scheduled Caste women. This young woman’s experience has been one of struggle
and confrontation with officials, party leadership and the government at higher level.
Cutting across several barriers , she could get benefits to her Mandal , concentrating
on problems of drinking water, irrigation and education. She successfully fought
against misappropriation, erring officials and a manipulated no-confidence motion.
She carried the struggle with remarkable confidence and succeeded both in protecting
her dignity and promoting democratic values.

Srinivasa kumari, Sarpanch, Tadepalli village in Guntur District worked in a
totally different atmosphere. This committed young woman has been a very efficient
persuader, problem slover, and administrator. With a planned and phased programme,
she repaid the loan left by her predecessor and mobilized funds for development
works. Her focus has been on education, irrigation and other amenities to the
villagers. She strongly feels that women are honest and could provide good politics.
She said that women concentrate more on meeting the needs than on power, but for
men power occupies top priority.8
In her recent field trip on 9th, 10th and 11th of April 2000, the writer
interviewed women presidents of 14 Mandals in the East Godavari District of Andhra
Pradesh. A high proportion of these women are young, educated and are new entrants
in respect of political involvement. Six of them have a very clear perception of their
role and six have a reasonably good view. This is really an encouraging trend. An
improvement in the quality of membership and an increase in the number of interested
women are clearly visible. Of the remaining two women, one is ignorant and the
other has a very limited perception of her role. Male domination in the case of three
women and male interference in the performance of seven women were noticed. The
remaining four women presidents have been independently performing their roles. As
regards educational levels, two are graduates, two had education up to intermediate
level , eight have secondary level education and those with elementary educational
qualifications are two.

Kamidi Sitamahalakshmi of Karapa, Alamanda Vijayalakshmi of Tuni,
Pechetti Vijayalakshmi of Ainavilli, Busi Jayalakshmi of Kothapeta and Sridevi of
Mummidivaram are important among the Mandal presidents who have successfully
completed their term very recently. Extensive interviews with these women revealed
that commitment, honesty, service orientation and dedication are their cardinal virtues
. Twenty eight year old Sita Mahalakshmi said “ I have accepted the position not for
the sake of status and power but to serve people. I strongly feel that development does
not come all of a sudden, but takes place in stages ”. “ Am I not competent to contest?

is the question that every women is now posing to herself ”, said Vijayalakshmi of
Tuni Mandal. Within a short period of assuming office, this woman picked up
courage and feels that there is a lot to be done for women by women. Thirty five
years old Pechetti Vijayalakshmi , emphasizing on the need for women’s
participation in the political process and for purposeful implementation of reservation
told the writer that with increasing awareness , women are definitely going to be
active in the political process. “ I have the satisfaction that I performed my duties to
the best of my capacity^ and my work is recognized in each of the villages in my
Mandal”, she concluded. Sridevi of Mummidivaram faced tough opposition from the
local party leadership for being honest and committed. But her courage and the
support of colleagues as well as public enabled her to successfully fight against four
no-confidence motions. Busi Jayalakshmi, the wife of a staunch TDP party worker in
Kothapeta has shown concern for the development of her Mandal and a special
concern for promoting the interests of Scheduled Castes . She regularly conducted
Gram Sabhas and earned reputation as a powerful mobilizer of public support.
Pointing out that women’s presence makes a difference, she said that the kind of
politics men and women play would be markedly different. “For women, respect and
reputation are important, but men prefer conflicts and money making”, she added.
She is interested in contesting a second time and emphatically said" 1 had established
positive influence on the people, and am confident that they would support me. I was
always and am available to the people. Whenever they called, I went to help them
and cooperated with them. 1 worked for equitable and fair distribution of favours and
resources whether it be pensions for old aged or other benefits. The identification of
needy people is done in Gram Sabhas. The women members of the Mandal and other
women also have worked without party considerations and are making the best use of
the available opportunities” she said.

Fatimabee, former Sarpanch of Kalva village, Orvakal Mandal, Kurnool
District received the best Sarpanch award of the state government for her exemplary
work in improving the conditions of her village. She also received the Fight Against
Poverty Award sponsored by the United Nations organizations. This 39 years old
'tough as steel and soft as silk’ lady was initially hesitant and even terrified to take up
the role of Sarpanch. When interviewed after becoming Sarpanch, she said “ 1 had
never seen a city before, never sat in a room full of men, much less spoken in the
presence of others.” But particiption in orientation programmes brought about
marked changes in her attitude and approach. She gained enormous confidence and
has worked for the development of her village.Behind the success of Fatimabee, are
the concerted and continuous efforts of a voluntary organization called Proddu,
meaning Sun Rise, headed by Sankaramma.
The above would suggest that the Constitutional Amendment has facilitated
the entry of a large number of women in Panchayati Raj bodies and some of the
women have been effective power partners.In places where young and energetic
women assumed chair-positions, special attention is paid to promote income
generating activities to rural women. Sitamahalakshmi of Karapa Mandal motivated a
begging community called Budagajangalu to take up self-employment and engage in
small business. This Mandal president could get the cooperation of the Women
Welfare Department, Nodal Officer and the officials in the collectorate.

The success stories should not lead one to conclude that the outcome of the
amendment has always been positive. Attempts to prevent capable women to enter
the Panchayati Raj institutions have increased.
New preventive dimensions
emerged. These include kidnaps, forced withdrawals, illegal unseating, negative
networking, harassment, subjugation and oppression. In a Mandal close to the capital
of Andhra Pradesh, a woman was nominally placed in the role of president of a
Mandal and functionally, it is the husband who is the president. He went to the extent
of arranging for himself a chair next to that of his wife in her office. He goes through
all the records and puts his initials on the official papers which he desires to be
approved. The woman president, who was taught only to sign, fulfilled the formality
of signing after seeing her husband’s initial. This practice uninterruptedly
continuedfcher. The members of the Mandal, other than the woman Sarpanch, officials
and villagers never questioned the illegality. The Mandal Development Officer, who
should function as the implementer of law allowed the practice to be continued. The
point is, the officials, who should function as change agents, with exceptions, have
become the perpetuators of male dominated political culture. The protectors of law
have become supporters of illegal practices.
One of the unhealthy practices in the state of Andhra Pradesh is the
constitution of All Women Panchayats to suit the needs of men. All Women
Panchayats emerged in states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal,
Tripura. Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. According available sources, there are thirty
All Women Panchayats in India. Maharashtra has the largest number of such
panchayats followed by Andhra Pradesh
tki,

It is well known that ^Committee on the Status of Women felt that one
purposeful way encouraging rural women to enter politics is the constitution of All
Women Panchayats and recommended accordingly. The committee clearly stated that
the proposed statutory women’s panchayats are not meant to be parallel organizations
to Gram Panchayats and that they are recommended as transitional measures to break
through the traditional attitudes in rural society. The committee hoped that the All
Women Panchayats would reduce inhibitions and encourage women to actively
participate in local bodies. Itshould be pointed out that long before the committee’s
recommendations, some All Women Panchayats were experimented with in the state.
In the 70s, Mattupalli village in Kumool District of Andhra Pradesh had an All
Women Panchayat. In Gandhinagaram, a village in Warangal District, an All Women
Panchayat was set up in 1981. The intention behind the formation of this panchayat
was definitely not encouraging women’s participation in decision making. The major
factors contributing to the formation of this panchayat had been caste conflict, gender
conflict and a spirit of compromise in the final analysis. It had merely a superficial
stamp of ‘all women’ and the decisions remained those of the village leaders. In the
period following the implementation of the amendment, Andhra Pradesh had eight All
Women Panchayats. The formation of these bodies was not preceded by real
commitment.

INTERVENTIONS: The writer is closely associated with a few organizations, in the
state, working for awareness generation, information dissemination and training of
women in general and elected women in particular. These associations include
Ankuram, Young Women’s Christian Association and Mahila Rajakiyadhikara
Vedika. She is the Joint Secretary of Mahila Rajakiyadhikara Vedika. The vedika

PH- 5

conducted state level seminars and awareness generation camps in the districts of East
Godavari, Nalgonda, Visakhapatnam, Krishna and Kurnool. The vedika has been
instrumental for the formation of Mahila Ikya vedika (United Women’s Forum)
consisting of women’s wing members of political parties, intellectuals and women’s
groups. The vedika has also successfully conducted awareness generation camps in
the nearby villages of Hydeabad. The members work both in their individual and
collective capacities in the process of campaigning for political empowerment of
women. The forum, which has completed six years of its existence, is awaiting
registration.

The writer is a resource person for the training camps conducted by the Young
Women’s Christian Association, Secunderabad. The training module includes
lectures, discussions, songs, games and role plays. The resource persons participate in
role plays and project both meaningful and ineffective roles, thereby enabling the
participants to choose the type of roles they like. They would be encouraged to
identify problems and find ways and means of solving them. They would also be
asked to play the roles. The songs composed by the resource persons are found to be
useful information and interest generating sources.
A training camp to elected women representatives held at Anantapur in April
2000 by the Centre for Rural Action in collaboration with Ankuram where the writer
participated as a resource person had produced very' satisfactory results. A majority
of the women who attended the camp were unaware of their membership in the Gram
Panchayats. They only remembered that they were asked by village leaders to sign in
some registers. The process of dialogue was used to give them information about the
system, the nature of democratic institutions, rights, need for women’s participation in
Panchayati Raj institutions, the meaning of participation and other related matters.
They had conducted model elections and model panchayats after the training. More
important than these is the formation of Saadhikara Mahila Samakhya, an association
of empowered women representatives.

The efforts made so far are only limited and a lot more has to be done.

FUTURE TRENDS: It is clear from the above that reservations to women opened
up new areas. Women constituted a numerical minority in Panchayati Raj institutions
but now one would be fascinated to see a big list of elected women to these bodies.
The name boards on the front walls of the houses of some of these women definitely
are status symbols. When one enters the houses of these women for interviews, the
hesitance prevailing some twenty years ago is now absent. The researchers are
received with lot of enthusiasm and some women heads of panchayats even told the
writer that the visits of researchers would be a source of inspiration to them. These
women proved beyond doubt that quantitative presence would lead to qualitative
improvement.
Reservations had also opened up new techniques of oppression and
exploitation in the context of women. This is not to say that the techniques are newly
invented. These are not used earlier against women. Even promising women are kept
at a distance from power positions. Despite the growth of preparedness to fight and
assert, women, more importantly dalit women are subjected to several kinds of

manipulations and preventive measures. Women heads of Gram Panchayats are often
told that their only duty is that of signing on papers and nothing else. Some of are
asked to offices to fulfill the formality of signing. The local political leadership or the
dominant male members of the panchayats exercise real power. In essence, it is the
numbers game that the patriarchal society would be interested to play. Women, as
rightly pointed out by Kumud Sharma, need to go beyond the numbers game to
expand their share in political power3Women’s movement should seriously question
this practice and lodge a big protest. Extensive use of media and protest marches
would be useful in this regard.

Experience in Andhra Pradesh and in several other states made clear that the
device of no-confidence motion is frequently used to unseat women, especially young
and assertive women. There are a good number of instances of dalit women being
illegally unseated from their positions. Janaki Bai, a dalit woman who became the
Sarpanch of Harpura village in Karnataka was allowed to continue in office for one
year by the higher caste leadership because, according to the rules, no-confidence
resolution could not be moved in first twelve months of the election. She was
kidnapped on the day of illegal no-confidence vote against her. Her supporters
hoping that there could not be no-confidence vote in the absence of quorum, went on
a pilgrimage. But the pro male and anti dalit officials managed the show without
quorum. She and her husband were beaten up and were freed only after the ‘so
called’ no-confidence vote was passed. A combination of caste and gender politics
and gross violation of rules is very much evident here. As noted, Karuna, former
president of Chimvenla Mandal and Sridevi, former president of Mummidivaram
Mandal faced similar situations. It is necessary that women’s groups should extend
support to such women in challenging illegal acts.
The future of women in Panchayati Raj is going to be one of conflict between
assertion and suppression, the conflict getting intensified especially when young and
capable women enter these bodies. The conflict gets intensified both within and
outside the family. Women’s groups should and are going to give tough fight against
manipulations outside the family. Parties play a prominent role in the selection of
candidates, whether male or female. Conflict between party leadership and women’s
wings are bound to increase. This should be looked at as a positive sign in the process
of accommodation and adjustment. This results in an increase in women’s component
in the decision-making structures of political parties.

Closely related to political power is economic power. Women heads of
panchayats are paying increasing attention for facilitating and promoting rural
women’s economic empowerment. Sitamahalakshmi, president of Karapa Mandal
Parishad said hat “women have picked up confidence and courage through DWCRA
schemes. There is change in their life style. Though the income generating schemes
have not been useful for getting adequate earnings, women are learning the
importance of living on their own, gaining courage and are developing a feeling that
they can stand and work on equal terms with men.” For making men effective partners
in the development process reforms, guaranteeing economic security to women are
essential. Economic empowerment of women is going to be one of the top priority
items on the agenda of women in Panchayati Raj.

Ptl- 7

Skill development is one of the prerequisites for effective role performance. It
is all the more significant in the present context because of the considerable increase
in the number of women representatives in rural local bodies. National and state
institutes like the National Institute of Rural Development, Andhra Pradesh Academy
of Rural Development, Rajiv Gandhi Institute, Tamil Nadu and Institute of Social
Studies Trust, Karnataka and a large number of women’s groups as well as other
groups are engaged in awareness generation,-information dissemination and training.
But there seems to be a pressing need to rethink and to have a fresh look at the
training modules and the items chosen for awareness generation and information
dissemination. The modules identified and efforts put forth so far are varied and
diversified. It is necessary to identify a broad training pattern for the country as a
whole. Necessary modifications could be made depending on local requirements.
Thus it is possible to strike a balance between uniformity and local needs. Awareness
generation could focus on topics like social system, sub-systems, participatory
democracy, government, rights, duties and local governance. Knowledge about
women specific aspects such as women’s status in general and rural women’s status in
particular, women’s empowerment, urban-rural variations could form part of the
awareness generation programme. It is very important to take elected women as
resource persons as no other knowledge could be a real substitute to that gained out of
experience. Training programme could focus on building confidence, promoting
leadership qualities and preparing women for successful role performance.
Networking based on large scale is another pressing need of the time. Women’s
political empowerment should occupy the position of top priority on the agenda of
voluntary organizations committed for the promotion of women’s cause. In addition
to networking of voluntary organizations coordinated efforts of academics, activists,
elected women representatives and women officials could bring about fruitful results.
Successful implementation of beneficiary programmes, depends among other
factors, on the interest evinced by officials. Committed and service oriented women
officials could be of added strength to women in Panchayati Raj bodies. Shashi
Rekha, the Development Officer of Moinabad Mandal in the Ranga Reddy District of
Andhra Pradesh received the best Mandal Development Officer award for her
commendable work. She says that if the officers are correct, everything gets done
well. She has been instrumental for the successful implementation of governmental
schemes meant for women.

Women’s groups and all those concerned about the empowerment of women
should launch a strong protest against the unjust media - print and audio-visual.
Positive roles of women are either relegated to the background or wrongly magnified
roles are projected. Both are unhealthy symptoms for society in general and women in
particular. Therefore careful watch on the media by women’s associations is very
much essential.

Identification of success stories and spread of information relating to these is
necessary to counter the argument that women have not been successfill
representatives. Current research should give priority to this aspect and try to expose
the manipulations that are taking place.

ftl- 9

To make Women’s Movement effective, its urban colour has to change and
should spread to grass roots. To strengthen the role of women in Panchayati should be
the immediate task of all those concerned about grass roots development.

References:

1. Chrissie D’ Costa, Women’s Political Participation and Empowerment, Panchayati
Raj Interactive System, The Foundation for Research in Community Health, Bombay,
Vol.2, No.3, March 1996, p.4.
2.

Ibid p.7.

3. Section 5, sub-section 3, The Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Samithis, Zilla Parishads
and Zilla Pranalika Abhivrudhi Sameeksha Mandals Act, 1986 as amended by Act 3
of 1987.
4. See also Sreeranjani Subba Rao K, Role of Women in Panchayati Raj Institutions:
A Case Study of Visakhapatnam Zilla Parishad, Kasimkota, Ravikantam and
Madugula Mandal Praja Parishads and Six Gram Panchayats, a aper presented at the
IV National Conference of Women’s Studies, Waitair, Andhra Pradesh (unpublished)
1988 and her Project Report (unpublished) on the same topic submitted to ICSSR,
New Delhi.

5. Manikyamba P, Women in Panchayati Raj Structures, Gian Publishing House,
New Delhi, 1988, pp.67-71.
6.

a) Manikyamba P, Women in Panchayati Raj Structures, op. cit. and b) Women
Presiding Officers at the Tertiary Political Levels: Patterns of Induction and
Challenges in performance, Journal of Rural Development, Vol. 9 (6), Nov. 1990,
National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad.

7.

Karuna in her presentation of experiences at the seminar on Women in Panchayati
Raj organised by the Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad
and UNICEF, 29-31, March, 2000.

8.

Srinivasa Kumari, in her presentation of experience at the seminar cited above.

9. Interview dated 9U1 April, 2000 at Vemulawada, Karapa Mandal, East Godavari
District, A.P.

10.

Interview dated 9lh April, 2000 at Tuni, Tuni Mandal, East Godavari District, A.P.

11. Interview dated 10lh April, 2000 at Amalapuram, East Godavari District, A.P.
12. Interview dated 10ll12
‘ April at Ainapuram, Mummidivaram Mandal, East Godavari
District, A.P.

13.

Interview dated 10dl April, 2000 at Kothapeta, East Godavari District, A.P.

14.
(a) Panchayati Raj Update, April, .1997, Institute of Socoal Sciences, New Delhi, •
p.4 (h) Sakuntala Naraimham. Tough as Steel, Soft as Silk: Story of a Woman
Sarparch of Andhra Pradesh, Panchayati Raj Update, December, 1997, pp. 5-6, (c)
Eenadu,Telugu Daily, 21sl September, 1988.
15.
Kurnud Sharma. Tranformative Politics: Dimensions of Women’s Partcipation in
Panchayaii Raj, Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 5:1, .'.998, Sage Publications, NSw
Delhi, p.44.

/°/V-

IO

Part I - Karnataka Panchayati Raj Act and its Implementation
The much awaited but unexpected announcement of the elections was received
with an overwhelming response in the state. But there have been drawbacks.
Following is an outline of some of the drawbacks observed. Invariably, these
drawbacks have affected the less informed and less political individuals.

1.

The period between the announcement of the election and the last date of
nomination was very short. Consequently, women and men, especially
those belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, were unable to gamer
support for their candidature.

2.

The Karnataka Panchayati Raj Act decrees that an aspiring panchayat
member needs to comply with the ‘toilet rule’ which states that an
individual who does not have a latrine facility for his/her family members
will automatically be disqualified. This was contested and the court
allowed for a conditional relaxation of this rule on the February 9, 2000.
However, this date coincided with the last date for filing nominations. In
some cases, the court verdict and the emergency message to the Deputy
Commissioners did not even reach the panchayats in time. As a result many
aspirants were prevented from filing nominations.

3.

Rotation of reserved seats has been detrimental to potential candidates from
the reserved categories, especially women. In other words, though the spirit
behind the principle of rotation is to give representative opportunities to
those constituencies with a lower population of reserved categories, the
manner in which the rotation of seats has been undertaken defeats this
purpose. In actuality, it has in some places resulted in a misrepresentation
of the population in the constituencies. In practice, this has meant that the
candidates selected do not belong to the ‘reserved ward’. Not only did the
local party leaders and community see a ‘unreserved’ seat as a general male
or reserved male seat the officials too use this terminology to legitimise this
false conception. Seats termed ‘General’, ‘OBC’, ‘SC’ and ‘ST’, when not
reserved for women were interpreted as a seat for which only a male
candidate can contest. This was glaringly evident in that, in all the
panchayats, the official letter listing the reservation of seats per ward stated
the reservation for the General Seat as ‘Samanya Purusha’ (a general
male).

4.

It was interesting to note that while few sitting male members could ensure
nominations for this term too, none of the female sitting members was re­
nominated. Repeatedly, it was pointed out that the rotation of reserved

5

seats was the single most important reason behind this. The male members
have managed to retain their nominations by shifting their ‘constituencies’
or contesting as general candidates. For women, the situation is very
different. First, women did not contest on general seats. Second, even in
cases wherein their efficiency as a member has been established in the
previous term, they have been denied a nomination on the grounds of
providing opportunity to other persons.

5.

On an average, most of the wards had three seats to which members are
elected. Also, in a majority of the panchayats, these seats were listed as
follows: a general seat, a reserved OBC seat and in some cases, a scheduled
caste / tribe / woman seat. In the panchayats where the community was
unaware of the ways to circumvent the Act with respect to who should be
contesting for the general male seat, there was an election for all the seats
and even the general male had to contest, as we evidenced in Koppal
district (the cases of Boodhur and Heerur panchayats).

6.

The lack of clarity in categorising caste and community groups has resulted
in the overlapping of categories under which one could contest elections.
There were some communities who were fortunate to be listed under two
categories. For instance, in Koppal district, the Gaanigaru community, a
sub-sect of the Lingayats, was listed as both OBC 2A / OBC 2B. This
. ambivalence eventually lead to the over-representation of these
communities in the panchayats.
Further, there were implementation
problems due to the lack of clarity among the Tehsildars, with respect to
the positioning of caste groups. For instance, in Dotihal Panchayat Parana
Gowda, a person belonging to the Lir.gayat community with the help of an
income certificate could contest under the category of OBC (B). However,
normally Lingayats should contest under the general category.

Part II - Issues Emerging from the Local Dynamics of Panchayats
♦ It was observed that in all the panchayats the percentage of seats reserved
for women was more than the mandatory 33 %.
♦ A large number of the members were unanimously elected across our
sample panchayats.
♦ Also interesting is the fact that in all the sample panchayats, with the
exception of one, a much higher proportion of women members were
elected unanimously. Two questions emerging from this were:
1) Is it a healthy trend for communities to elect members in this
manner?

6

2) Should we be concerned about the higher percentage and see its link
to the uncontested elections for the women seats?
These questions were of deep concern specially when we juxtapose them
against our findings in the first phase of the study, wherein we found that
uncontested candidates tended to be less accountable and less committed to
their constituencies. Further, they failed to develop a constituency of their
own even after the completion of the term.

❖ In spite of this being the third term, most of the women candidates are
political novices. It is noteworthy that irrespective of the developmental
status of the districts, this is one area where there is no inter-district
variation.
❖ Most male candidates too can be classified as politically inexperienced.
However, male candidates have had informal political training. Many of
them have had some kind of experience campaigning for Parliamentary and
State elections. Others have actively participated in the organisation of local
level social and religious functions.
♦ The Karnataka Panchayati Raj Act 1'993 clearly states that the Grama
Panchayats are apolitical units of local governance. Further, it decrees that
the elections to these bodies have to be conducted on a non-party basis.
However, our field level experience proved the contrary. The influence of
national level political parties on the Grama Panchayat elections was visible
at many levels.
->
The contestants showed no hesitation to reveal their party
affiliations. Many of the independent contestants had earlier attempted
to gain party support.

-> In all panchayats, political parties convened meetings at the local
level, soon after the announcement of elections.
—> Invariably meetings were attended by local party leaders and
supporters, who finalised the candidates to be fielded. In fact, many of
the candidates the parties eventually decided to support did not attend
these meetings. This is especially applicable to the women members and
in a few cases to the Scheduled Caste and Tribe male candidates too.
-> In many panchayats, Taluk and Zilla level party leaders and in some
cases even the MLAs also played an active role in finalising the list of
candidates. In this process various strategies were used to force a
substantial number of potential candidates to withdraw their candidature
in favour of party supported persons.

7

Though party symbols were not used, panels of candidates were
formed on party lines. The party sponsored the printing of pamphlets
wherein the names of the party supported candidates were mentioned
ward-wise.
♦ Most of the women got their nominations to contest either due to their
family’s influence or affiliation with political parties. Not only were all the
women contestants put up in reserved seats, often, their nominations were
seen as a reward for the ‘good’ party work that their male family members
rendered over the years. In contrast, the men were nominated for the
following reasons:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

having a close relationship with a local leader
being leaders in their individual capacity
being an articulate member of a particular caste group
a popular organiser at the village level for social and religious
functions
a benevolent landlord

❖ While a comparatively higher number of sitting male members could
ensure nominations for this third term too, there were only two women
sitting members from Udupi district being re-nominated to contest
elections. In fact, we found instances, where women members with proven
•efficiency levels were denied the opportunity to a ticket this time, even
upon requesting one from their parties.


There is a general lack of interest among the women members, especially
those belonging to the reserved categories. This is mainly due to the fact
that they perceive themselves as not having lived up to the expectations of
the community/constituency they represent.



We also observed that several sitting women presidents were not inclined to
recontest. For them, recontesting meant either a choice of losing or being
elected as an ordinary member, which, for them, was a demotion and a
situation that they opted out of.

❖ Another reason for opting out that is often quoted by women members is
the fear of failure and the almost total absence in them of being a political
entity. Many women were unable, to develop their own constituencies,
therefore could not bargain for their candidature on the basis of it. This is
more so in the case of women members who were unanimously elected for
the earlier tenure.

8

♦ Most of the uncontested women candidates of the earlier tenure, though
they were efficient as members, were apprehensive of facing an election.
♦ Though education is often portrayed as the primary hurdle against women
candidates being selected, our field experience does not substantiate this.
There are many cases where women have been selected because they
belong to families that can afford the expenditure of elections and that
allow mobility and can provide escort.
♦ Women’s involvement in the whole pre-election process was very minimal,
almost insignificant.

♦ However, we would like to emphasize that even when the involvement was
very partial and limited, we observed a remarkable change in the levels of
confidence of the women contestants. Many women candidates, who shied
away from being interviewed in the first round of fieldwork i.e.
immediately after the last day of nominations, came forward to share their
experiences in the second round i.e. the day before the election and on the
day of the election.
♦ Generally speaking, the interplay of caste, class and party alliances play a
very important role in both the selection of candidates for particular wards
or villages as well as in the calculations for winnability. There are three
types of arithmetic at work:

caste/community: population of the particular caste/community in a
given ward.
2.
village population : in a given ward, there can be two/ three villages.
So when candidates are being selected from particular villages, it is
the population of the village that determines the winnability.
3.
affiliation to a political party determines winnability.
1.

Based on these calculations, we can understand the factors that determine
the local dynamics of winnability. Caste, village, party and family politics
and combinations of these play a crucial role in the selection of candidates.
♦ Amongst the number of issues that have emerged from the field, we would
like to highlight certain pointers.

We are in a paradoxical situation. In spite of being a non-political
governing body, we see large scale party interference at all stages.
2.
Even in a non-political body, the calculations seem to favour political
personalities.
1.

9


r

b
F
S)

i
k

The simultaneous phenomena of very few sitting members being re­
elected and the large-scale unanimous election of candidates to the
panchayats needs to be juxtaposed against the larger political culture
prevalent in the society, which in fact favours a repeated re-election of
political persons.
4.
Grama panchayats provides the space for formalisation of the informal
system of patronage that has so far been in existence.
5.
We need to re-examine the viability of the prevailing intervention
strategies - in terms of training and the like given that there is a trend in
the above mentioned system of patronage which favours a new set of
clients in each subsequent election.
6.
In spite of all our apprehensions, we need to re-emphasize the
monumental contribution of the 73rd Amendment in that it has allowed

3.

the disadvantaged sections, especially women, access to both an
institutional and socio-political space.

UMA NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTRE
INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES TRUST

$•)

N-601 (Sixth Floor), Manipal Centre
No.47 Dickenson Road, Bangalore - 560 042
Ph:080-5583701 Fax:080-5583704
Email:isstban@giasbg01 .vsnl.net.in
http://www.indev.org/isst

Plist of publications^
Resource Books
1.

From Roles Plays to Role Models (Resource Book 1).................................................. 50.00

2.

Strengthening the Core (Resource Book 5).................................................................. 50.00

3.

Moving Forward Together (Resource Book 6)............................................................. 50.00

4.

Letters to a Friend (Resource Book 7)...........................................................................40.00

Training Material
1.

Snake and Ladder Game: Training Material.............................................................. 25.00

2.

Clock: Introduction to different government departments,
their functions and officials............................................................................................ 30.00

3.

From Darkness to Light (Resource Book 11)................................................

4.

As We Did It - Games and Stories (Resource Book - 15).......................................... 125.00

5.

What Works - Training Techniques (Resource Book - 16).........................................75.00

50.00

Newspaper Clippings
1.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1993 (Resource Book 3)....................... 100.00

2.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1994 (Resource Book 4)........................100.00

3.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1995 (Resource Book 9)........................100.00

4.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1996 (Resource Book 10)..................... 150.00

5.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1997 (Resource Book 12)..................... 250.00

6.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1998 (Resource Book 13)......................250.00

7.

Newspaper Clippings on Panchayat Raj - 1999 (Resource Book 14)..................... 250.00

<3141

Reports
1.

UMA Training Report (vol.l)........................................................................................ 75.00

2.

UMA Training Report (vol.2).......................................................................................125.00

3.

Training Methodology and Material: Workshop Report........................................... 33.00

4.

Govt. Pilot Training Programme Report..................................................................... 50.00

5.

UMA MELA for Women in Panchayat Raj: A Report.............................................. 65.00

6.

National Seminar for Women in Panchayat Raj: A Report.................................... 250.00

7.

Who's Where: A Directory (Resource Book 8)........................................................... 125.00

8.

UMA PRACHAR - back issues.................................................................................... 10.00

9.

Mydolalu: An All Women's Gram Panchayat: A case study......................................25.00

10.

Training Methodology and Material: 1999 Workshop Report................................ 50.00

11.

Women in Local Governance:Exploring New Frontiers - Seminar Report............50.00

12.

Women in Local Governance:Macro Myths & Micro ReaIities:Occasional Paper.30.00

13.

UMA Utsav Report........................................................................................................ 45.00

14.

UMA at a Glance - An Album...................................................................................... 25.00

15.

Annotated Bibliography on Panchayat Raj - Full Set............................................. 300.00

16.

Women, Environment and Community Action (Resource Book 2, Part 2).......... 200.00
Newspaper Clippings

17.

Women, Environment and Community Action (Resource Book 2, Part 1).............35.00
Annotated Bibliography

18.

Gram Panchayat Budget - Karnataka Experience.................................................... 30.00

DEVELOPING GRASSROOTS WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP
IN GOVERNANCE
Prema Gopalan, SSP Mumbai, India

April, 2000

INTRODUCTION
Swayam Shikshan Prayog - SSP means self learning initiative. SSP is a voluntary
organisation based in Bombay, India. SSP partners with community women's groups
and networks on multiple issues - credit, livelihoods, housing and infrastructure, basic
services. Women's groups are usually organised around savings and credit. Through
information and capacity building, SSP facilitates scaling up of innovations by
women's groups and communities. Within districts, a community alliance of elected
members and women's groups supports the participation of grassroots women in
local governance and planning.
SSP's work with Panchayati Raj institutions began five years ago with the women
voters campaign. We are at a threshold where elections to the Gram Panchayats,
local self-governments in Maharashtra. This presents an opportunity for women's
groups to participate in the “agenda setting" process. Women's collectives have
an opportunity to articulate gender concerns such as credit, violence, health,
education etc. Similarly, it is expected that women's groups will directly participate
in the electoral process. SSP sees itself using this opportunity for looking back,
building women's skills for agenda setting and creating a supportive environment
through information and training on a large scale:

SSP'S PERSPECTIVE AND WORK ON ENGENDERING GOVERNANCE

The 73rd and 74lh Amendments to the Constitution of India provided the impetus for
women to enter formal political spaces. This has presented a tremendous
opportunity for grassroots women's participation in planning and development.
Despite the large numbers of-women in local governing bodies, however, gender
issues are not addressed and women continue to be marginalised in local decision­
making processes.
SSP's work on Panchayati Raj began with a campaign for women's vote in 1995. This
was followed by training for 22,000 gram panchayat members in 1997. This goal was
to create new institutional arrangements that would respond to the needs of women
through partnerships with mainstream institutions.

SSP's intervention on engendering governance focuses on getting all the actors government officials, women's collectives and elected members - to participate in
learning and dialogue forums. These learning and convergence efforts are
grounded in local reality, using local resources persons, local resources and skills. An
essential ingredient of the process is that other key actors recognize capacities of
women’s collectives to play key roles in development.

Today, the Sakhi Panchayat (an alliance of women's collectives and elected
women members promoted by SSP) represents a new kind of leadership. SSP
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
58. CVOD Jain High School, 84 Samuel Street, Charnull Dongri, Bombay 400 009, India
Tel: 022 378 0730, 370 0853, Fax: 022 370 0853 Email: ssp@bom3.vsnl.net.in

together with the alliance works towards transforming gram panchayats to become
accountable and transparent, training elected members on legal issues, advocacy
on devolution of power and resources, and finally building an informed and active
constituency.

We would like to share some importance insights on how women's participation and
leadership by an alliance of elected members with the support of women's
collectives is changing the face of local governance.
Fostering grassroots democracy through mass participation of women, strengthening
women's political leadership, building skills and capacities to participate in planning
and local governance are some of the ingredients of the strategy. Women's
collectives have emerged as the gate keepers of good governance.
• Mobilising communities to participate in local development
• Improving access to PDS/ration shops, anti poverty schemes
• Eliminated middle men/corruption in government schemes
• Made health care services and education accountable to women
• Ensuring that communities are informed through regular gram sabhas/village
assemblies

Re-configuring women's role in communities
• Women’s collectives are playing a key role in accessing and disseminating
information on governments schemes.
• Women are participating in gram sabhas in large numbers in order to voice their
demands for local resources and services. In other words they are demanding
greater accountability from elected members. Women' groups are also
participating regularly at dialogue forums to get information from officials and
provide feedback on government scheme
• Women leaders are also participating actively in panchayat level committees PDS, school, health, water - in 300 villages.
• Women's collectives are actively monitoring the functioning of basic services
and infrastructure; education health and social support programs
• Women are also playing a pivotal role in mobilising communities around village
development issues. As a result of the sense of community ownership created,
community contributions and tax collections have increased.
SSP's ongoing efforts include:
• Pachayati Raj training of 5,000 elected members and Block level officials (start
January 20, 2000)
• Developing and field testing learning tools that assist women to collectively
analyse and understand infrastructural facilities, basic services and social
services. E.g. mapping of settlements assessing sewage and sanitation, roads,
water supply
• Organising study tours and exposure visits to "best practice" villages
• Organising study tours to taluka/district offices in order to find out about
government schemes and procedures to access these.
« Creating Sakhi Panchayat forums to dialogue with officials with a view to
facilitating women's participation in decision making and local planning
• Micro-planning
for
infrastructure
in
select
village
with
Mahila
Sarpanchas/chairpersons
Swayarn Shikshan Prayog
58, CVOD Jain High School, 84 Samuel Street, Charnull Dongri, Bombay 400 009, India
Tel: 022 378 0730, 370 0853, Fax: 022 370 0853 Email: ssp@bom3.vsnl.net.in

Subject:
©ate: Tue, 30 May 2000 12:36:43 +0530
From: "ISST" <isstban@giasbg01.vsnl.net.in>
To: <sochara@vsnl.com>

30th May, 2000

Dear Mr. A.Prahalad,

INVITATION
Seminar: "Women in Local Governance: Experiences andEffective Intervention Strategies in
Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra "

Venue: Conference Hall
National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS)

Indian Institute of Science Campus
Bangalore &ndash; 560 012

Ph:3344351/3346594

Date: 1-2 June, 200®

As you are aware, The Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST) is a private non-profit research
organisation with its regional office in Bangalore and head office at New Delhi.

One of the projects at ISST on Women in Local Governance, is concentrating on Action Research,
Training, Networking and Documentation of issues related to Panchayat Raj. It functions as a listening
post for information on Panchayat Raj. ISST facilitates solidarity networks and exchange of
information among these different constituencies by acting as a nodal point within Karnataka and at the
national level.

We have great pleasure in inviting you to the seminar on "Women in Local Governance:
Experiences and Effective Intervention Strategies in Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu and Maharashtra ” wDnncBn is being organised to facilitate sharing of experiences of women in
Panchayat Raj in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra; and to
understand effective strategic interventions and insights from the experiences shared. This would
go a long way in planning future initiatives to strengthen women in local governance both within
and across the states.
Towards these objectives, it is proposed to bring together academicians, activists, officials; media
representatives and elected women representatives in Panchayat Raj Institutions.

We are glad to inform that the Honourable Governor of Karnataka has consented to inaugurate and
address the seminar in the morning of 1st June, 2000.

We do hope you will accept our invitation and enrich this endeavour by your active presence and
contributions. Kindly confirm your participation by phone/fax/email to us at the earliest.
With regards,

Meera M

Associate Director
Erad: Programme Schedule (Tentative) & Location Map

"Women inn Local! Governance: Experiences and Effective Unterventtinn Strategies
in Kamatalka, KeraDa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamili Nado and Maharashtra ’’

Programme ScfoednHe
1— Jnme 2000

9J0-10.00

Registration

10.00-11.00

Inauguration

11.00-11.15

1 Tea

11.15-1.30

"Experiences and Effective Interventions for
Women in Local Governance"
Andhra Pradesh,
Kerala
i Maharashtra

Tamil Nadu

2 of 3

1.30-2.30

Lunch

2.30-4.00

"Experiences and Effective Interventions for
5/30/00 2:58 PM

Women in Local Governance"
Karnataka &ndash; Panel 1

| 4.00-4.15

Tea

| 4.15-5.45

"Experiences and Effective Interventions for
Women in Local Governance"
Karnataka &ndash; Panel 2

| 9.30-11.00

June 2000
Experience sharing by Women in Local Governance
Andhra Pradesh

Kerala,

Maharashtra,

:!! 00-1'15

? Tea

j 11.15-1.30

Experiences sharing by Women in Local
Governance
Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka

| 1.30-2.30

Lunch

2.30-3.35

Effective Interventions &ndash; Discussions

3:15-3.30

Functional Tea

' 3.30-4.30

Evolving Strategies for Future

| 4.30-5.00

Valedictory

REGIONAL SEMINAR

Women in Local Governance: Experiences and
Effective Interventions in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu
1st-2nd June, 2000

PROGRAMME
1st June 2000
10.00 to 11.00
INAUGURAL SESSION

Welcome & Introduction
Dr. Swapna Mukhopadhyay,
Director,
Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST)

Inaugural Lighting of Lamp
Keynote Address
Mr. M.R.Sreenivasa Murthy
Secretary, Dept, of Rural Development
& Panchayat Raj, Govt, of Karnataka
Ms. Mahadevi
Elected Women Representative, Gulbarga

Honouring Elected Women Representatives
By Her Excellency V.S.Rama Devi
Honourable Governor of Karnataka

Inaugural Address
Honourable Governor of Karnataka
Her Excellency V.S.Rama Devi
Vote of thanks
Ms. Meera M
Associate Director
Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST)
Bangalore
11:00 to 11.30

Tea Break

Session I
11.15 to 01.30

Experiences And Effective Interventions
For Women In Local Governance
Chairperson: Mr. L.C.Jain,
Chairman,
National Council of Rural Institutes,
Ministry of Education

Presentations By
❖ Dr. P. Manikyamba
Dept, of Political Science,
University of Hyderabad
Andhra Pradesh
❖ Ms. Aleyamma Vijayan
SAKHI, Trivandrum
Kerala
❖ Ms. Medha Kotwal Lele
Aalochana, Pune
Maharashtra
❖ Prof. G. Palanithurai
Gandhigram Rural Institute, Dindigul
Tamil Nadu
❖ Ms. Prema Gopalan
Swayam Shikshan Prayog, Mumbai
Maharashtra
1.30 to 2.30

Lunch

2

Session II
2.30 to 4.00

Experiences And Effective Interventions
For Women In Local Governance
Karnataka - Panel I
Chairperson: Ms. Meera Saxena, IAS, Secretary
Dept, of Women & Child Dev.
Government of Karnataka

Presentations By
❖ Dr. Revathi Narayanan,
State Program Director
Mahila Samakhya, Karnataka
❖ Ms. Padmamma,
Elected Woman Representative
Kolar, Karnataka
❖ Ms. Jayalaxmi Rao, Director,
Grama Vikas,
Kolar, Karnataka

4.00 to 4.15

Tea Break

Session III
4.15 to 5.45

Experiences And Effective Interventions
For Women In Local Governance
Karnataka - Panel II
Chairperson: Ms. C.P.Sujaya, IAS
Additional Chief Secretary
Himachal Pradesh (on leave)

❖ Dr. Abdul Aziz, Professor & Head
Decentralised Governance & Planning,
ISEC, Bangalore
❖ Dr. Shanta Mohan, Fellow,
Gender Studies Unit,
NIAS, Bangalore

❖ Ms. Vidyavathi, Director,
Special Economic programme,
RDPR Dept., Govt, of Karnataka

3

2nd June 2000
Session IV
9.30 to 11.15

Sharing Of Experiences By Women
In Local Governance
Chairperson: Dr. Abdul Aziz, Professor & Head
Decentralised Governance &
Planning, ISEC, Bangalore

Elected Women Representatives:
❖ Ms. Karuna, Andhra Pradesh
❖ Ms. Thresiamma Antony, Kerala
❖ Ms. Jayashree Dixit, Maharashtra
Translations by respective State delegates

11.15 to 11.30

Tea Break

Session V
11.30 to 01.30

Sharing Of Experiences By Women
In Local Governance
Chairperson: Dr.Revathi Narayanan,
State Programme Director,
Mahila Samakhya Karnataka,
Bangalore

Elected Women Representatives:
❖ Mrs. Margaret Mary, Tamil Nadu
❖ Mrs. Ashwathamma N. Reddy, Chandapura,
Karnataka

❖ Ms. Mahadevi, Gulbarga, Karnataka
Translations by respective State/District delegates

01.30 to 02.30

Lunch

4

Session VI
02.30 to 03.30

Effective Interventions - Discussion

03.15 to 03.30

Functional Tea

Session VII
03.30 to 04.30

Evolving Strategies For Future
Chairperson: Dr. Poomima Vyasulu,
Advisor, DANIDA,
Bangalore

❖ Group Presentations & Discussions

04.30 to 05.00

Valedictory

5

Empowering Women Through Local Bodies

Experience From Tamil Nadu

Prof. G. Palanithurai
Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies

Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed University

Gandhigram - 624 302

Paper prepared for delivery at the seminar on” Women in Local Governance :
Experiences and Effective Internvation Strategies in Karnataka, Kerala,

Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra” to be held on 1st and 2nd June,

2000 at Bangalore organised by The Institute of Social Studies Trust

Empowering Women Through Local Bodies
Experience From Tamil Nadu

Introduction
As a student of Political Science I could not mention a worthy literature on

the area of Women and Politics or an area linking the role of women in the political
process of the nation. Till the enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act,

Academics in Political Science were not sure and specific about the role to be played by

the women in the process of the development of the society in general and the development
of the women in particular. Political Scientists hardly find any role for the women in the

political process of the society. Indian Council of Social Science Research had undertaken

a major review of studies conducted in India on different areas of polity. I am unable to

find a chapter on Women and Politics as I could see on Caste and Politics, Students and
Politics and SC/ST and Politics. So this is the status of the women in politics in India.
73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India prompted the academics to use the concept

“Empowerment of Women”.

Empowering Women is a loaded concept which connotes different meanings
to different individuals. To me empowerment of women refers to the process by which

women are acquiring due recognition as men to participate in the development process
of the society through the political institutions as a partner with human dignity. The

barriers which had been very active in the process of the development of women on
their own, have to be removed and for which interventions are imperatives at different

levels. Reservation of seats in the Local Bodies is one of the steps in this direction and
this is not the be all and end all. It has to go a long way in the process of development
in the society. The reservation of seats for women has been looked at

from many

perspectives. One basic question normally addressed in this context is the objectives

kept in the minds

of the framers

of the 73rd amendment to the

Constitution of

India, while providing 33.3% of reservation of seats to women. Secondly the women
leaders who are in local bodies should have a clear cut perception about the objectives of
the reservation of seats for women in local bodies. There are other notions on the same

issue perceived by the people and the functionaries who are working with the leaders.
One could seethe incongruity and ambiguity in perceiving the role properly.There is
a second aspect, the general perception about the role to be performed by the women
leaders as the perceptions are being guided by the historical notion of women folk
®1

and their responsibilities and capabilities. This provision of seats in the Local Bodies
makes the women as well as the

society to move out from

the traditional perception

track. This process has been initiated already. But in reality, despite several weaknesses,

the elected women leaders are in position and discharging the earmarked responsibilities
with varying degree of success. This study makes an attempt to locate the problems

encountered by the women leaders and to find out the ways and means to facilitate the
women leaders to discharge their role and function effectively in their domain.

Caveats
Women leaders cannot be treated as one entity. There are varieties of
women leaders and the problems associated with women empowerment vary from one

segment to another segment of women leaders. Intensity of intervention varies from one
group to another. What we find in this small write up is the problems and perspectives

of the women leaders who have been in the continuous struggle in establishing their
position as leaders in the local body institutions. It cannot be generalized but the

observations would indicate the trend of women leadership position in the local body

institutions.

Classification of the Women Leaders
Never in the Political history of Tamil Nadu that the institutions of Governance

had such massive

number

of women in positions

Local Bodies at present. All

as what we have been seeing in

the women leaders who are in position

have not

volunteered themselves to contest in the election. It is a well known fact that they are

driven to these position by an array of organisations, individuals and institutions. But
after assuming office women leaders have exhibited their distinctions in

terms of

their perception behaviour and performance. Their distinct functions are the result of
a number of factors. Before going into the details of the substantive issue of their

perception, behaviour and performance we have to classify the category of leaders.

1.

There are women leaders propelled by the male member of their family.

2.

There are women leaders oriented by the NGO’s for this specific task.

3.

There are women leaders oriented by the party.

4.

There are women leaders recruited by the community.

5.

There are women leaders sponsored by their husbands with the support of the
political party.

6P-2

Of the five categories, a large number of leaders belong to the last category.
Third and fourth category forms the next largest group. The other two are having the

minimum numbers.The second and the third group are not having

more number of

leaders yet their activities are drawing the attention of the people as they have support

base for their activities. All the other groups are having a wide variety of problems to

be tackled to discharge their role and responsibilities. This classification is not exhaustive
but it is done on the basis of the experience gained in the training conducted to the
women leaders at various levels in Gandhigram Rural Institute sponsored by various

funding agencies.The details are given below.

S.No.

1.

Trainee Category

Sponsoring Agency

Total
No.of. Leaders
Trained

Gram Panchayati Presidents

Population Foundation

0750

Block Panchayati Presidents

of India

District Panchayati Presidents

and ward members of
Dharmapuri&Dindigul Districts
2.

Gram Panchayati Presidents

DANIDA

0245

CAPART

0425

Social Welfare Board

0825

Chairperson of Town Panchayats Government of Tamil Nadu

2150

and Vice Presidents Villupuram
& Cuddalore Districts

3.

Village Panchayati Presidents

of Dindigul, Sivaganga,

Madurai, Ramnad districts

4.

Village Panchayati Presidents
of Theni, Thiruvarur, Salem
Nammakkal, Virudhunagar

Dharmapuri
5.

Municipalities of Sixteen
Districts

Total

3

4395

Entry in to Positions
By and large the performance of the leaders are conditioned by a variety of

factors and of which mode of recruitment is a key factor. As per their perception and
understanding they are elevated to position through election on the basis of the caste,

party affiliation, family, organisational affiliation, community, peer group, money, own
reputation and past services rendered to the community. No single factor worked in an
isolation. A combination of factors worked in the process of their elevation to the

position. The same factors are responsible for their performance also. The leaders
have been oriented by the peer group leaders, family members, community leaders and

their husbands and they have to go by the advise of the people who had been responsible
for their elevation to position through election. NGO’s and political parties who have
sponsored the candidates have given proper orientation to the women leaders. Certain
groups of women leaders who have undergone training have got confusion over their

role and responsibility as they are under the control of some extraneous forces. Because
of the continuous orientation and capacity building

exercise the women leaders have

started moving out from the clutches of others to their own

domain without much

noise, through a variety of devices.

Problems faced by the Women Leaders
Normally to overcome the problems in discharging the role and functions

of the leaders in the Local Bodies, the leaders capacity has to be enhanced. By
enhancing the capacity, institutions can be managed effectively.

Government has not taken any serious step in the first three years to
enhance the capacity of the leaders through the training programme. To impress upon

the government about the importance of the training we took near about three years.
Now the government has taken effort to conduct the capacity building exercise with

the financial support of UNICEF, but the leaders have come to the final phase of
their tenure.

The women leaders have entered into the offices without

any

orientation.The moment the leaders peeped into the offices the officials have given
orientation to the leaders on ‘dos’ and ‘don’t dos’ by reading out some of the

provision of the Tamil Nadu Panchayati Act. This kind o f orientation has crippled the
initiative of the leaders.

GP' 4

Generally it is a complaint made by all the women leaders that the officials

are not cooperating with elected leaders by providing necessary information in time to

enable them to perform their functions effectively.

Further the leaders who are weak

in terms of their capacity are being illtreated.The Dalit leaders are not even provided

with a chair to sit in front ofa clerk in the offices. Very rarely one would find officials

treating the Dalit leaders with dignity.When fear psychosis is created in the minds of
dal it women leaders in the beginning itself the leaders never think

higher officials at the

of meeting the

district level during the whole period of their tenure. Officials

who had performed the role in the same office without any interference in the absence
of panchyat leaders now feel somebody has come and they have taken up the mantle

and for them the officials are made accountable. This new system has pushed them
from the stage of a decision maker and to an executive officer. Hence their reactions
towards the leaders are always negative. The officials tried their level best to establish

their control over the leaders by making use of the ignorance of the leaders.
The segments which had supported the women candidates in the election,

have not extended their support to the same leaders for their functioning. The leaders

who have not

indicated a

signal that they are working for the people who have

costed their votes in the election in favour of them can not get the support of the same
segments of the people. Even her party leaders at the grass root level are not extending
their helping hand towards her activities in the panchayats. In the same way the caste
leaders and family members exert pressure on the leaders to yield to their pressures. The

caste leaders feel that the panchayat leaders are relying on the support base of the caste.
Hence they also exert pressure on them. Husbands are the yet another problem to the
elected women leaders. A large number of women leaders have been recruited to these
position by the influence of their husbands in the party.When a seat is reserved for
women, the male aspirant candidate seeks permission from the party to field his wife for

the post. Such is the way most of the women leaders have been recruited. The male
members have fielded the women for leadership position with the thinking that the

administration could be controlled by them. Even after the election the husbands have
tried their level best to control over the administration but in vain as the government

have instructed the officers to check this kind ofpractice. Moreover wherever the husbands
are establishing the administrative
questioning the capacity of

control over the panchayats, people have started

the women presidents in managing the affairs of the

panchayats. Over a period of time the women leadershave oriented themselves by way

6^- 5

of participating in the training programme conducted by various organisation, to manage

their affairs of their own but they are not in a position to communicate this message to
their husbands. Even after three years the male members of the women leaders family

have not changed

their perception about the competency and capacity of the women

leaders. Still they feel that the women leaders are not having the needed capacity to

manage their affairs. Hence they make themselves ready for accompanying the women
leaders.

Managerial skill is an imperative for the leaders to manage the personnel and
the resources well within the established frameworks of
women leaders lack that capacity. In all fora they have

administration. Here the

indicated the problem yet

decisions are not on the sight. Yet another problem they face in local bodies is the lack

of communication skill. Tamil Nadu is known for inflammatory speeches. Political parties

are having a separate wing of public speakers. The local body leaders have to share the
dais with MLAs and MPs and officials in public functions. Of them, the women leaders

used to cut a sorry figure as they are not able to communicate their ideas in an effective

way as done by the MLAs and MPs. Further they need a communication skill to mobilise
the people and to manage them in Gram Sabha and other public meetings. Nobody gives

such orientation to them in the art of effective communication.
By providing this opportunity to women to work in the local bodies as leaders,

work load of them has been increased enormously both in their houses and offices. Women
leaders hailing from upper middle class family have been to some extent relieved of

their duties at home as necessary arrangements have been made in the home to look after
the affair which had been looked after by the women leaders before they were elected to
positions in local bodies. But women hailing from poor families are facing number of
problems. Their work load has been increased, panchayats are not paying anything to

the leaders as salary even after handing over a variety of responsibilities to be handled
by the leaders on par with a full time officer. In some of the places we find poor men and
women assumed responsibilities and discharging their role and function. Poor coolie

cannot afford to loose this wage by attending the panchayat works. It is natural on the
part of the women leader who is a wage earner to handover responsibility to some one

and performing her duties to the family.

6

Panchayat leaders at the Gram Panchayati level they have to maintain thirty

one recordsAIti^possible for an uneducated women to maintain all the records properly
as per the rules and procedures. Even the clerks are finding in very difficult to maintain
the same. Most of the women leaders are the victims of the accounting procedure in

Tamil Nadu. This is a major area one has to concentrate as to how the women leaders

could be saved from this ordeal. It is a general problem for all the leaders but it is more
specific for women leaders about the non communication of the government orders to

the leaders. Not only the government orders but also the schemes and programmes of
the government. In the age of information, information flow is struck below the district

level. Every office is instructed to have peoples charter and they have to be circulated
among the people and their leaders. But now all those documents are kept in the

respective offices. Officials are not willing to share this information with elected leaders.

Normally women would be sensitive towards women issues and that was the
expectation of the leaders who have talked about the one third reservation of seats for

women. But in reality, women leaders are brought and oriented in such fashion not to
be sensitive towards women issues. Women leaders who have been trained properly
are sensitive towards the women issues. They are periodically sensitised by the NGOs.

It is true that the administrative procedures which have been introduced in

our system

to administer development are so complicated not understandable to the

commonman. But it helps the vested interest to develop a corrupt cotterie

in the

administrative system. The newly elected women leaders have moved into the office
with a sense of hope, but they have seen a different picture in the scenario of
administration. The women who are novis in administration have to either yield to the

corrupt system or to struggle with the system. If she has chosen the later, who will help

the women leaders is a major question.
The interference of politicians at the level of MLAs and MPs in the local

body administration is an yet another disturbance faced by the women leaders. The MLAs

and MPs with their area development fund have interfered in the administration of
panchayats. The women leaders pleas and beseeches are not respected by the MLAs and

MPs as they felt that women leaders cannot mobilise vote for them when they contest in
the next general election.

GP-7

What They Need?
Problems can be projected to any level and they can be visualised in a

perspective manner but what is the solution? and what is the way out? It is not our
analysis and suggestion but it is their suggestion which I explain in th efollowing pages.

They need continuous training on the role and responsibilities to be discharged
by them within the framework of the established political system at the Grass roo^level.

How to administer development and social justice should be known to every one to

perform their role effectively. Through orientation workshop and training, their capacity

could be enhanced. This exercise should not be an one time affair. It is a continuous
process where the women leaders can have an opportunity

other leaders. By

to meet and interact with

doing so they could easily get the models for emulation. Hence

training could be given to the leaders periodically but not by the officials. Officials use

to threaten the leaders in their training programmes. Hence this could be avoided.
Further, leaders cannot perform their roles and duties without adequate

information. Now it is a major handicap that leaders are not supplied with needed

information for their functioning. Everywhere it is a cry of the leaders that the
government orders are not being sent to the leaders. They are being
office/s and officers

sent to the

but they have not been given to the leaders. Unless the leaders

have a centre for getting information, they felt that it is very difficult to carry out their

activities to the level of the expectations of the people. They require the details of the
Act, rules, regulations, procedures, government orders, programmes and schemes of

the governments to be carried out in the rural and urban areas.
Next to training and information, the women leaders need a supportive

organisation which is able to support the women leaders when they are in trouble.

Women leaders are working in a given environment which is not so conducive for
effective functioning of the women leaders.

All the women leaders who are upright

and committed have to face troubles and tribulations in the society and they have to

swim against the current, and hence they felt that a supportive organisation is needed
to provide moral support. This support can be done by the NGO’s very effectively.
The Panchayati supportive Non Governmental Organisation have to sensitise
women leaders periodically otherwise they will be

the

non sensitive towards the women

issues. There is yet another expectation from the women leaders that the mentally

depressed women leaders in a complicated social structure require proper and timely
fit’- 8

counselling. There are cases

admitted

depression. This was explained

in hospitals and took treatment for mental

by the women leaders at the state head quarter

meeting in front of the Secretary of Rural Development, organised by Human Rights

Foundation, Chennai. This can also be done by some committed NGO’s.
Honorarium is yet another demand which could be seen rationally in the
backdrop of the workload assigned to the local body leaders. It is our experience that
the women leaders who are the bread winner of the family not taking responsibility

without honorarium. Hence whenever programmes are organised for poor women by
the NGO’s, the women leaders are provided with their wage as they earn in their work

spot. Hence corresponding to their workload, honorarium could be fixed and paid
properly to them in time for the work done by the women leaders. Otherwise poor will

not participate in the political and development process of the grassroots level institutions.

Leaders are on the Making
Though they have problems and inadequacies, women leaders have emerged

and are able to perform the

role and function as effectively and efficiently as men.

The women leaders in the process of making themselves as leaders exhibited a variety.

They are six kinds namely aggressive leaders, capacitated sober leaders, leaders with
status quo aspiration, leaders with the aspiration of upward mobility, leaders with a mood

of withdrawal and leaders with no idea.
A few cadre parties and a few committed NGO’s have been continuously

orienting the leaders and extending all their supports to the women leaders who have
established

their links with the party as party members and NGOs’ as beneficiary.

They always exhibit aggressive character and by which they are able to

discharge

their duties more effectively than the other leaders.
There is yet another category of leaders, who have been oriented and trained
but not

committed to any ideology or organisation. But they are committed in their

work. They have participated in the programmes organised by the NGO but they donot
have continuous linkage with NGO. They are capacitated leaders concentrating much
on their responsibilities and they have performed very well as they have enhanced

their capacity.They have aspiration to continue in public service but no specific position.
There is another category which is slightly different from the first one. The

capacitated leaders have concentrated much on enhancing their capacity continuously

and performing their duties.While performing their duties, they see the response of
the people based on the response, they have a desire to continue in office. But this

category has fixed an ambition to continue in the same position and for which this
category leaders have developed an art of managing the people in the local bodies.

All their deficiencies are compensated by their public relations. Their linkage with the

people are stronger as they are always with the people.
The fourth category leaders have a different aspiration. Though they have a

number of defficiencies, by keeping themselves very active in discharging their duties
they want to demonstrate to their party leaders that they are the opt candidates for

Membership in Legislative Assembly. They are always busy in meeting the people

and keeping their life busy by familiarizing themselves with the people. They consider
the Panchayati institutions as launching pad for their political entry. But this number is

very less but they are the models for emulation.

Another category leaders who are unable to meet the challenges of the role
and unable to bear the pressure of the society and the family have expressed their desire

to withdraw from public life. These leaders were brought to the public life by force by
their husbands. The relationship between the husband and wife has undergone a change
in the whole process of administering development through Panchayati Raj Institutions

in most of the cases. Many of the husbands realized the fact that their wives have

acquired needed capacity and hence they have to withdraw from the support space.

But there is another segment of men who have determined not to allow their wives to
attend to their duties on their own. Most of the women leaders have expressed

that

they have been facing problem in the local body institutions because of the interferenceof

their

husbands. This factor cannot be explained to their husbands by the women

leaders of panchayats on their own.

There is yet another category which has no idea.They are in the hands of
the male members of the family despite

the pronouncement of the Government.

Thewomen leaders have not moved out from their houses for public works. They are

not meeting the people. Virtually their husbands are operating the machinery. They are
not bothered about it. It is a money spinning device which is ably tackled by their

husbands by their muscle and money power. Officials are also cooperating with such

leaders. They have no idea about the panchayats and they have no aspiration to contest
in the next election. If their husbands ask them to contest they will contest otherwise
they need not bother about it.
GP- 10

Rajiv Gandhi Chair Intervention
It is primarily a centre for research and policy advocacy. But it does a number

of functions. Along with the elected leaders of the Local Bodies, the centre is involved in
awareness creation work. It has been recognised as a nodel training centre and it has been

organising training programmes for the leaders of gram panchayats, presidents of district

panchayats. It provides vital information to local body leaders. It conducts a number of
projects on vital issues affecting the normal functioning of local bodies. Based on the

research findings, proposals being prepared and sent the same to the government. Since

the Chairman of the Rajiv Gandhi Chair is closely working with the higher level
functionaries, policy advocacy done by this centre is easily perceived and taken for policy

decision. Apart from this activity, the chair has a network of NGO’s for panchayati activities
in the name of “ Tamil Nadu Campaign for Panchayati Raj”. Through this network the

women leaders are sensitised periodically on the issues affecting their work. The centre
helps the women leaders to form their own organisation to address the issues of women
local body leaders.

Observation and Conclusion
Women have come to positions in the Local Bodies as provision has been
made in the constitution. Outlook of the society towards the women has started changing.

But the hurdles are continuing in the process of empowering women. Steps are being
taken by the women on their own to overcome the hurdles. It is a long drawn process.
A structure which had been created over centuries to work against the interest

of women cannot be altered within a day or two. It could be changed only by creating

a movement by the mass and for which this provision of one third reservation of seats

to women would help. On the ground to fight against the designs of the structure, an
organised movement of the mass is an imperative. To make the women to achieve
results in their positions an array of interventions are necessary.

They need orientation, sensitization, capacity building,

counselling, continuously through an organisation. The ongoing

information,

experiments and

experiences suggest that periodical training, orientation, sensitization make the women
leaders to perform the assigned role in a better way than the navis. When the women
leaders are responding to the socio political challenges in this society they are to be

supported by the organisations and institutions which are working for empowerment of

women. Wherever such interventions are obvious, achievements of the women leaders

are substantial and impressive.Govemment will respond to the needs of these women
leaders only when they are supported by organisations well known for their credentials.

G7f- 11

Reference
1. G. Palanithurai

Report on Empowerment

Rajiv Gandhi Chair

of Panchayati Raj

for Panchayati Raj

Institutions on issues

Studies

1997

related Population, Health
and Social Development

(sponsored by Population
Foundation of India)

2. G. Palanithurai

Report of the training

Rajiv Gandhi Chair

programme conducted

for Panchayati Raj

for Gram Panchayati

Studies

1998

Presidents - Dindigul &

Sivaganga Districts

(sponsored by CAPART)

3. G. Palanithurai

Report of the training

Rajiv Gandhi Chair

programme conducted

for Panchayati Raj

for Women Presidents

Studies

1998

of Gram Panchayats in

Five Districts.

(sponsored by Social
Welfare Board)

4. G. Palanithurai

Report of the training

Rajiv Gandhi Chair

programme conducted

for Panchayati Raj

for Presidents and

Studies

1998

Vice-presidents on
Water Supply and
Sanitation in Villupuram

and Cuddalore Districts.

(sponsored by DANIDA)

5. V.B.Athreya

and
K.S.Rajeswari

Women’s Participation

M.S. Swaminathan

in Panchayati Raj

Research Foundation

A Case Study from

Chennai

Tamil Nadu (sponsored)
by Women Commission)

Gf -12

1998

WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE:
HELD EXPERIENCE FROM KARNATAKA
Prof. Abdul Aziz
institute for Social find £eoiwmic Change
J^nngalorc - 560 072

Introduction :
Reservation of seats and authority positions for women have brought a

large number of women to panchayats as members and presidents.
enhanced

The

quota for women (compared to the previous regime) and the

categorywise reservation also brought into panchayats a large proportion of
first generation elected representatives. Though this should be construed as a

welcome development, in some quarters doubts are being expressed about the
ability of women members to actually deliver the goods in the political space

which is considered alien to them.

A good deal of literature has emerged

decrying “the larger than the life-size role” assigned to women in local

governance.

Indeed, bashing women members and presidents on this point

has become fashionable in many circles even to the point of creating some
myths about women’s participation in the local governance system. The
purpose of this note is to objectively evaluate the real and imaginary positions
taken on the issue of women’s representation in local governance.

The Problem of Proxy :

There is a view that since the number of positions in panchayats for
women far exceeds the number of women who are competent and willing, the

panchayats get packed with inexperienced, illiterate and incompetent women

members. And since the seats for women are reserved and rotated there is no
chance for the sitting member to contest election next time; hence, every

election brings in a new woman member who may not have previous
experience. To top it all, it isalso stated that since many of them are sponsored

candidates they actually tend to be proxies for relatives and local leaders. By

and large, this is true. Generally speaking, women members, when compared
with their male counterparts, are less literate and less experienced.

In such

cases, relatives, especially husbands, and local leaders, especially the big land

holders and contractors, serve as proxies to women members and women
presidents. A recent study (SEARCH, April-June 1999) shows that the women

members serve as a proxy to husbands, other relatives and local leaders, and

that the proxy rate among them rises as one moves from membership of the
panchayats to presidentship - for the presidentship the rate of proxy being

much higher.

While admitting that the problem of proxy rule by relatives and local
leaders is a fact of life, it may be desirable to note the following points:

Out experience is that the proxy phenomenon is not confined to women alone;

male members are also subject to this charge especially those coming from the
reserved category. A majority of the males in this category are illiterate,
inexperienced and incompetent.

In their case also, sponsorship has been a

common practice in so far as the number of reserved positions are in excess of

2

those who are competent and willing to contest.

Under the circumstance, it is

strange that so much noise is made about the proxy problem only in respect of

women when it exists extensively among males also. This strange phenomenon

needs to be understood.

In our formal as well as informal discussions when we confronted the

male members on the above issue, a point that emerged was that they were not

against women becoming members of the panchayats; their objection was to
women being offered the authority position of presidentship. The objection was

based on their perception that women, especially when brought through the
reservation channel, would not deliver the goods. The point that this possibility

is highly probable even in respect of the male members coming through the
same channel is glossed over!

In order to get some insights into this

contradiction in the position taken, it may be worth referring to some incidents
observed by the present writer: Under the previous panchayat regime (the 1983

PR Act), out of over two thousand Mandal Panchayats only two panchayats
were headed by women.

In one such Mandal Panchayat (Honganur of

Channapattana Taluk) a hindu minority caste woman was elected as pradhan
by a quirk of circumstances.

But within a couple of months, a no-confidence

motion was contemplated by the male members. What is surprising is that her
own party members joined hands with the opposition to dislodge her.

The

lady, whom this writer interviewed, in so many words gave the reason that the
male members were not willing to work “under” a woman. Though one has to

3

be cautions before generalising from this single instance, the fact that a mind­

set of this nature among male members was visible on many occasions cannot

be ignored.

Thus, an evaluation study of the SIRD training program for the

Grama Panchayats (B. Vijay Kumar et.al., June 1997)

refers to an incident

where the organisers make the women members sit on the floor while the male
members were accommodated on chairs. When this writer organised a training
program for the Zilla Panchayat members at ISEC, Bangalore he was amused

at seeing the male members always choosing to sit closer to the resource

person leaving no choice to women but to sit in the back rows, and blaming
the non-performance of panchayats on the large presence of .women in the

panchayat bodies!

These incidents, minor as they appear, reflect the inbuilt prejudice about

the status of women in our society.

This mind-set of the whole set applies

equally to the sub set of the panchayats and creates an exaggerated version of

the so-called incompetence of women members.

It may be of interest here to

digress a bit and examine why at all the proxy phenomenon obtains in the

panchayats.

Since women tend to be proxies largely for their family members

and relatives, we interviewed some husbands and relatives to get a feel of why
they shadowed the women members and presidents.

The main point that

emerged was the following: since the women are illiterate, elected for tire first
time and by reason of which are inexperienced they needed help and support

from the close confidents.

Husbands and close relatives come in handy to fill

4

the bill. Husbands and relatives also feel compelled to be always on the side of
the women members especially with the woman president because if the latter
made a mistake or conspired to make a mistake it will be a reflection on the

family honour.

Hence the relatives of the woman president in particular Ijeep
In the opinion of this writer this is

company just in case she needs any help.

quite legitimate and there should not be any objection to the women members

and presidents taking the advice of close relatives or even be guided by them.
In fact, when women members came to our training program, they came with

their husbands/ relatives who even sat behind them in the session taking

down notes on their behalf and even prompting them to answer a question and
seek a clarification.

If this is the role they play even back at home in the

panchayat one should not have any objection to it.

Awareness, Perception and Participation :

One of the factors undoubtedly that is at the base of better performance
of the panchayats is the higher level of awareness, and perceptions of, and

participation in decision-making by, the members.

A study of this aspect

carried out in Chitradurga district (N.

1998) blings out some

Sivanna,

interesting results pertaining to male and female members.

According to this

study, women consistently obtained lower scores in regard to all the three
parameters.

However, the difference between males and females was slightly

larger in regard to awareness (about 14 percentage points). But in respect of

perceptions and participation this difference was lower - being 7 and 8.5

5

percentage points respectively.

The slightly wider gap in awareness between

male and female members is understandable considering that the former have
a better chance of exposure to the goings on in the polity than the latter.
However, lack of equal amount of exposure of female members has not deterred
them from forming more or less equal perception levels and participating

equally well in the decision-making process. Therefore,

if the levels of

awareness, perception and participation are an index of performance, then the
performance levels of males does not appear to be too high to warrant creation
of a myth that men can do better than women.

The above statement of facts is a quantified version of the performance
potential of males and females.

Let us now examine its qualitative aspect.

In

his informal and unstructured discussions with some Grama Panchayat

members, this writer asked them to state in order of priority three development
projects they would choose if funds were made available.

The male members

preferred a link road to the nearest town, a bus shelter and a community hall

in that order.

drinking

water,

The women members’ preference on a priority basis was
toilets

and

street

lights.

A

harijan

woman

added

“Rudrabhoomi” - a burial ground as her caste people were not allowed to bury

their dead in the village burial ground! This gives a clue to the nature of felt
needs of the people at the grass roots level.

May be the intensity of the needs

felt by the male and the female member's is the same and may be the needs of
males and females differ.

But the point that cannot be over looked is that

6

women members are much closer to home - to the immediate needs of tire

family.

In so far as local governments are expected to meet the immediate

needs of the family, the quality of women’s perceptions appears to be a shade
better.

Consider another incident in support of this point. A panchayat in Kolar

district was debating a question as to how it can utilise a grant received from
an organisation.

The male members of the panchayat proposed that an

additional dairy building may be constructed using those funds as the present

one was congested.

Two women members who were present stood up and

made an alternative proposal.

They argued that the building where the

anganawadi children are housed presently was dilapidated and as such it may

collapse any time causing death of the young children.

Hence, there was an

urgent need to put up an anganawadi building. That the final decision went in

favour of the dairy building is a different story. But the fact is that the concern
of the women members to the safely of children cannot escape the attention of

the readers.

Another case may be quite revealing. A Grama Panchayat did not have a

panchayat building. So, the panchayat took a decision to put up a building for

the purpose on a two gunta private plot belonging to a panchayat member who
offered it for a price of Rs.20,000.

A woman member intervened to make a

suggestion. She said that it was atrocious to squander the precious panchayat

7

funds on purchase of land.

She suggested that an announcement may be

made to the effect that whichever village comes forward to donate two guntas

of land, the panchayat will decide to locate the panchayat building in that

village.

If land is thus obtained free of cost, the amount that would have gone

by way of price to be paid for land could be used for construction of the

building or providing amenities to the villagers.

Though the decision taken

obviously went against her suggestion, the logic involved in her argument
cannot be missed.

Training Needs :
From the above discussion, it appears that though the awareness levels

of women are lower, the levels of their perceptions and participation are not far
below those of male members. Moreover, qualitatively women capture the felt

needs that are nearer home and the needs identified by them are of immediate

nature.

However, women members seem to be constrained from having their

say in the decision-making process.

male members.

As a result, they tend to lose out to the

This result may be due to their inability to lobby with other

members and officials, their low levels of articulation skills, and perhaps to
lack of information.

Therefore, it appears that asymmetry of information,

inability to lobby and to be articulate act as constraints on them to get the

decisions in their favour.

If these constraints are released by providing them

with full information about the panchayat system, and training them in the ail

of articulation and lobbying, they possibly will effectively influence decision­

8

making.

This makes out a case for organising special training programs for

women to provide them with relevant information and to impart skills of
articulation and lobbying.

Realising the need as also the importance of training, the Government of

Karnataka sponsored several training programs for the benefit of members,
presidents and vice-presidents of all levels of panchayats.

The SIRD, DTI’s,

academic institutions and NGO’s organised such programs in the State.

In

some cases, training programs were targeted exclusively to women members
perceiving that they needed special attention.

were targeted

In many cases, the programs

both for male and female members.

The inputs given to the

trainees were (a) basic information about the PR system with special emphasis

on the legal, administrative and developmental aspects, and (b) skills of
speaking in the panchayat meetings, seeking information, raising issues and

debating on the proposals brought before the meetings and (c) leadership skills

of handling people - citizens, officials and other elected members. Some
institutions also placed emphasis on changing the attitudes of members on

the question of reservation, equal opportunity for weaker sections especially

women and

depressed classes, on corruption, class and caste harmony and

such other sensitive social problems.

It is difficult to capture the exact impact of training programs on the

trainees.

However, field experience seems to suggest that members benefited

9

from such programs though a need was felt that the training duration could

have been extended, and repeat and follow up programs organised to update
knowledge

and

to

keep

members’

interest alive.

On women

members

particularly, the training programs appear to have left a good impact.

This

our own experience in respect of a

point may be illustrated by sharing

program organised in ISEC for the member's, vice presidents and presidents of

Zilla Panchayats.

The fact that out of 700 persons who attended the program about 36%
were women suggests that response from them was encouraging especially when

viewed from their general reluctance to come out of their homes.

On the first

day we found them to be overwhelmed by the new environment and strange

people.

But our lady colleagues did their best to put the women trainees at

ease. The women members did not speak much on the first day but gradually
as they went through the sessions, they picked up courage and participated in

the discussions.

By the end of the program we hardly found any difference

between the participatory levels of male and female members.

A remark made

by Dr.P.V Shenoi, the then Director of ISEC, in regard to the participation of
women members on the valedictory function of one of the programs in the

presence of the Minister of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development may be of

interest to note here.

He said, “on the first day they would not speak at all in

the sessions. But, on the second day they would open up, they would speak on
the bird day and roar on the fourth day*.

10

This is a dramatised assessment of

tlie participation of women members in the discussion. As a matter of fact, this
writer who was the course coordinator, had the pleasant experience of getting

congratulatory calls from the relatives of the women trainees after they went
back from the course.

A typical example is a call from the husband of a

member who after conveying his congrats exclaimed: “My wife had never spoken

in the

panchayat meeting until recently.

After she returned from ISEC, she

made a speech”. We also on and off received reports that our women members

had become assertive, even quoted from the panchayat Act and referred to

various Union and

State Government programs and schemes funded by

external agencies whenever occasions demanded. What a tribute to the role of
training programs in empowering women members!

All of this underlines the

importance as also the usefulness of training for panchayat functionaries.

Concluding Remarks :

It is admitted that the women panchayat members and presidents do
have limitations arising on account of their

low literacy level and lack of

experience and exposure to the world outside home. This is compounded by a

spurt in demand for women to assume charge of local governance due mainly
to reservation of seats and authority positions.

Under the circumstance,

in

many cases they work as proxies to relatives and local leaders. But the
phenomenon of proxy rule in panchayats is not the exclusive preserve of the
female members alone; male members are also subjected to the same charge.

11

The levels

of awareness, perception and

participation among women

members are, no doubt, lower compared with men but the resultant gap
between the two does not appear to be wide enough to warrant such a severe

criticism of women for their non-performance or low performance. Besides, the
qualitative aspect of their levels of those parameters suggest that women
members are nearer home and focus on the immediate needs of the family

when compared with the male members.

Though women members do put across their views and appear to be

logical in their arguments, they tend to lose the battle mainly because they are
not articulative enough,

not assertive and not equipped with adequate

It is in this context, a need is felt to equipping them with

information.

knowledge, and skills of articulation and lobbying by organising training

programs.

Whenever training programs have been organised, women have

responded better, shown immense interest and demonstrated their ability for

quick learning.

Therefore, it is suggested that training for women is a must

and that repeat programs should be organised to update and keep their

interest alive.

REFERENCES

SEARCH (April-June 1999), “Impact of Reservation: The Status and Power of
Women Representatives in Gram Panchayats”, Search Bulletin, Vol. XIV, No.2.
N. Sivanna (1998), “Process and Performance of Panchayats” in Abdul Aziz
et.al. Decentralised Governance and Planning: A Comparative Study in
Three South Indian States (Mimeo), ISEC, Bangalore.

B. Vijay Kumar et.al. (June 1997), Training Program for Grama Panchayat
Members: A Process Evaluation (Mimeo), ISEC, Bangalore.

12

Shared Spaces: The Beginning...
Associating Elected Women Representatives in Panchayat Raj Institutions
An Ongoing Process of Consultation with South India-based NGOs

Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation
Bangalore

Shared Spaces: The Beginning...
Associating Elected Women Representatives in Panchayat Raj Institutions
An Ongoing Process of Consultation with South India-based NGOs

Setting the Tone...

We want to create a network of the women in the panchayats. In Karnataka there are a
number of organizations working with women in the panchayats. We want all of them to
participate and would like to know what each can contribute to this effort. The idea is to
associate the EWRs so that they can prioritize the issues among themselves or to the
government.1
Karnataka is now entering the third term in the Panchayati Raj Institutions wherein
quotas for women have been instituted. Karnataka pioneered the entire electoral quota
system for women in the nation with a 25% quota for women in 1987. In 1993-94, after
the passage of the 73rd and 74th Amendments, other states followed with a 33% quota by
which time in Karnataka women were already governing for one term. In 1995, at the
Fourth World Conference for Women, Beijing, a recommendation made by the Indian
women's movement in this regard was to network elected women representatives (EWRs)
to give them a stronger political voice and to provide support mechanisms for each other.
Today again Karnataka will lead in yet another pioneering effort by initiating the process
of federating EWRs as well as facilitate such a federation in 3 more southern states,
Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
Towards an Engendered Governance

Reservation is only the first point, it is what scientists would call a necessary but not a
sufficient condition for participation. What do we want from reservation? It is to bring in
engendered governance. One elected woman representative would have a group or
sangha of 30 women to whom she is accountable. The EWRs keep their links with the
group and call upon their collective energies and talents to help her discharge her duties."
To rectify such a situation where EWRs face tremendous barriers organizations
recommended:
♦ Transparency, training and exposure were the most vital interventions to build up
women’s self-confidence and self-image.
♦ Building up of self-confidence in the EWRs.
♦ Creating and maintaining a critical size for the support network by building up a
federation of sanghas, instilling a gender perspective in all activities and process,
encouraging women to participate in all aspects of the political process-voting,
campaigning, standing for elections, and supporting EWRs.
♦ Need to develop a set of alternative yardsticks in governance to what men consider
success.
♦ Last but not the least is building a federation of EWRs.

Why Federate Women at all?

Dialogue Among EWRs on the needfor a Federation, Tumkur May 2nd:

Confirming the need for this federation, Champakamala said had this occurred during the
last term, women members could have benefited strongly. Such seminars should be held
at all levels, so women representatives can attend and benefit.

Reservation has made it possible for women to enter politics. To openly express
individual views and ideas a common platform is needed. While EWRs have the
knowledge, there is no forum or opportunity to express themselves. Forming an
organisation to strengthen the participation of women in decentralized governance will
increase women's self-confidence and solidarity.
EWRs expressed concern about what to do next after the term ended. Suman Kolhar
responded citing her own prior experience as an elected ZP member and said that since
then she has worked in various capacities with women both within and outside elected
bodies. This experience need not only be used as an elected representative. The
association would provide a space where former EWRs can train new comers.

One male representative showing support for a common platform for all women
representatives said that co-operation from all sections of society (including men) is
needed with self acquired knowledge. With a network the women can speakfreely and
come up with solutions andfight for their rights. The women getting together have
helped them exceed the 33% quota of the panchayats. He also quoted how their

organization was able to develop these qualities in women by extending the services
under Indira Mahila Yogane, both at Gram Panchayat Level, and Block level by forming
self help groups. These groups have brought many changes among women. Literacy,
education, unity will help women fight for their rights.
In the view of one member, 50% women reservations are necessary in all the departments
and women have to be educated and trained. This association can be a forum for such
training. Projects cannot be simply planned, but should also be followed through where
the process, progress and success of the planning and projects need to be traced. Just
giving money is not enough.

When a man raises his voice to get things done it is easily accepted but when a woman
raises her voice she is stereotyped as dominating or aggressive which makes it hard for
her to lead. The association could provide a space where women's collective voice can be
heard.

EWRs tend to focus more on the needs of women. There is lack of knowledge and
awareness, specially girls need to be educated at all levels. Caste plays an important role
in the panchayats. In the PRIs women should first see themselves and work together as
women and not let caste determine one's alliances. The association will foster
relationships among the EWRs to allow building alliances.

2

The rationale for a federation:"1

At a gathering of EWRs, the women asked for a network, which is now 2 years old with
60 members from 13 districts. Though some women have lost the elections this time they
want to stand at higher levels. Through the network exchanges have begun across
districts and states (Karnataka-Kerala). This has helped build the self-confidence of
EWRs. There is a feeling of inadequacy due to illiteracy but even illiterate EWR have
proven to have successfully performed through training. Thus training and networking
can facilitate women's political participation.
Thus, creating a new space where EWRs can seek solutions to their problems is the
driving force behind the federation.

Terminology"'

A clear meaning needs to be provided to the term “Federation.” during the May 2nd field
visit, in Tumkur, words used were several: Vedike (forum), Okkuta (union), Jalabhanda
(network). The term “Federation” does not relate to any one of these words. So one
should exercise caution when using this term;____________________________________
What would such a federation of EWRs look like?

It is in essence, a space where women can dialogue, reflect and articulate their own
problems related tb governance, and furthermore seek solutions collectively in an
environment of support and solidarity. The Federation would be primarily a women's
organization where women of all political persuasions or affiliations can come together
on a common gender action plank. Though politics will make its presence felt, let us
work as one from the beginning.










The federation needs to be a membership organization. It should have a floating
membership with ex-members, current members and politicians. It should have a
clear profile, have visibility, should be a coalition of women working in partnership.
The federation should have a strong element or stress on information, publication and
dissemination.
The Federation would engage on all women's issues, not only local governance
Only Gram Panchayats would be included initially and later on, the higher tiers can
be included.
The federation should be a facilitator group, with a set of working strategies such as:
Action points emerging from one meeting to be passed on to other meetings.
Views expressed in those meetings to be strengthened by communication to women's
groups for their validation.

What would such a federation of EWRs do?

The most important functions of this federation would be:
♦ To act as a problem solving and support forum.
3

♦ To institutionalize a gender perspective.
♦ To exchange experience and for peer learning.
The federation must be located in. a much larger framework where the network becomes
central to decision making. It is very important that poor women get heard in the
panchayat and even more important that their inputs are more fully utilized in larger fora
thereby institutionalizing their [gender] perspective.
How does one negotiate the political identity of such a federation?

The issue that repeatedly arose was the relationship between this new federation of
EWRs and political parties. Regardless of what elections are supposed to look like on
paper at the Gram Panchayat level, the reality remains that EWRs are connected to
political parties. Therefore the consequent federation will similarly have some political
affiliations. Parties too will begin to look at such a federation as a possible bank of both
voters and candidates. The fact that political party affiliations are legitimate at the higher
tiers of the PRIs further complicates the situation.
Issues Relating to A Federation and A Network:'

In federating and networking, roles and relationships of partners and networks, the
meaning and significance of federation, basis of collaboration, functionality, equality of
partners, apportionment of credit for work done amongst partners, access to materials and
research and action plan are all significant.
Challenges and views articulated were:

How one would form a Federation, which has endurance and permanence, in a
constantly changing scenario created by new women being elected with each term?
How to prevent the federation being hi-jacked by political parties?
How does one assume convergence of interests between women’s development and
NGO?
• The Federation is an Association of Elected Women in Panchayats is an organization
formed into a political group.
• Clarification is needed of the common goal and the time frame i.e. long or short term.
A long-term strategy would yield a strong Federation.
• The economic position and lack of financial support EWRs have.
• There is a need to understand the whole issue of opposed and unopposed
candidatures.
• The issue of residency and reservation: At the MP or MLA level they have to be
residents of the constituency before they can stand for elections. At the GP level there
■is no such rule.
• Towing the party line and the consequences for EWRs who do not, especially in
Kerala.
• Money should be available for meeting the needs of the elected members
• Flagging the what and how of collaboration, which should be sorted out
• Important differences about structure, sustainability, finances should be sorted out






4

The NGO Partners and their Commitments

The partners in the network already bring to this initiative tremendous experience in
federating and working with EWRs. The reach and scale of their work is wide.
• Singamma Srinivasan Foundation (SSF) has taken the lead in the creation of Shared
Spaces, a new political expanse towards federating EWR's. It has done so by calling
together and forming a loose partnership-network of NGO and other partners working
in the arena of gender and local governance.
• Ms. Ann Good, First Secretary, Canadian High Commission, New Delhi, said that
more funds would be diverted to build up infrastructure and that she would carry this
information and message to the South Asia meeting.
• SEARCH works in 12 districts in Karnataka training GP women. In the previous
term, they mobilized 60 EWRs into a federation called Jaal bandha whose members
are now trainers. In the shared spaces project, they will be field partner.
• MSK works in 7 districts in Karnataka with sangha women of which more than 200
have been elected. MSK would be the field NGO in federating and training the EWRs
in the shared spaces project.
• In the other three states, the NGOs that will lead the project are Gandhi Gram Rural
Institute in Tamil Nadu, Sakhi in Kerala and Lok Satta in Andhra Pradesh. Gandhi
Gram Rural Institute provides livelihood opportunities for marginalized groups and
builds women’s leadership in rural areas. Sakhi helps women access information on
gender and related issues. Lok Satta is a people’s movement for governance reforms.
• NIAS brought into this process its own considerable experience through action
research with EWRs.vl NIAS is redefining what effective and engendered
governance means. Their research has surfaced the radically different priorities of
male and female elected representatives. NIAS would work directly with 45 women
in nine Gram Panchayats in three districts of the State. There would also be a
multiplier effect through partner-NGO’s subsequently. The initial 45 women would
become the resource persons-cum-trainers for the women coming in later.
• Institute of Social Sciences, Bangalore would participate in training and research.
“Update”, their publication can be used to promote the idea of the Federation and its
exchange program in Kerala and Tamil Nadu can help EWRs interact.
• Janodaya would participate in awareness programmes in gram sabhas and in
panchayat institutions at all three levels in those areas where it is at presently
working. (Kolar, Malur, Shimoga (Tharikere, Sowlanga), Mysore-Urban, MangaloreUrban, Kaup in Mangalore District). Janodaya works with grass roots women,
concentrating on socio-eco-legal aspects to help women access justice. Janodhaya
will identify within it a new working group to do this work and this can be decided
after consultation with other members of Janodaya.
• ISST through its National Resource Center spoke of the organization’s interest and
commitment in.disseminating information regarding the Project through Uma Prachar
and in other activities such as documentation and training. ISS>T would be aiming at
reaching 100 women this year.
• Ms. Deepa Dhanraj has said that she would develop films on training materials on
issues like gender which could be useful for the network on all the four states picking
up the unique points from the four state experiences.













Ms. Purnima Vyasulu promised to fund the network from the Gram Panchayat Fund
of WYTEP, if we can identify ‘good’ elected women. So it would also be necessary
to start the identification process early. Purnima’s particular interest lay in
identifying women who would be actually working in agriculture.
Ms. Meera Saxena has supported the project from the Department of Women and
Child Development in launching the dialogue at Tumkur and has committed to future
support of the project.
The Honorable Minister of the Department of Information and Broadcasting, Dr. B.K.
Chandrashekhar has committed full support to this initiative. The Department
personnel participated and brought media presence to the Tumkur meeting.
The Honorable Minister of the Department of Kannada and Culture, Mrs. Rani Satish
has also extended her support.
The Secretary of the Department of Rural Development, Mr. M.R. Srinivasmurthy
has extended the Department’s support to the project.
Best Practices Foundation is committed to the documentation and dissemination of
best practices in the fields of development, governance and gender globally and can
conduct documentation and media campaigns of the project and its highlights.
Other individual partners who have committed to partner with the project and extend
their support include Laxmi Krishnamurthy, Vinod Vyasalu, Ammu Joseph and Dr.
Thelma Narayan.

Some emerging ideas on operationalising the Network of NGOs and Other Partners:









A common letterhead for the Project activities. Partners could claim credit for their
contributions.
Management structure which will ensure prompt communication'to all partners
regarding all aspects of the Project. It will also ensure the distribution of all relevant
materials to all partners. The person who will adopt the nodal role for this purpose
will be Suman Kolhar.
Partners will aim at convergence and congruence through their activities. No problem
was foreseen in getting their own internal organisational approvals.
Partners should draw up their financial requirements and inform SSF so that resources
could be located, both inside and outside the Project.
Need for clarity and specificity on the numbers of elected women who would be
covered under the Project. It was agreed'to minimize the number of women and
carefully select partners so that transactional costs are kept to a minimum but also
ensure a solid block of EWRs.

What is the USP of the Federation?

A New Form of Training/'1 Capacity building was necessary, but not sufficient. What
was more critical was training of a ‘political’ nature, where individual strengthening of
skills would not be,that important. Earlier type of training was more a ‘one-on’ and ‘oneoff affair and what is being envisaged now would be more by way of a hand holding
exercise, for the women, throughout their political term. Newly elected women feel the

6

most isolated. Some kind of pre-selection of women must take place before they are sent
for training.

The gender audit process started by the Singamma Foundation could be a good entry
point, and the EWRs could usefully learn about this tool.
Advocacy: Other references made were to the Advocacy Studies taken up in NIAS as
well as in Pune, the work of DISHA in Gujarat, etc. This kind of a repertoire could build
up the capabilities of the Federation and become another USP.

The Component Plan approach could also be a policy tool that could be taken up by the
Federation.

Exchanges by EWRs: Kerala EWRs immensely benefited from the Karnataka EWR
visit. It helped women to understand what was happening in the other parts of the country
in local governance.
Structure of the Association

Prepare the constitution, the bye-laws, the Articles, which will lay down how the
President, Vice President, Secretary and Officer bearers are to be elected.
Aims and Objectives










To train elected women representatives to be courageous with self-confidence and not
to be affected by atrocities or yield to pressure, in carrying out GP activities.
To empower women representatives to solve their problems and assert their rights.
To foster cordial relationship between EWRs of different gram panchayats.
To facilitate the sharing of experiences among gram panchayat women not only
within districts and states but also between states.
To encourage women representatives who have completed their 5-year term to stand
for elections and impart suitable training and empower them.
An exercise to build a movement of women leaders to address their issues as their
own.
It goes far beyond a capacity building effort

Note: These aims are to be presented for dialogue to the EWRs and revised based on their
input.____________________________________________________________________
Documenting the Process

The three possible areas where the research team could work on:


Documenting the different processes which NGOs used to buildfederations: Here the

process by which EWRs themselves start to take ownership of the federation and are
able to facilitate its spread is important to document. The idea would be to create a

manual like "What Works in Federating?" Further for other states who want to begin
this process, such a process documentation would prove useful.
♦ Surfacing what EWRs would like out of a federation: For EWRs to have ownership
over the federation, it is important that first and foremost they define what this
federation will do and how it can be useful to them. This will help also surface the
few action points around which EWRs can come together.
♦ Documenting what the action group needed: Here an action plan could be shared in
advance with the partners responsible for research so that when specific events take
place the researchers can be present.
Final Note'"'

All the partners are to work on one objective: namely to build a new process, and thus
to enable the recording of this process. The spirit of the meeting was in line with a
dream of the inverted pyramid namely, these will be pillars on which partners work and
would submit joint proposals to funding agencies towards that purpose. SSF will act like
a pump house- the federation needs information, and SSF carries the milestones and
pushes forward dream of the federation.

Endnotes
1 Suman Kolhar, Coordinator, KWIRC
" Revathi Narayanan, MSK

ui Rajani from SEARCH
" Poomima Vyasalu, Danida
' Revathi Narayanan, MSK
" Shantha Mohan, GSU, NIAS
™ Deepa Dhanraj
"" Devaki Jain, SSF

8

Society For
Participatory Research in Asi^ayl 2ooo
Dear Friend.

Please find enclosed a copy of Kannada Version of “Non-Governmental Organisations
and Panchayati Raj”. This note is prepared by Prof. Philip Oldenburg of Columbia
University. Prof. Oldenburg, a regular visitor to India since early sixties. In 1998, he
visited 12 project sites where participatory bottom up planning process was initiated by
local NGOs in collaboration, partnership with local community and Panchayarti Raj
Institutions. In the first part of this note, the author raises a number of questions on the
process of participatory planning.

The second part focus on discussion summary. After the field visit, author organised a
one and half day long discussion with NGO staff who are active in strengthening
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), present and former government officials.
The
discussion centered around PRIs in the present administrative structure, availability of
resources. NGOs involvement in PRI. access to information etc.
Author also agree that NGOs support to Panchayats is vital in the process of
reinvigorating grassroots governance. The report also brings out examples and analysis.
We hope you will find the report interesting to read and useful in your work.

If you need more copies, please write to us.

With best wishes and warm regards.

OC'cLLlT
Chandan Datta

42, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, New Delhi - 110062
Tel.: 698 1908, 698 9559 Fax : 91-11-698 0183
E-mail : pria@sdalt.ernet.in
Website : www.pria.org

Women in Local Governance:

Experiences and Effective intervention strategies in Kerala.
(Organized by Institute of Social studies trust at National Institute of Advanced
Studies,Banglore. Date: 1-2 June-2000)

Backqround
l.
In recent years, with the globalisation of economies and increasing control of the
International financial institutions, issue of good governance is receiving special
attention. It arises from the growing realisation that conventional development efforts
have failed to achieve desired results- to eliminate poverty and inequality and to
promote human rights. The various debates and approaches in this regard brings to
focus the need to make public administrative institutions accountable to people whom
they are supposed to serve. The expectation regarding a corruption free, transparent
government is voiced again and again. The right to information campaign is turning to
be a mass movement in the country.

Decentralization of power is a basic step in the right direction. This coupled with
effective measures to enhance people's participation will go along way to make the
political institutions responsive to the needs of the people, in resource allocation, in
policy and administrative reforms. " Local self governance is a genuine effort towards
political restructuring to achieve social transformation that is necessary for equitable,
environmentally sustainable and gender-just development" (DAWN)
Kerala is pursuing this line—going through yet another path-breaking and revolutionary
experiment- of power sharing, a truly decentralized and participatory development
process. The Left Democratic Government has shown the political will to hand over 40%
of the budget directly to be spend by the local bodies. Necessary rules, deployment of
staff, and other administrative procedures and formalities have almost been completed
This experiment of giving power to people-Gram Swaraj- as envisioned by Gandhi and
many others after him is slowly becoming a reality in Kerala.
This paper is an attempt to give a brief summary of this process and place the
experience of women in that background.

2.

Context

Kerala stands apart from other Indian states in having achieved high human
development index (HDI) in spite of low per capita income and economic well being. It
is the sixth smallest Indian State with a population of 30 million and with a highest
density of population (790/ sq./km)
An average gram panchayat in Kerala has a population of 25199 and average population
of a Municipality is 48785.
The social development in Kerala shows positive indicators like high literacy levels, low
birth rates, high life expectancy and low infant mortality. The status of women in
Kerala measured in terms of the above indicators is also better than their counterparts
elsewhere.
This positive human development achievements are attributed to the various historical,
cultural factors, a participatory political culture, conscious development and
- redistribution strategies .
What is projected as the Kerala model of Development in the national and international
development circles and debates come under sharp critique in the 90's with the
realisation that of the poor economic performance in the agriculture and manufacturing
sectors which makes the model unsustainable. The discussion of the paradoxes of the
model brings to light the multi-dimensional crisis, which has become obvious in many
ways. Economic stagnation, unemployment three times the national average, budget
and trade deficit, increasing suicide rates, increasing violence against women etc
clearly indicates that the present development strategies need to be revised. There are
also inter-district inequalities-pockets of deprivation co-existing with overall progress. ’

It became clear that problems of development at the micro-level could be solved only
through a change in the approach and strategy, from centralised to decentralised, from
macro to micro.

The attempts of decentralisation in Kerala dates back to late 50's when the
administrative reform committee recommended various measures towards devolution of
powers (Isaac and Tharakanl995). Unfortunately the recommendations were not
implemented as the Govt, was dismissed. A significant step in this direction was taken
in 1987-91 when district councils were created. This was also dismantled when a
change of Government took place.
The 72 and 73 constitutional amendments paved the way for decentralisation of power
to local panchayats. With the Panchayat Raj elections in '95, the three-tier panchayat
system came in to effect (2-10-'95). There are 990-gram panchayats, 152 block
panchayats, 14 district panchayats, 55 municipalities and 3 corporations. The
constitutional amendment made it possible to have about 5000 women elected to 1/3
posts in the local bodies.

2

As mentioned earlier, the LDF Govt, in Kerala which came to power in 1996, decided to
give actual power to the local bodies to act as institutions of self-government and
agents of local development. The Kerala Panchayati Raj and Municipalities Act 1994 was
passed and a special cell was constituted in the state Planning board to oversee the
decentralised planing process. To make this a popular programme and to ensure
maximum participation of people, a campaign strategy was used.

According to the new act, the grama sabhas (all members of a ward- the constitutional subdivision
of a local body) are vested with powers to identify local need and prepare plans in a scientific
participatory and time-limited manner. It was made mandatory that they meet at least twice a
year and discuss the development problems in their area, the options before them to solve them,
estimate the resources that can be mobilised and arrive at plan proposals. In order to make these
proposals into projects, the panchayats needed data and statistics. Each local body prepared a
development report with all the necessary background information, data and resource potential of
each area. Then development seminars were organised at each local body level in which taskforces
were formed and they then undertook to develop the proposals into projects. At the end of this
phase, each panchayat had a number of projects ready. In the 1st year, the common demands were
for construction of roads, schemes for employment generation, housing and other non- productive
areas. But the planing board directives were clear about the larger allocation needed for
productive sectors like agriculture, minor irrigation, diary projects, and manufacturing sectors.
Health and sanitation were other areas, which received a boost from the planning board.
In the next phase depending on the priorities, funds allocated by the government etc,
projects that can be executed are selected.
A voluntary technical core team (VTC) was formed at each local body to study the
technical feasibility and viability of these projects
Expert committees were formed at each level (BLEC, MLEC, DLEC) They recommend the ..
projects to the district planing committee (DPC).who will have to finally approve the..._. . r_-_-—
projects. Funds were directly handed over to local bodies.
In the next stage, the projects of different tiers of. local bodies were integrated and
\
.
block level and district level projects were also formulated
There are implementations and monitoring officers to help the local bodies to
implement the projects in a time bound manner------- - --------The achievements and drawbacks of the Decentralised planning process are not within
the scope of this paper. Yet it can be said with confidence that the local bodies have
become local governments constantly interacting with people and responding to their
needs. The contractor-bureaucratic nexus at the grassroots level is broken. It is not
easy to change the mindset of people who had seen that Local development is about
roads and bridges. The Planning Board has been very consciously shifting the focus to
productive sectors like agriculture and industry.
It has not been smooth all the way. There was resistance from legislators, opposition
parties, and employees' organisations who felt that their power is threatened and their
authority is getting eroded. There is also criticism that the CPI (M) who spearheaded
the programme is jealously keeping full control over it and not making conscious effort
to get the collaboration of the coalition partners.

3

Any innovative, pilot programme is bound to making mistakes and the path to success
is in acknowledging mistakes, criticisms and strive towards bettering the scheme and
that is what the planning board is claiming to do.

3.

Women in Governance: Experiences and interventions.

A notable paradox of the Kerala Model was the poor representation of women in
politics, in spite of high literacy levels and social development. Out of the 144 seats in
the state assembly, number of women has been never more than 13 (10%). Even in the
highest decision making bodies of various political parties, trade unions and service
organisations, women's representation is either nil or absolutely low.
As mentioned earlier, large number of women could come in to the public realm
through reservation of seats in the local bodies. 3954 women are members of gram
panchayats out of which around 375 are presidents of panchayats, 564 are in block
level and 105 at the district panchayats
Many more women are active in the decentralised planning process as convenors of
various taskforces, as Key resource persons. For the first time in the history of the
state, there is recognition, acceptance and visibility to women in politics. There is
conscious effort to develop the capabilities of women leaders.

With this entire process of people's plan campaign,-a very dynamic process-isset-in-==
motion at the Local level. Each year, projects have to be prepared,-previous projects/
implemented. There are meetings at various levels and training programmes . All this
makes the day of an elected representative packed with activities. This is specially.the...
case of women, as they have to couple this with their household activities and ~——professional work if they are employed outside.
?-■
Many women are coming into governance for the first time and they also have to spend
time to Learn a number of new things like rules, administrative procedures, project
preparation, skills of public speaking, implementation, evaluation and monitoring.-—---

The people's planning process has now entered the 4th year and it is interesting to
assess the experiences of women in local governance in this challenging context

4.

General approach

❖ The planning board has been responsible for this pilot and innovative project but in
the board there are no women!
❖ In the initial phase of the planning process itself, conscious attention was given to
give visibility to women in the process of development and it was included as a
topic of training and handbooks. Although initially women's welfare was the title
given, it was changed to women's development subsequently. In order to do this,
women had to be brought forward to participate in Large numbers from the planning
process to execution of projects. From the beginning planning board took steps .:
and give directions to this effect
-------

4

❖ The handbook on women speaks of gender, development, and status of women,
model projects and exhorts the local bodies to earmark 10% of funds for projects
exclusively for women. But in the 1st year, only 4.6% were spend for projects on
women. Hence the planning boards made it mandatory that 10% is spend on women
and only then DPC will give sanctions to the entire projects of local bodies. Due to
conscious intervention, the share of women's component rose to 11.5%
❖ Another aspect was the stipulation that gender impact assessment was mandatory
in the cost -benefit analysis of all projects
❖ Before each phase of the programme, training programmes were conducted on a
wide variety of topics related to all areas of decentralised planing and concerns of
women were integral to these Although it was intended to have at least 30% of
participation of women in the state, district and local levels, nowhere this could be
achieved. In the Key Resource training (KRP) of the 1st year, women's participation
was only 17% and many dropped out subsequently.
In adequate number of women resource persons affected training programmes at
the lower levels a. The planning board also feels that active leadership of women to
organise and implement programmes at the Local level also was lacking in many
places
❖ A special attempt to increase women's participation was to get the anganawadi
teachers active in mobilising poor women who are the beneficiaries of the
anganawadis. Kerala has about 14000 anganawadis and about 30000 related
workers. A special handbook was prepared for the child care sector and
conventions were conducted to involve the teachers in the plan campaign. The
local bodies were given permission to give additional honorarium of Rs.100/- as an
incentive for this work
❖ Special effort was made to get women to participate in the grama sabha. Although
women could go to any subject group discussion, most went to women's
development group and some went to the groups which discussed issues like
drinking water, education etc.
.. .
Discussions were based around a questionnaire on women's situation in the panchayat.
The overall participation of women in grama sabhas also was around 20%. It was
mainly women from the economically backward sessions who participated with the hope
of getting benefits. It is to be discussed whether the concerns of the rest of the society
is more to do with macro policies that affect their economy like the import policies
regarding cash crops like rubber, coconut or is there a general apathy to what is
happening around them?
❖ The chapter on women in the development report of the panchayats gives an overall
situation of women in Kerala. Yet, one must admit that in the secondary data
collection to prepare the report, women's participation was not there as expected.
It was on the basis of actual data that reports of other sectors were written but the
chapter on women was written on the basis of common knowledge and
understanding Subsequently, special attention is paid to conduct a status of women
study through all the women's groups of the local bodies. Guidelines are discussed
in the Training handbook for women taskforce members
❖ The taskforce that formed out of the group-discussing women's development were
to prepare the projects for the women's component. Yet, because of the inadequacy
5

of training on development issues of women, lack of experts on gender and Limited
number of women volunteers have affected the project preparation. Many are aware
of the issues of women but not of the potentials of gender based planning and
development.
Projects for women

Not only that sufficient money was not earmarked for women in the
1st phase but also most of the projects could not be considered as women's projects.
Out of the total 4412 projects under the women's component in the 1st year, 59.15%
(2523) were in productive sectors. 38.42% (1773) were in service sectors. 2.42% of
the funds were spend for the infrastructure development. It is very relevant to ask
how many of these were fit to be included as the women's development project.
Projects for roads and bridges (1.22%-25 projects), sanitation (0.74%-22 projects),
drinking water (0.28%- 14 projects), minor irrigationO.85%-35 projects) electricity
(0.31%-17 projects) could in no way be considered under the Women's component
plan. Projects to improve facilities in schools, housing etc also were found to
included as part of this
Of the projects in productive sectors, majority (1147) was in animal husbandry. All
this was related to distribution of goats and chickens to individual beneficiaries.
Although, these assets were transferred to women, there was no provision to see
that women had its ownership or control of the income from them. There was no
organisational support to see that the birds or animals were protected from diseases
or marketing is undertaken collectively. So it is imperative to see that women are in
control over the assets created and that they will directly receive and control the
income and that they are assisted to develop the management capabilities. The
same can be said of the kitchen garden projects (300Projects).

Most of the projects proposed as part of the industry (807) were related to the
distribution of tailoring machines. There were industrial cooperatives etc oriented to give employment to women but these were prepared without giving sufficient
attention to the forward and backward linkages.
A close examination of the women's projects reveals many shortcomings. Many of
the projects were oriented to enhance the income of women but they never
questioned the sexual division of labor or the gender discrimination in society. Most
of the occupations promoted were those which women can do combining their
household responsibilities.
There were 700 projects related to anganawadis but again without any innovation
or new approach
In spite of all this, it has to be acknowledged that, in designing projects and
programmes in local bodies, the need to include women was acknowledged and this
was visible throughout the state.
A beginning has been made.
Very conscious strategies were used subsequently; using lessons learned from this 1st
phase. Since it was difficult to get Key resource persons on a sustained basis to
assist with the projects and programmes, it was decided to focus on training the

6

elected women representatives themselves , women members of the taskforces,
anganawadi teacher's etc
In the 2nd phase 62.93% of funds were for the productive sectors, 36.14 in the
service sector and infrastructure received 0.93%
There were many changes and improvements. In the 2nd year projects in the
manufacturing sector showed about 40% increase at all levels. Tailoring machines
were given only related to garment making units. Projects for individual
beneficiaries were minimum.
One remarkable feature in the second phase was the emergence and active
functioning of neighbourhood groups and self-help groups. A new wave of
enthusiasm to get together and act collectively is emerging in many areas. In some
places, women were able to mobilise 2-3 lakhs of rupees in 4-5 months. This will
definitely help to improve projects in the next phase.
Even in this phase, in spite of strict monitoring, 10% of women's component plan
goes for anaganawadis, to construct buildings terming them as women's centers.
But it is to be noted that women cannot have access to the place when children are
there and when the building will be free, women are not free, as they have to take
the kids home.
Funds for housing also has gone up, in spite of directions that only houses for
female headed households can be included!

Although there is remarkable progress, a lot more have to be achieved. At the end
of the financial year, (1999) only 65% of funds were spent and quick survey
revealed that what was mostly unspent was money earmarked under the women's
scheme. So implementation and monitoring is still areas where a lot of attention
and pressure has to be there.

If such projects have to be properly implemented a special implementing officer
have to be put in place. In the words of a panchayat member “ Majority of the
panchayats spend the 10% without scientifically studying the problems, needs,
potentials and limitations of women locally. Hence you hear of women's cowshed,
women's milch animal project etc (Shailaja Surendran, member, Bisonwally Panchayat)

5.

Experiences of elected women representatives.

The context of the decentralised planning process is such that requires a lot of
time, energy and commitment from the part of the elected representatives. "
People's plan Campaign( PPC) gave tremendous opportunities for those who want to
do something. Earlier it was just meetings and office work. But after the PPC
started, the development activities evolved through ward conventions and grama
sabhas had to be executed and elected representatives had to work jointly with the
bureaucracy. There was no place in our appointment diary for anything else." (
P.Dhanalakshmi, President, Panthalany block Panchayat)
7

85% of the EWR's are inexperienced in politics and is contesting in elections for
the first time. 40% of them have entered politics through elections and 26%
through working with women's organisations.
26% of them are below 30 years. 40% are between 30 and 40 years. Only 33.4% are
above 40
Regarding education, women are ahead of men.18% of women are graduates or post
graduates. Only 13% men are in this category. What is significant is to note that
64.55% of women are educated up to either high school level or below it
According to a survey conducted by KSSP, 33% EWR's have no employment. For
men this is only below 10%

The planning board in '98 conducted a survey among 1656 elected women
representatives about the changes that have occurred after they became people's
representatives. Majority of the women agreed that in 3 years time, their awareness
about local government, the rules and regulations, skills of planning, writing and
public speaking, ability to control meeting proceedings, deal with bureaucracy etc
have substantially increased. This survey however did not examine their awareness
of the planning from a gender perspective, their understanding of development
(welfare, anti-poverty, equity, empowerment) nor gathered opinions on male
perspective of the participation of women and the gender dynamics in the local
bodies.
Most women had to face a lot of mental tensions, having to combine family and
work responsibilities and handle prejudices against women According to their own
assessment 43.7% of women had to face slandering, mainly from opposition parties,
contractors and the public

Having entered the public realm created tensions within the family too. On an
average, an elected women had to spend minimum 4 hours every day on
programmes related to the local body and decentralised planning and another 2
hours for other public functions and activities. If they are working outside the
home, then another 6 hours goes for that. All this, along with the household
responsibilities leaves very little time for personal needs related to Leisure and rest.
The amount of time spend outside the home is creating some type of tension or
other in families of 60% women. In 5% families, this tension is very high. These
tensions are in the households of women who are between 30-40 years, where
childcare and education are crucial.
From the above discussion, it is clear that the educational background, double work
burden, expectations from the public in the context of the decentralised planning
process, the lack of experience of the elected women and problems created by a
male dominated political system have all made the life of an elected women very
difficult and demanding. Hence, many women opined that they would not want to
stand for another election. To make women in political process effective and
responsive, lot of support from concerned women's organisations is a must.
8

6.

Gendered governance

The experiences of Kerala shows that attempts to bring about effective and good
governance does not automatically address the question of gender inequality.
Like all other social relations, gender relations are also about hierarchies of power
and privileges between men and women, giving rise to differing needs and
interests. This also means differing and unequal capacities to meet these needs and
realise these interests.

i

Governance is about interventions to address needs of people, matching social and
economic resources with these needs. In this power is the decisive factor. If good
governance is about equity and equality, gender and gender equity has to be major
concerns in development. For example it is important to analyse how needs are
perceived, voiced and understood? How resources are generated and allocated? How
the differences of power and privileges between men and women influence upon
this process?
The Last 4 years of experience makes it very clear that women as a group lack the
social and economic and political power. Yet not all women experience this lack of
power in the same way. Their caste, class, age, educational background, political
belonging, husbands party position etc affects a woman's position and clout.
Women's perceived needs were those that addressed their practical needs and
improved their positions. Even to these practical needs, the response was not
enthusiastic as seen from the first year's allocation of 4%. Of funds. Even after
insisting that over and above the allocations from general funds,10% should be
earmarked exclusively for projects on women, there was a tendency to put drinking
water or buildings for anganwadis etc under this.
There were also incidences of sanctioned projects not implemented in time and
funds lapsed due to negligence or silently defeating the women's prgrammes by
mere absence or Lack of interest. The power was shown in a subtle way, which
makes it difficult to fight.
The challenge is to bring strategic concerns of women into projects. There are very
few such projects that helped to change the position of women but beginnings are
made to bring women from the domestic sphere into the public realm, empower
them with economic independence. Self-help groups and neighborhood groups are
very popular. Some panchayats allocated funds for certain innovative and no­
stereotyped programmes because of the insistence of Key resource persons or a
dynamic women panchayat member, an often sited example is of Balusseri, in
K-a-nnur where 106 girls and housewives were enrolled to study self-defense
techniques (as a way of addressing increasing violence against women). Many
housewives were forced to give up the training after one or two stages as the
husbands were saying that they don't need a 'belt' at home! The panchayt who
funded the instructors also felt that self-defense techniques are enough and not a
black belt, which they would have got if they had completed the 4th stage.
The final control over resources and the decision-making capacity is still with men.
Many times in discussions comparison is made between the scarce resources and

9

whether it should be spend for drinking water or cycling for women! The point of
the 10% fund utilisation as a pro-active step towards overcoming effects of a long
and systemic oppression is met with stiff resistance.
The experience in Kerala makes it very clear that just by decentralising power or
allocating funds or putting certain mechanisms in place, gender equity cannot be
addressed. Kerala has taken a step in the right direction but it needs conscious
intervention to progress further. Patriarchy as a system has deep roots in all
institutions of society and sustained and long struggles, systematic intervention of
all concerned persons, especially of women's organizations and movements only can
bring lasting changes

Paper presented by Aleyamma Vijayan, Sakhi resource center for women, Trivandrum,
Kerala-695001

10

T1
PRESENTATION ON “GENDER AND GOVERNANCE: EXPERIENCESAND
INTERVENTIONS OF MAHILA SAMAKHYA, KARNATAKA”
- Dr.Revathi Narayanan, State Programme Director
Mahila Samakhya Karnataka

AT

ISST SEMINAR ON “WOMEN IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE: EXPERIENCES AND
EFFECTIVE INTERVENTION STRATEGIES IN KARNATAKA, KERALA,
ANDHRA PRADESH, TAMIL NADU AND MAHARASHTRA

T2
Mahila Samakhya - GOI project under Dept, of Education, Ministry of Human
Resource Development for the empowerment of poor rural women in Karnataka
(1989), UP, Gujarat (1989), AP (1993), under Bihar Education Project in Bihar
(1991), under DPEP in MP, Assam and Kerala (post 1996).
Vision : AEquality through education, Aformation of empowered grassroot
federations of poor women.

Strategy : Formation of Village level collectives as a starting point - collective
reflection, analysis and action.

T3
SAMAKHYA : GIVING EQUAL STATUS TO . . .
STATUS OF WOMEN REVISITED:
THREE KEY INDICATORS
V CHANGING STRUCTURES AND INSTITUTIONS
v ENHANCING ACCESS TO RESOURCES
v CHANGING IDEOLOGY

GENDER AND GOVERNANCE THEREFORE SEEN AS A CORE ISSUE FOR MAHILA
SAMAKHYA

CALL IT SERENDIPITY OR WHAT YOU WILL
1987 : Local body elections in Karnataka with 25% reservation for women

MS Karnataka launched in Bidar, Bijapur and Mysore, 1991 - 92 in
Raichur and Gulbarga

1989

1993 : GP elections with 33’^% reservation for women
Sangha women contest and several win^especially on SC reserved seats.
1994 : MS Gender and Governance training woven into the Gramsat programme of
Department of Women and Child Development, G.O.K.

T5
MS SANGHA WOMEN ELECTED
(DECEMBER 1993 ELECTIONS)

Districts
BIJAPUR
GULBARGA

No. Women
elected

TO

GRAM

THE

No. of women
elected President

PANCHAYATS

No. of women elected
Vice - President

59

6

7

33

2

2

RAICHUR

10

-

-

BIDAR

28

2

2

MYSORE

53

1

2

KOPPAL

26
11

13

TOTAL

209

T6
The findings of a study on the experiences of sangha ewr’s by the MS team confirm
that an ongoing empowerment programme can create an enabling environment for
poor women elected to the panchayat.
\ The sanghas have provided continued support to the sangha ewr’s through the
political processes and thus created an enabling environment.
v The sangha- experience, based as it is on women’s agency, has enabled sangha
ewr’s to approach their role and tasks with gender and community interests at
the centre.
v Several of the sangha ewr’s have stayed accountable to the interests of poor
women, establishing accountability mechanisms for themselves and for the
processes of governance in general.
They have been able to challenge
patriarchy, class and caste barriers in their new roles.
v The sangha ewr’s have challenged corruption, broken negative stereotypes of
women and within the sphere of the gram panchayats, redefined political roles.
v The support structures of the Sanghas has the potential to function as the
countervailing force to the co-optation of women Panchayat members into
mainstream politics.

T7
Sangha ewr’s have been placed in categories 1-4 in order of decreasing
‘effectiveness’ as panchayat members. The four categories are
Category 1: Women are articulate and effective in accessing resources for the
sangha and community, challenging corruption, creating positive
images of women in the community.
Category 2: They are active in terms of accessing resources but much less so than
those in category 1 in terms of challenging existing ‘norms’ and
‘ideologies’
Category 3: They are able to access only those resources that are normally available
to any member. Their skills of articulation and confidence levels need
to be built up.
Category 4: Women are not effective, male relatives are de facto members of the
panchayat.

3

T8
EFFECTIVENESS OF SANGHA EWR’S (1993 - 1998 GRAM PANCHAYATS)
SI.
No.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

District

Category-1

Category-2

Category-3

Category-4

Total

Gulbarga
Bijap ur
Bidar
Koppal
Raichur
Mysore
Total

8
17
13
14
8
27
87

5
25
4
7
2
8
51

18
14
6
2

2
3
5
3
-

33
59
28
26
10
38
194*

3
43

13

* Data for 15 EWR’s from Mysore not available. The actual total of sangha
women elected to the gram panchayats from the MS districts is 209.

T9
HOWEVER
Clear by this time that much more needed to be done FOR MEANINGFUL
PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN GOVERNANCE.
VITAL TO BREAK THROUGH THE ISOLATION OF THE ELECTED WOMEN
REPRESENTATIVE
VITAL TO ESTABLISH A SOLIDARITY NETWORK,
ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM FOR THE EWR

A

SUPPORT

AND

THESE ARE SEEN BY MAHILA SAMAKHYA KARNATAKA AS FUNDAMENTAL
TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF POLITICS.

T10
MS STRATEGIES TO SET UP THE SOLIDARITY NETWORK FOR EWR ...

v EWR supported by the much wider process of politicisation of poor sangha
women.

x That the election process and the candidates are only one part of this process
given

the current situation for reservation of seats.

4

th

POLITICAL ROLES OF
SANGHA WOMEN

*

EWR - PANCHAYAT WOMEN REPRESENTATIVE

T12
SANGHA WOMEN IN THE GRAM PANCHAYATS (FEBRUARY 2000
ELECTIONS)

DISTRICT

CONTESTED

WON

ADHYAKSHA

56
30
21
100
60
95
42
384

30
16
-

1
1

Kopp al
Raichur
Bellary
Bijapur
Bidar
Gulbarga
Mysore
Total

73
44
40
22
225

UPADHYAKSHA

2

2

4

2

T13
CHANGING AND BROADENING POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF
SANGHA WOMEN
x Although number of winning candidates has not increased dramatically, the
quality of participation has been very different and more meaningful.

x Sangha women as candidates, voters, supports.
x Sangha women have discussed and. negotiated with candidates in general and
panchayat election.

x Sangha women have entered the fray in order to force men to contest.

T14
THE PITFALLS
x SOME

WOMEN HAVE HAD TO SPEND LARGE SUMS OF MONEY FOR
ELECTION CAMPAIGNS IN MARCH 2000
x VERY FEW WOMEN HAVE BEEN ABLE TO CONTEST THE TALUK
PANCHAYAT ELECTIONS.

T15
BUILDING THE SOLIDARITY NETWORK
x Formation of sangha level committees for Governance and Panchayat Raj.
x Grassroot federations at ghataka, taluk and eventually zilla level.
x Issue based federation which are linked to each other. One such will be the
federation of PR committee members.

6

tig

TALUK

W

GRASSROOTS FEDERATION IN MANILA SAMAKHYA KARNATAKA

ZILLA

M/

T17
ISSUE BASED FEDERATION - THE SOLIDARITY NETWORK FOR EWR’s

v SUPPORT
v ACCOUNTABILITY
v BRINGING WOMEN’S CONCERNS ONTO THE PANCHAYAT AGENDA
v ACTING AS A “NURSERY’ FOR WOMEN CONTESTING ELECTIONS.

T18
DREAM ON . . . AND WHYNOT ?
FOR WE MUST AIM FOR THE STARS TO REACH THE TREETOPS !!

T19
ALL WOMEN PANCHAYAT
16 member all - women gram panchayat elected in ATHANOOR, AFZALPUR
TALUK, GULBARGA.

PROCESS FACILITATED BY MAHILA SAMAKHYA, GULBARGA TEAM.

MELA FOR SANGHA EWR’s AND SANGHA PANCHAYAT COMMITTEE
MEMBERS AT ATHNOOR 18, 19, 20 APRIL 2000.

8

EXTRACT FROM MAHILA SAMAKHYA KARNATAKA TRAINING
PROGRAMME ON GENDER AND GOVERNANCE
CASE STUDIES USED TO LINK CONCEPT AND PRACTICE
MS SANGHA WOMEN IN THE PANCHA YA TS

DREAMING THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM ...
All this time, we have talked of what we can do in the future, as one sangha woman, as a sangha.
(Resource team may do as many case studies as time permits, add other case studies if needed.
What is important is to link concepts with our positive experiences).

Let us now listen to the stories of brave women, brave sangha women like you...
In this part of the session, we narrate the success stories of MS sangha women elected to the
panchayats... how they are showing that politics can be changed, how they are bringing social
justice and gender justice issues “on the panchayat agenda” I “into the working of the
panchayat”

(Method of communication : From different parts of the tent, members of the resource team
stand up and tell the story of one MS sangha EWR and how she has changed things around her.
The changes can be told in Question and Answer form so that the group can participate.)
IMPORTANT:

If a sangha ewr is part of the group, use her as a resource person, to tell her
own story.

DEMANDING ACCOUNTABILITY FROM PANCHAYAT
FROM THE COMMUNITY

MEMBERS AND

Lakshmibai L.Maddar (Member of the Beeraldinni panchayat, Bagewadi taluk,
Bijapur district) is a sahayaki (sangha leader) and is unusual in that she has been
educated upto class VII. The other unusual fact about this Dalit woman is that she
has won the elections from a general seat. There are seven women and five men in
her panchayat. Two of the women are wives of wealthy Gowdas. All they did was
come in cars every third meeting to sign the attendance register. It was their
husbands who attended meetings in their stead. Until Lakshmibai pointed out that
they were not supposed to. Not only was she able to allot IRDP loans to eight women
from the sangha, she ensured that all these loans were repaid within 11 monthssomething unheard of in the history of the village. The bank manager was so
pleased that he felicitated her at a public function. Values nurtured in the sangha
have helped Lakshmibai become a respected member of the community.

9

* As a panchayat member, Lakshmibai herself was accountable to the public (getting loans
sanctioned to the poor)
❖ Ensured that the public was accountable... making them repay loans in time.

* Made other panchayat members accountable to the public... insisting that these women and
not their husbands come to the meeting.
# Changing the image of women politicians as weak and ineffective.
* Changing the image of the politician as corrupt, inefficient, not responsible to community
interests.

All the elements of empowerment are present

0

Was poor women’s access to and control of resources changed.

Yes, Lakshmibai not only won the elections (political space as a resource) but she did so on a
general woman’s seat in competition with wives of the village power elite.

Resources in the panchayat (IRDP loans, Ashraya houses) were made available to poor
women.
0

Changing structures and institutions

The panchayat as the domain of rich, powerful upper caste men was changed (refer back to
Gowda in the ‘Khali Hale’ role play)
0

Changing ideologies
’k Beliefs that women are ignorant, weak and inefficient were changed by Lakshmibai’s
actions.
* Gaining the respect of community when her work was appreciated by the bank manager.

This case study shows how women’s participation in politics can lead to empowerment and the
transformation of politics.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

“HOW HANUMAVVA FOUGHT GENDER AND CASTE BIAS BY BECOMING
A PANCHAYAT MEMBER”
Hanumavva of Dhotihal village, Kushtagi taluk, Raichur district is a poor Dalit
sangha member who eked out a living selling firewood on the outskirts of her village.
Being a Dalit, she was not allowed to enter the main village. The turning point
came when she contested and won the gram panchayat elections.

10

After the elections, the MS team put in considerable effort into training victorious
sangha women (see section on training) Hanumavva benefited a great deal from
these sessions. After one training she suggested to the MS team that non-sangha
EWR’s be included in the training. It would then be easier, she said, to influence
panchayat decisions in favour of women. Hanumavva realised the importance of
networking all ewr’s in her panchayat. These seven women (sangha and non sangha
EWR’s) have become an effective lobby group on women’s issues. The community
soon became conscious of Hanumavva’s clout in the panchayat. Village families
with each other to invite her to their houses - the same woman who sold firewood
outside the main village. Hanumavva is a role model in Mahila Samakhya,
Karnataka and is an inspiration to sangha women who want to contest the
elections. She made a great impact on members of the new sanghas in Bellary
district.

******************************************************************************

“HOW SHARANAVVA CHALLENGED CASTE DISCRIMINATION”
Sharanavva, a sangha panchayat member from Gulbarga district found out that
children from Dalit families were being discriminated against in the anganwadi.
She persuaded the president of the panchayat, an “upper-caste” women, to sanction
a second anganwadi for the Dalit children. When village powerbrokers tried to
interfere with the selection of the teacher, Sharanava brought this to the notice of the
local MLA and ensured that the selected candidate was appointed.

TAKING A STAND AGAINST CORRUPTION AND THE VILLAGE POWER
ELITE.
Durgamma, a sangha member from Muddebihala taluk of Bijapur district was
elected Vice President of her Panchayat. The President was a lady who belonged to
the dominant Reddy community. All Panchayat decisions were made by her
husband. Under the Ashraya scheme, Durgamma put in the applications of three
extremely poor people. However, the allotment was made to some people known to be
close to the President’s husband. Durgamma also found out that these so called
beneficiaries had given Rs.2000 as a bribe to him. She brought this up in the
Panchayat and succeeded in changing the allotment in favour of the genuinely poor
beneficiaries. Not only had Durgamma taken a stand against corruption, she had
also confronted the village power elite.

Jhalabai (Bidar) fought to have proper seating for women members.
NagammafBidar) arranged for proper roads and toilets for women.
Dhyamamma (Koppal) helped her village get a water tank.

I I

THE SANGHA AS A PRESSURE GROUP
“How the sangha can bring women’s concerns on thepanchayat agenda”.
•£• Sanghas select they candidate, help her campaign for elections.
(?) Sangha insist that the ewr’s inform them about panchayat
issues she can take up in the panchayat

work, discuss with her on what

(?) Sangha get land, money and materials for the sangha mane(kutir) from the panchayat

Sangha women raise women’s issues in gram sabha meetings.
A*****************************************************************************

l<2

PANCHAYTI RAJ IN ANDRA PRADESH :
EMERGING TRENDS

Dr (Mrs) K.Jayalakshrni

Paper presented to the National Conference on Women in
Local Governance: Effectiveness and Strategies
Organsied by ISST, Bangalore at National Institute of
Advance Studies (June 1-2,2000).

PANCHAYATI RAJ IN ANDHRA PRADESH: EMERGING TRENDS

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

The system of Local self-government existed in the villages during the days of

Saravahanas and Kakatiya kings. Although dynasties changed yet the villages
remained intact with a lot of autonomy. The present system of Local selfgovernment draws its inspiration more from the panchayat, which existed in the
ancient and medieval period. Until the advent of British, village was a unit endowed

with sufficient administrative powers and sound economically. Initially the British
gradually reduced the autonomy of these institutions but at a later stage they made

attempts to revive them. One such measure was the Lord Ripon’s Resolution of
1882, the Decentralization Commission of 1909, which subsequently paved way for

the present Local government system, or the Panchayati Raj. Till Independence, no

Sincere attempts were made to constitute Local self-government across the country.
Post-Independence Developments for Local -self Government:

During 1950s T.Prakasam introduced Firka Development Scheme and

simultaneously the Community Development Programme was tried out in the State.

Both these schemes had all the components of the present PRIs. With the formation
of the state of Andhra in 1953, the coastal and southwestern districts. The present

Telengana districts continued with the former Hyderabad State till 1 November

1956. In 1953, attempts were made to introduce the local -self-government in the
state on the basis of the system operating in the then Madras State. The Local
Institutions drew its regulations largely from the Madras District Municipalities
Act, 1920, the Madras Districts Boards Act, 1920, and the Madras Village

KT-|

Panchayat Act, 1950. In 1956 the state was re-organized and the present Andhra
Pradesh was carved out and during that period the Hyderabad District Board Act,

1951, and the Hyderabad Village panchayat Act, 1951 were also included in the
state Act and was applicable in the state. As all these Acts were applicable in the
state, due to which three types of institutions emerged in the state they were district
boards, taluk boards, and village panchayats. A three-tier system was operating at

all the three levels. In Andhra Pradesh the District Boards were elected bodies with
the President having executive authority. Their activities were confined to non-

panchayat areas with an exception only in the area of education, public health and
medical relief. The District Boards had to heavily rely upon land cess, education cess

and surcharge or stamp duty, as it was their major source of income. The Taluk
boards had similar functions like the District Board. Both the District Boards and
the Taluk Boards had similar functions and were also constituted in an identical

pattern. Whereas the village panchayats were different in nature and was classified.
into Class I panchayats with a population of five thousand and above and revenue of
ten thousand rupees annually. The remaining village panchayats could not collect
any revenue or less than the Class I panchayats. The Class I panchayats was divided

into five wards and the Class II into two wards. Elections were held by secret ballot
based on adult franchise. Seats were also reserved for Scheduled Caste members.

The functions of the Village panchayats included both obligatory and
discretionary ones. Construction and maintenance of village infrastructure,
Provision of basic facilities and remedial public health measures and improvement

of agricultural activities and animal husbandry programmes formed part of the

obligatory functions. Discretionary functions included environmental upkeep,
commercial and other services, educational infrastructure, public welfare measures,

and improvement of agriculture and animal husbandry activities. The main sources
of revenue were cess on land, transfer of property and taxes of different kinds.

Special government grants were also given to the panchayat for teaching, purchase

of school equipment and for running maternity and child welfare centers. All the
three institutions had in-built limitations in terms of its constitution and

functioning. Their jurisdiction was so large, which obstructed their functioning.
Each of the three levels operated in a compartmentalized manner with no support

from the villages. Both the government departments and the District Boards carried
out similar functions like supervision of schools and dispensaries. Paucity of

resources, inadequate staff and infrastructure, lack of technical guidance are often

reasons for poor functioning of the district, taluk boards and village panchayats.
In 1952, the Community Development projects and the National Extension
Service accelerated the activities in the rural areas. This resulted in establishing
Large administrative machinery and advisory wings at the block and district levels.

The elected representatives from the Assembly constituency and Parliamentary

(ALL. As and MPs) were nominated to these advisory bodies. Panchayati Raj
System in Andhra Pradesh can be chronologically divided into four phases. The
Institution had its set of ups and down. An analysis for its non-functioning may

enable us to understand the pulse of the ‘ Political will ‘ with related to PRIs in the
state.

l<T-3

The First Phase: 1959- 65
Andhra Pradesh was one of the first states to accept the recommendations

of the Balwantrai Mehta study team (1957) report with few exceptions and

constituted a Panchayati samiti in each district on an experimental measure in 1958.
An assessment of its working was made, and legislation was passed to create a three-

tier system in the state. By 1959, the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Samithis and Zilla
Parishads Act was passed and statutory elected bodies had been established in the
districts. 235 Panchayat Samithis were constituted and subsequently others were
established. By December 1959 the existing District Boards were statutorily

abolished and Zilla Parishads were constituted in twenty districts of the state. At
that point of time the government issued an adoption order to transfer functions,

powers, staff, assets and liabilities of the erstwhile district Boards to the Panchayat
Samithis and Zilla Parishads. During 1959, the village panchayats in the Andhra

region were constituted under the Madras Village panchayat Act, 1950 and
similarly in the Telengana region the Hyderabad Village panchayat Act was in

vogue. Practically the three-tier structure was established and was corporate,

statutory and representative in nature. Ail the three institutions at various levels
were able to acquire, hold and dispose off property and enter into contracts with

other agencies/ bodies.
The state had decided to statutorily abolish district boards and constituted
Zilla Parishads in December 1959 in all the twenty-two districts. At this juncture,
they had issued an order giving in the details that assets, powers, functions,

liabilities, institutions and staff of the district boards were transferred to the Zilla

Kt-4-

Parishads and panchayat samithis. Some amendments were made in the 1959 act
that in 1963 stating that the And lira area would be redefined, also restricted the
membership of the legislators with voting rights to one samithi only, and prohibited
a person from simultaneously being a legislator and a presiding member of any of

these bodies. The amendment had prohibited the M.L.As from becoming the
members of the Zilla Parishads or samithi if their constituencies were not part of

any rural area, besides prescribing the term of the presiding members and
prohibiting village officers from becoming members of these bodies.

in 1963,the government had thought of reducing the number of 448 samithi

blocks staff in order to ensure economy in the expenditure on establishment There
was a move to carve out bigger blocks but without affecting the tempo of the

developmental activities. In order to operationalise this aspects, a high powered

committee was constituted with M.Purushottam Pai as the chairperson. This
committee recommended larger blocks as it felt that the panchayat samithi blocks
were essentially units of planning and development It felt that while panchayats
Were envisaged as instruments of economic progress and social change, with the
widest scope for the expression of democratic opinion at the village level, larger

blocks would be financially stronger with increased scope for independent planning
and execution of development programmes, including those under area planning.
The committee also suggested categorization of blocks as, ordinary, backward and
tribal and the e abolition of the distinction between stage-I, stage -II, post-stage, and

so on. The basis of categorization depended on the certain indicators like- per

capita revenue; percentage of irrigated to the total area, literacy rate, and

WT-5

percentage of children attending schools and road mileage, amongst others. It
recommended allotment of community development funds on a varying per capita

basis so that less developed blocks could get finances more than the others. In order
to operationalise some of the recommendations put forth by the Pai committee an

amendment was made to the 1959 act in 1964 to empower the government to alter
the boundaries of the blocks and reconstitute the samithis. By July 1964, the

number of blocks had been reduced from 448 to 321. At the same time some of the
municipalities in the Telengana region were reduced to gram panchayats.
By 1964 the Andhra Pradesh Gram panchayat Raj Act, was introduced and it
superseded the earlier acts of Andhra and Telengana. According to the present Act,

every village had to have a gram sabha consisting of al the adult voters. The gram

sabha was entrusted the responsibility to consider the annual statement of accounts
and audit, the report of the administration of the previous year, the programme of

works for the following year, and the proposals for fresh taxation nr for
enhancement of the existing taxes. These gram sabhas were presided either by the

Sarpanch or the Upa-Sarpanch in case the former is absent.

The gram panchayat was constituted in a village with a population often

thousand or above. Incase it was less than that a group of villages were formed into
a gram panchayat. Gram Panchayat was the lowest unit with proximity. All the

eligible village voters elected the members and hence the membership depended on
the total population and varied between five to seventeen in each panchayat. Prior
to the existing reservation policy, one seat was always reserved for women in case of

seven and two in nine seats in a gram panchayat. One seat was reserved for either

for Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. The village was divided into as per the

number of voters into as many wards as there were seats. Both the Sarpanch and
the Upa -the members of the panchayat indirectly elected Sarpanch. Their term of

office lasted for a period of five years only.

Powers of the Sarpanch: He was the executive head of the gram panchayat. Monthly
meetings were convened and exercised administrative control over the executive

officer, who at times was in charge of more than one gram panchayat. Apart from

executive officer, the Sarpanch also had administrative personnel of the village-the
gram sevak in charge of four to six villages and a primary school teacher. There was

provision in the 1964 Act to constitute functional committees for agriculture, public
health, sanitation and communication, and also two more committees in case there is
a felt need from the members. The gram panchayat implemented all the

developmental programmes with no exceptions. Due to lack of financial resources

most of these programmes were not implemented in the desired manner. Apart
from these panchayats, Nyaya Panchayats too was constituted for a group of three

to five villages to tackle criminal and civil justice in the rural areas. Nyaya
panchayat term of office was for three years.
Panchayat Samithi: This was the intermediate tier and all the M.Ps, M.L.As within
the block and sarpanches of the gram panchayats were members of this body till
1965. An amendment was made to the 1959 Act stating that the M.Ps and M.L.As
were banned not to hold any office of the President and Vice-Presidentship in the

intermediate tier. In case the honorable members wished to hold office, they
automatically ceased to be members in the Legislature. The term of office of the

Kt-7

President and the Vice-President couid be extended by six months by the
government or may be removed in case of complaints lodged against them by­

villagers or any other person. Ex-officio members were holding office as long as they
were sarpanches or members of the legislature. The President of the Samithi

convened, presided and conducted the meetings once i.n three months. The Block
Development Officer was the chief executive officer of rhe Samithi and was

responsible for implementing its resolutions of the standing committees. Although
he was an under the administrative control of the President yet was not entitled to
vote or to move any resolution. The P'anchayat Samithi implemented all the

developmental programmes and also works related to the local economy and

infrastructure.
Role of Women in PRIs:

Literature on Women’s politics' participation often concludes by stating those
women’s participation in freedom struggle slowly dwindled successively in post­

Independent era. There may be a host of reasons for the decline. Some may be

structural, social and cultural too. Situation was no different at the PRIs. Although
the Baiwant Rai Mehta Committee (1957) recommended that besides the 20
members of the Panchayati Samithi, there should be 2 women “ who are interested

in work among women and children” as co-opied members, A similar provision was
suggested with regard to tlse village panchayat. Accordingly, few states made some

provisions in their act. The Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) had
recommended that statutory All-Women panchayat at village level, with autonomy
and resources of their own for the management and administration of welfare, and

]<T - <6

development programmes for women and children, as a transitional measure”. This

recommendation has never been adopted statutorily anywhere, though such all­

women panchayats have emerged in some places for a short while. According to a
study there were 13 all women panchayats in Andhra Pradesh alter the 1964

elections.

In Andhra Pradesh, the 1986 PR) Act provided 9 percent reservation for
women for the offices of Chairman of Zilla Praja Parishads and Mandal Praja

Parishads. The act had also made provision of reservation at the grain panchayat
level. In A.P. since 1986, reservation of 2-4 (22-25 percent) seats was provided for

the gram panchayat, with two women to be co-opted in Panchayat Samithis. For the
first time, the National Perspective Plan for Women (1998) recommended that thirty
percent of the executive- head positions from the village to the district level should
be reserved for women. Similarly, otfier states too have such all-woman panchayats

-viz. Andhra Pradesh six, Haryana one, Karntaka one, Maharashtra nine, Madhya
Pradesh four, Tamil Nadu one, Tripura one, and West Bengal one. This data is

collected from the respective rural development department and district level
officials and elected representatives. There may be some more all- woman

panchayats which haw nut be brought to our notice.
Andhra Pradesh has two lakh ward members, 21,948 sarpanches, 14,647

Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency members, 1098 mandal presidents and

1098 Zilla Parishad Territorial constituency members and 22 Zilla Parishad
Presidents. Out of these members one third are women. Most of the problems

expressed by women in A.P too are similar to women elected representatives.

In A.P there has not been any sincere efforts to strengthen PRIs at ail the levels. In

fact two of the Zilla Parishad women Chairpersons were removed under corruption
charges. Both of them were highly qualified and trained professionals with good
practice in their respective field of excellence. One of them was made Rajya Sabha
member very recently and continues to be Politburo member of the Party.
The PRIs decision-makers in A.P are in a very' precarious position. Sincere

efforts are made to constitute several parallel organizations be it in a small way.

Efforts are geared towards Community based organizations who are at times
promoted by NGOs or by departmental officials. Some of them are seif-help Groups

(thrift), Vana suraksha samithis, Village education committees (District Primary'
education Programme), Watershed committees, Water users association (elected
body) with sufficient financial powers, School education committees (Primary and
upper primary schools) and Mothers committee. These committees are expected to

help the village community and also the PRIs in lending their assistance in the

respective areas by resolving the problems and adopting strategies to mitigate them.
On the other hand they seem to function independently without any interaction with
the PRIs. This has further aggravated the problems for the PRIs functioning.

Women in A.P are formed into thrift groups. Mobilization process has
commenced but sustaining these women groups is the larger issue and utilizing their

services at the local institutional level is the key problem. Elections are due for the
upper two tiers and for Gram panchayts by October 2000. Our efforts need to be to

see to it the mobilized, articulate women from these committees become part of the
PRIs at various levels and be better decision makers.

Kir-io

INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES TRUST
a voluntary non-profit research and educational organisation in
consultative status with the United Nations

7th June 2000

N-601, North Block,
6th Floor, Manipal Centre,
47, Dickenson Road,
Bangalore - 560 042.
Phone: 080 - 5583701
Fax : 080 - 5583704
E-mail: isstban@giasbg01 .vsnl.net.in

Dear Mr. A. Prahalad,

Thank you very much for accepting our invitation and participating in the regional
seminar on “Women in Local Governance: Experiences and Effective Interventions in
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu" on lsl - 2nd June,
2000 held at Bangalore.

Please keep us informed of any publications or developments in this area that will be
interesting and useful to us.

Looking forward to your continued support in our future endeavour.
With regards.
Yours sincerely.

Meera M
Associate Director

Mr. A. Prahlad
Community Health Cell
No.367, Srinivasa Nilaya
Jakkasandra, I Main,
I Block, Koramangala
Bangalore - 560 034

Head Office : Upper Ground Floor, East Court, Zone 6, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi - 110 003.
Phone : 4647873 Fax : 91-011-4648724 E-mail : isstdel@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in

Grassroots democracy at its best
By Our Staff Reporter
bangalore, JUNE 1. Sharanamma

Peersab Kalasghar is no orator
but she had the audience
spellbound.
Nobody thought she would
have anything to say as the
rustic woman shared the dais
with the Governor, Ms.
V.S.Rama Devi, with the “pallu"
of her sari on her head.
But as she started speaking
everyone had to take note of
her. A gram panchayat member
fro^heribosga on the outskirts
of OTbarga, the gritty woman
gave the examples of her
courageous work and how she
tackled man’s world.
This was at the inaugural
session of the two-day regional
seminar on "Women in local
Governance: experiences and
effective interventions in Andhra
. Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala,
Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu”,
organised by the Institute of
Social Studies Trust here on
Thursday.
She was like any other woman
when she was elected. But after
attending a few meetings, she
started taking interest in
matters, for they concerned her
and her neighbours. Within
months', she knew the nuances
of the gram panchayat
administration.
mined to get things
he told her fellow
members of the panchayat to

»

rid the area of unhygienic
environment and garbage being
dumped near the hamlets in her
constituency. But the men
remained unmoved. "I cleared
the garbage myself. I had to
threaten those who opposed it”
Then there was the problem
of drinking water. When her
pleas fell on deaf ears, she

mobilised the people of her area
and staged a "rasta roko”. When
the Tahsildar sent her a message
saying that the problem would
be tackled and that she should
withdraw the dharna, she did
not relent.
She withdrew only when the
officer arrived on the scene and
took steps to ensure water

The Governor, Ms. V.S.Rama Devi, Inaugurating a workshop
on women in local governance in Bangalore on Thursday.
Also seen are (from left) Ms. Mahadevi, an elected representative
from Gulbarga, Dr. Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Director, Institute of
Social Studies Trust, Mr. M.R.Sreenivasa Murthy,
Secretary, Department of Rural Development, and
Ms. Meera M, Associate Director of ISST.

THE HINDU

JUN

supply. “Soon, the pipes came
and we had water." The men
who were apparently envious of
her, found an opportunity to
run her down when she
opposed their move to divert
funds meant for repair of a
temple.
They told her that funds were
insufficient for temple’s
renovation and challenged her
to do it on her own. "I accepted
the challenge. I completed
renovation by pledging my gold
ornaments," she said.
But then the power did not
corrupt her nor make her
power-hungry’. She declined to
contest the elections held
recently. “Women wanted me to
contest again. But I told them it
was not enough if only I know
what is what." Now, another
woman, Bhagyamma, won the
seat. Saying this, she folded her
hands humbly and went back to
her seat. Her speech was
translated into English.
The Governor was all praise
for Sharanamma. She said men
should work in tandem with
women while the latter should
fight their case assertively but
with grace and not aggression.
For ages, women suffered and
the reservation of seats in
electoral posts gave them an
opportunity to emerge as equals
to men.
After the inaugural function,
Sharanamma had many women
congratulating her.

State to set up receiving stations at all taluk headquarters

Video conferencing to be part of Panchayat Raj system
PH News Service
BANGALORE, June 1

The State government will soon set up
receiving stations at all the 175 taluk head­
quarters to enable panchayat members to
have direct interaction with Rural
Development and Panchayat Raj officials
and experts through live video conferenc­
ing facility for effective implementation
and functioning of Panchayat Raj system in
the State.
Delivering the key note address of a twoday regional seminar on "Women in local
governance: , Experiences and Effective
interventions in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu,
Kerala,
Maharashtra
and
Karnataka",
here
today,
Rural
Development and Panchayat Raj Secretary
M R Sreenivas Murthy said that frequent
live interaction between experts and pan­
chayat members was necessary to make
Panchayat Raj system a success in the
State. He said that the government was in
the process of setting up a full-fledged stu­
dio at the Abdul Nazir Sab Institute of
Rural Development in Mysore from where
the video conferencing would be carried
out.
Mr Murthy said that the State govern­
ment had embarked on a similar exercise
through satellite communication a few
years ago and found that the facility was
extremely successful in bridging the gap
between the government officials and pan­
chayat members. Therefore, the govern­
ment had decided to make this a permanent

fixture by setting up receiving stations at
all taluk headquarters. Satellite uplinking
would also be soon provided to these sta­
tions, he added.
He said that the government would
invite panchayat members once in a week
or two at the taluk headquarters and initi­
ate a debate between them and the pan­
chayat raj experts on doubts, issues, clarifi­
cations and functions relating to Panchayat
Raj system, through the live video confer­
encing system. This, he felt,’would go a
long way in strengthening the foundation

of Panchayat Raj Institutions in the State.
TRAINING CAMPS: Mr Murlhy snld that
the State government would take up train­
ing programmes for the newly-elected gram
panchayat members in the month of June
in association with non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) involved in the field
of Panchayat Raj.
Subsequently, training camps would also
be conducted for the zilla and taluk pan­
chayat members, he added.
The training camps would be of threefour days duration and would orient and

Well-deserved honour for role model
,PH News Service

BANGALORE. June 1

She has made a difference to her village and is now a role model for other women
panchayat members. It was a rare but well-deserved honour for Ms Sharanavva, a for­
mer gram panchayat. member, to share the dais with Governor V S Ramadevi at a
regional seminar on women in local governance, held here today.
Mrs Sharanavva, an exemplary gram panchayat member (1993-99), hailing from a
tiny hamlet Keribosaga in Gulbarga district, was today felicitated by the governor at
the seminar for showing what women could do in Panchayat Raj. Mrs Sharanavva, ■
who was a member of the Bheemanahalli Gram Panchayat, had played an Instru­
mental role in improving the basic facilities of her village. ,
Not only she convinced her fellow-women folk to take up the job of clearing
garbage that had become an environmental hazard, she took it as a challenge to pro­
vide drinking water to her village. Besides, she also prevented the ’diversion’ of funds
which were meant for repairs of a local temple.
Now as a former member, she is promoting others to take part in Panchayat Raj.
"When will other women learn about their role in Panchayat if I continue to cling on
to power," was Mrs Sharanavva's explanation for ‘retiring’ from grass-root democra­
cy.

gECCAN HERALD

20QQ

assist the panchayat members towards
learning their role In Panchayat Raj sys­
tem, he explained.
DRAWBACKS: He pointed out that there
were several drawbacks for women to
actively take part in the Panchayat Raj sys­
tem in the State.
Quoting a recent survey of panchayat mem­
bers’ educational background in four dis­
tricts of the State, Mr Murthy said that 35
per cent of women members were found to
be illiterate while just 9 per cent of men
were Illiterate. Illiteracy was one of the
major setbacks for lesser role of women in
Panchayat Raj. he said.
However, the State government had pro­
vided adequate opportunity for women to
take part in this. Though the official reser­
vation for women in Panchayat Raj system
was 33 per cent, it came up to -15 per cent in
Karnataka because of reservation for
women candidates hailing from Scheduled
Castes/Scheduled Tribes, he explained.
Delivering the inaugural address,
Governor V S Ramadevi called on women
to actively take part in grass roots democ­
racy like Panchayat Raj system. Women,
she felt, were no less to men in any field
and it was time they realised their potential
for the good of society.
She honoured panchayat members from
various parts of South India.
The seminar was organised by the
Institute of Social Trust (ISST).
Its Director Dr Swapna Mukhopadhyay
and Associate Director Meera M also spoke
on the occasion.

IaJH' l^r-1

Population In Sustainable Development:
Reproductive Health and Gender in Poverty Reduction

Devaki Jain
August 27, 2002

UNFPA Panel: Globalisation Gender and Poverty
World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio +10)
South Africa

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I am delighted to be back in South Africa.
I have a paper' with the supporting data and references and ground level
experiences to support my arguments, but for this 5-7 minute presentation
what I would argue is that Sustainable Development is that which the

poor especially poor women can sustain, and not the other way
round, i.e. development which sustains the poor.
Thus giving Poor women, agency to use Prof Amartya Sens concept, and not
taking the need based approach, which he in another place critiques, saying:

We need a vision of mankind not as paf/entewhose interests
have to be looked after, but as agents who can do effective
things - both individually and jointly. We also have to go
beyond the role of human beings specifically as 'consumers'
or as 'people with needs', and consider, more broadly, their
general role as agents of change who can - given the
opportunity - think, assess, evaluate, resolve, inspire,
agitate, and through these means, reshape the world."

I also suggest that it is only what the poor women can bear that the planet
can bear and therefore their power to make choices, to voice their ideas and
the channeling of their views and practices into macro policy is vital for planet
safety
I suggest that all the current approaches to poverty removal are
inappropriate, if not flawed, and the evidence for that is all the documents
speeches and anguish that flood Johannesburg and earlier too.
For example, today those who are working with the poor and with women are
speaking against development, renaming the term or the goal as
Transformation, and even that term is now rejected by many peoples
movements Or as seven freedoms (UNDP HDR 2000)"1, from hunger and
other of the basics
They are renaming per capita income as human
wellbeing, poverty as deprivation, defence against poverty as human security.
They are challenging GDP as a measure of progress, providing other
indications of progress, as done by Halstead and Rowe who asked 'If the GDP
is Up, Why is America Down?'iv Their argument was that incremental increase
in the American GDP was due to the increase in the production of security
equipment, which in turn was a result of increasing incidence of crime in the
USA, and therefore, 'GDP was a measure of social decay'!
I would like to suggest that none of these modifications of current thought
theories, renaming and reconceptualising are enough or appropriate
response. They have not been able to roll back the Tanks that are trampling
over poor women, and even what we know as, being civilised.
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\WSSD-Rio+10-shortpaper.docCreated on 08/30/02 12:21 PM

It is time for introspection and retrospection, even by the international
women's movement, by their close partners like UNFPA and UNIFEM, which
have been such brilliant, vivid, energetic, global voices - and this is what we
did last month, at Kampala - a group of some 16 of us, a loose network,
which includes Dr Thoraiya Obaid though she could not make it steered and
encouraged by Dr Nafis Sadik.
I would be making some new proposals- knowing full well that new is as old
as ever, such as


that the very basis of economic theory, has to be reconstructed, if one is
serious about poverty eradication.



that livelihood, jobs, employment, work with reward, whatever the
name/has~tb be brought back to its legitimate place in this area. It
shocked me that the Millennium Goals, and ofcourse the World Bank in
its P E proposals do not mention employment. Jobs have gone off the
screen. In my paper I spell out why, as well as its value to women, the
history of women's engagement with employment, as well as its relation
to women's reproductive paths.



that poor women are not the culprits, responsible for the fertility rates
that are associated with them in high pop countries. Nor is it a matter of
unmet needs, nor poor rich services. Poor women do not want that
many children. Studies in India, are revealing that it is the power to say
NO that is sorely needed.



the importance of that capacity, that power is now understood when the
scourge of HIV Aids is top on the agenda. This is a matter of relations of
power which requires political institutions and vehicles to redress the
traditional hierarchies - so that is the area to address. There is need to
look at the Institutional Architecture of power and to reconstruct it so
women can lead. A point of view that I know the Parliamentary Union
would support



that regional economic / political unions like the one Africa has just
formed are a vital step to recast global inequality and hierarchies of
power, but they need to re build their theoretical base, postulate a goal
of full_ employment for a maximizing model, rather than postulate an
increase in exports, or share of world trade or rate of GDP growth. This
idea was welcomed by the Secretariat of Southern African Development
Community (SADC) when I visited them some years ago



that it is worth looking at Gandhi^jgolitical economy ideas again, as
they include in them all the factors we need for resolving this impasse
we have got into

I would start my "new" reconstructed economics from the proposition that
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\WSSD-Rio+10-shortpaper.docCreated on 08/30/02 12:21 PM

That poverty, eradication is a dynamic and purposeful engine of growth, so
that it becomes possible to make currency out of a new theoretical
proposition I have called "Bubbling up Theory of Growth". Which counters
the old 'Trickling Down Theory of Growth'. The Bubbling up theory argues
that the process of removal of poverty can itself be an engine of growth, that
the incomes and capabilities of those who are currently poor has the potential
to generate demand which in turn will engine production, but unlike
Keynesian economics, the production of goods that are immediately needed
by the poor which are currently peripheral in production. The oiling, then, of
this' engine will bubble up and fire the economy, in a much more broad based
manner. Unlike export-led growth, it will not skew production and trade into
the elite trap, which is accentuating disparities and creating discontent.

I would also suggest that the heart of the matter of poverty is inequality, and
discrimination. Poverty is related/ in” fact caused, by the tolerance and
perpetuation of inequaljty. This extends not only to men and women, but to
groups and then countries and regions Further -to all the various jways in
which poverty has been decomposed, including the concept of deprivation^
would adUTIi^criminatioh7 _rwould say that the existence of poor people is
due to discrimination in all policies, political social and economic, a
discrimination, which sustains disparities and, the existence of women at the
bottom of the poverty pile, is an endorsement of discrimination.

Hence responses to this phenomena or "thing" called poverty have to react to
discrimination and therefore need to be built around affirmative action,
positive_.djscrimination, an affirmation of rights, a political approach "even
more than an economic approach. Thus political restructuring is the key to
economic growth with equity
This matches with the latest comment by Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator,
UNDP, who in his Foreword to the Human Development Report 2002, says:

This Human Development Report is first and foremost about
the idea that politics is as important to successful
development as economics. Sustained poverty reduction
requires equitable growth - but it also requires that poor
people have political power.
I must say here that I had a similar view, expressed at a UNDP meeting in
New York in 1997, where I said
Economics, is about power. Politics is about control °f that power. If
economics has gone wrong, as indeed it seems to have/ it is because of too
little politics, not too much.
s

In my opinion one person who actually prepared and practiced the magical
amalgam of morals, politics and economics which I suggest is necessary for
removing this blot of poverty on our existence is Gandhi. He was a strategic
C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\WSSD-Rio4-10-shortpaper.docCreated on 08/30/02 12:21 PM

economist. His economic ideas were linked to his political symbolism. - mass
mobilization- were brilliant and emancipatory.

While orthodox socialism addresses itself to inequality based on ownership of
means^of production, Gandhi focussed onJnequalLty_in_consumption.- His
argumentorTiis advocacy for austerity, simplicity in life style was based on
developing in Indians, a consciousness of the problems of the poor.
Consumption restraint minimisation of waste, livelihoods for all especially
women, of the kind’ that they could cope with or bear, supported-by..a-politicaL
appeal that Indians use their economic vote, i.e. their purchasing power-tosupport this production. It was a policy that discriminated in favour of the
poor.”
I end by suggesting that the time has come to stop this tread milling that we
are doing, here and everywhere, tinkering at the edges. If we are concerned
about poverty we need to change the premises, but as I see, it is a big IF.

For those interested in GLOBALISATION I have a quotation from Gandhi:
According to me the economic constitution of India and for
the matter of that of the world, should be such that no one
under it should suffer from want of food and clothing. In
other words everybody should be able to get sufficient work
to enable him to make the two ends meet. And this ideal
can be universally realized only if the means of production of
the elementary necessaries of life remain in the control of
the masses. These should be freely available to all as God's
air and water are or ought to be; they should not be made a
vehicle of traffic for the exploitation of others.
Their
monopolization by any country, nation or group of persons
would be unjust. The neglect of this simple principle is the
cause of the destitution that we witness today not only in
this unhappy land but in other parts of the world toovi.
1 Devaki Jain, Population in Sustainable Development: Reproductive Health and Gender in Poverty
Reduction, World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio+10), Johannesburg, 2002.
" Amartya Sen, ‘Transition to Sustainability in the 21st Century’, Keynote Address, at the Inter­
Academy Panel called Sustainability and Freedom on International Issues, 15lh May 2000.
Freedom from discrimination, from fear, of thought and speech, from want, to develop and realise
one’s potential, from injustice and violations of the rule of law, freedom for decent work
,VC.T. Cobb C.T. Halstead and Jonathan Rowe, ‘If the GDP is Up, Why is America down?’ The
Atlantic Monthly, October 1995. pp 62-78
v UNDP (1996) Human Development Report. Oxford University Press; New York
'■ M K Gandhi, Young India, 15.11.1928, Navjivan

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Report of the Working Group on Decentralisation
Government of Karnataka.

March 2002

Some critical comments

April 2002

Q: What is the greatest obstacle in the way
of Swarajya?

A:

Gandhiji: It is the British Officers
unwillingness to part with power, and
our incapacity to wrest power from
unwilling hands.

(Questions I Answers at University of
Oxford, during Gandhiji’s visit to
England for the Second Round Table
Conference - September to December
1931)

3

it is a praiseworthy effort. It covers a large ground to promote
decentralisation.
So far so good.
But. unfortunately, the report is
amazingly self-contradictory, if not self-destructive.

2.
After elaborating a reasonably good superstructure, it proceeds to
weaken it at its very' foundations. If the Report is adopted as it is, it is
certain to disrupt, if not destroy any prospects of meaningful and effective
decentralisation. It will thus be an affront to the Constitution which
mandates building of institutions of self-government.
3.
First, we recount its good sounding propositions. It argues, and
rightly, that for the entire scheme of decentralisation to succeed at
operational level it is imperative that:
- The Adhyaksha must be the acknowledged executive head and the
CEO answerable to the Adhyaksha just as a General Manager is to a
CMD in a corporate entity and that, in any case, this arrangement had
worked reasonably well between 1987-1992.
- The CEO should be the tallest administrative figure in a district and
senior in service to the Deputy Commissioner, as was the practice
between 1987 to J 992
' ’
"" ~

- All sectoral officers should be under the unified command of the CEO
of ZP, as was the case between 1987 to 1992, for integrated planning
and implementation at PRI levels; and state level sectoral heads
providing manily technical guidance.
- The PRIs should have untied funds hundreds of sectoral schemes now
scattered and tied must be converged and untied for which there'is
considerable scope for developing integrated local and district plans
by PRIs as per their respective priorities.
- The cardinal principle to be followed is that what can be done at a
given level of the system should not be done unnecessarily at a higher
level.
- The respective spheres of PRIs on one hand and Parliament and State
Legislature on the other should be left ‘’without encroachment” by the
other.

4.
We may now highlight some, of the self-contradictory and self­
destructive provisions of the Report, which make nonsense of the above
propositions and principles.

5.

First, the position of the Adhyaksha. Para 7.61 of the report says:
The position of Adhyakshas of PRIs at all levels is one that is most
misunderstood, either deliberately or unwittingly. This is in spite of
the law. which has made the position clear beyond doubt. Under

the PRI Act 1993, The ZP and the TP Adhyakshas are expressly
described as the executive head of the ZP and TP respectively.
A description of the powers and duties of the Adhyaksha at all PRI
tiers levels clearly envisages that the task of being an Adhyaksha is
a full time commitment for the incumbent.

Much has been already written and legislated upon regarding the
relationship between the Adhyaksha and the CEO of the various
tiers of PRIs. Suffice to say that the relationship between the
Adhyaksha and the CEO is not one of the Chairperson with the
Managing director of a company, but is that which exists between a
CMD and a General Manager. This analogy requires some
elaboration. The Adhyaksha functions as the Chairperson, because
it is she who has been vested with the powers to call_for meetings.
’ She~i's ‘ alsb" the "Managing Director, not only because the law
expressly declares her to be so, but also because she is responsible
to the body in a manner that the CEO can never be; if the body
loses confidence in her, she can be removed through a vote of no
confidence. She is thus responsible to the elected body in the same
fashion as a MD would be responsible to the Board of directors of a
company, who acts on behalf of the shareholders at large.

On the other hand, the CEO is a professional. Even though he may
not be recruited by the PRI, he functions as an employee of the

local body. He is thus akin to the General Manager of the PRI.
He does not have a 'shareholder stake', in the same fashion as does
the Adhyaksha.
6.
Compare the above with the totally contradictory position taken by
the report in para 7.76:

Ensuring responsibility to the Elected Body: This is a concept that
should be introduced into relationships between the CEO of any
PRI and the elected representatives at that level. It must be made

clear in the law that the CEO is responsible not to the Adhyaksha.
but to the Elected Body. This would reduce the possibility of any
subjectivity or personal differences affecting the relationship
between the CEO and the Elected Body. The Elected Body would
certainly be expected to act with the maturity and moderation that
individuals acting alone may not be able to show. We have
suggested appropriate amendments in the law.
7.
Thus the paramount status of Adhyakshas vis a vis CEO underscored
by the Report in para 7.61 is slaughtered by it in para 7.76. This subsequent
para (7.76) clearly aims to liberate the CEO from the control of the
Adhyakshas. It is now argued that law should be amended to provide that
“the CEO is not responsible to Adhyaksha, but to the Elected Body.” One
can read the motive for this somersault. In para 7.61 the interest of the
panchayat as an institution of self-government were being promoted, in para
7.76 the bureaucracy is being protected from elected head of the panchayat.

8.
Here all the differentiation argued by it earlier in para 7.61 about the
role and relative status of Adhyaksha (who is likened to a CMD) and CEO
(who is likened to a General Manager - an employee who is not a
shareholder) is shattered with one blow.
9.
The soundness of the reasoning of the report can be better seen if we
were to extend the .logic from. CEO. to the Chief. Secretaryof the-State.—Itwould mean that the Chief Secretary being made responsible directly to the
Elected Body (the Assembly) and not the Chief Minister. Now, look at the
argument of the report that the “Elected Body would certainly be expected
to act with the maturity and moderation that individuals acting alone may
not be able to show”. In this case “individual” will mean Chief Minister. It
is a polite way of saying that an Adhyaksha or a Chief Minister as
individuals cannot be trusted to exhibit the kind of maturity and moderation
the bureaucracy needs to safeguard its interests. Patently, the proposition
enunciated by the report in this instance is not only unprincipled but
untenable and absurd in practice.

10.
The Report does not end here. It persists with its over anxiety “to
minimise the possibility of such fears” on the part of bureaucrats called
upon to serve as CEO’s. It suggests the following further safeguards:

Second, if these are not enough, certain further safeguards can
always be brought into position to minimize the possibilities of
such fears. One possibility is to bring in the concept of joint

initiation of the report - providing space for the Chief Executive

and the Adhyaksha of the concerned PRI to jointly initiate
writing the CRs. The concept of joint initiators can be applied
uniformly at the district, taluk and Grama Panchayat level for
officials who work at these levels. However, one question would
still remain: who will write the CR of the Chief Executive? We
believe that there is no other method other than to accept that the
Adhyaksha should write the report. It may be recalled that under the
dispensation that prevailed from 1987 to 1992, it was the Zilla
Parishad Adhyaksha who used to write the CR of the ZP CEO. No
feathers were ruffled, even though then too. not always did the
elected body and the officials see eye to eye. If there are still some
fears that performance appraisals could be biased, then one could
additionally introduce a system by which the concerned PRI body
could collectively consider what ought to be written in the CEO's
CR and authorise the Adhyaksha to do so. This would be a natural

application of the principle that we have propounded in this
chapter, that the CEO is responsible to the PRI body under
which he works and not to any particular individual such as the
Adhyaksha, who only acts only as an agent of the body.
11.
Propelled by fears of bureaucrats, the Report thus forges institutional
design joint initiation of CR, and that a PRI body “could collectively
■consider- -what-ought to - be written -in the-CEQ-s-GR- and -authorise -the—
Adhyaksha to do so”. This has no parallel in the annals of administrative
history.
12.
One is left to wonder whether it is a prescription for effective
governance of the panchayat institution or for its total disruption at the ven'
apex?

13.
Second, Reestablishing the Primacy of CEO: Now we look at
another crucial proposition namely “Reestablishing the Primacy of the CEO
in the administrative hierarchy of the District” advanced by the Report with
its right hand and destroyed by its left hand:

For decentralisation to succeed, there has to be a conscious
reversion to the earlier position of the CEO being senior to the DC.
However, this is easier said than done. The encadrement of the
CEO's post has been relaxed, to allow the post to be filled up by
KAS officers. A main reason, but not the only one, is that there has
been a decline in the yearly number of officers assigned to the IAS
over the last decade. However, the shortage of IAS CEOs is
exacerbated by the growing tendency to post IAS officers who have

-I
the appropriate seniority for being posted as CEOs to secretariat and
desk jobs when they could be better utilized in field postings. This
is a distressing tendency and should be curbed.

Even if IAS officers were posted as CEOs, over time the decline in
recruitments will restrict their availability. At that stage, perhaps the
currently unthinkable may need to be considered - there may not be
enough IAS officers to fill the 54 posts of Deputy Commissioner
and the Chief Executive Officer.

14.
It first argues that “for decentralisation to succeed, there has to be a
conscious reversion to the earlier position of the CEO being senior to DC”.
Having said that, the Report hastens to throw it all to the winds “However,
this is easier said than done”. The ingenious, if not laughable, arguments it
throws in later amount to: it is easier undone than said.
15.
It first argues that through the total stock of IAS officers is limited
and likely to shrink further, there is a misallocation of senior IAS officers.
Too many are unwarrantedly posted at the Secretariat level. But it does not
explicitly suggest that this practice (misallocation) must be changed to meet
the vital needs of district panchayat administration. It does not even suggest
that the number of senior IAS officers put in the Secretariat, be limited to 15
or 2G; in-view ofshortages. Nor does it suggest that if a senior IAS officer
is posted as CEO of ZP - which will take over many of the functions
previously handled by the Deputy Commissioner, it is not necessary that an
IAS officer should be posted as Deputy Commissioner and that post could
hereafter go to KAS officers, if enough IAS officers are not available.
16.
No, it makes the ZP as the sacrificial goat. ZP has to do without an
IAS officer thus the idea of primacy of CEO remains stillborn. The Report
now discovers that even District Forest officers could be made CEOs, that
KAS officers training if upgraded could also enable them to be inducted as
CEOs. But it does not say that DFOs and retrained KAS could also fill the
post of Deputy Commissioners.

17.
We are not competent to judge the comparative merit of an IAS
officer vis a vis a KAS officer or a DFO. We are not even required to
attempt such a comparison. But the reality is that a superiority has come to
be assigned to an IAS over other services just as after Independence an ICS
officer was ipso facto regarded as superior to an IAS officer. Such
comparative valuation is inherent in the nature of a hierarchical order.
Merit is not called for here.

18.
We are concerned only with the fact that by taking shelter under a
cliche "it is easier said than done” the report has destroyed it own
proposition that the CEO must be head and shoulder over all other official
appointees in the district, - Deputy Commissioner or sectoral officers - to
symbolise the political status of the ZP / PRJs and to provide substance to
CEO's leadership role in leading and coordinating development effort from
planning to implementation.

19.
Here again the report has succumbed to the frailties of the
bureaucracy rather than to the dictates of the majesty which the Constitution
required the authors of the Report to endow on the PRIs.
(Incidentally, the Report occupying 281 pages does not provide
anywhere the text of the “Statement of Reasons and Objects”
accompanying the 73rd Amendment or the text of some of its

crucial Articles such as 243G, to enable a reader to evaluate
whether the total impact of its recommendations is in
conformity with the letter and spirit of the Constitutional
mandate.)
20.
Third, No encroachment by MPs I MLAs. The Report has argued
that the respective spheres of PRIs on one hand and Parliament and State
Legislature-on-theother-should-be-left-ihvfthout-encroachmentl’-by-the-other,------21.

Let us now look at what the Report says in para 9.12:

We propose that the reform initiatives that we suggest should be
taken up in selected assembly constituencies for one year. These
constituencies can be selected with the full support of the local
MLA. Thus elected representatives will be closely involved with
the implementation of these changes. Thus all the reform initiatives
that we have described can be implemented there, with concentrated
and sustained attention. These constituencies could become the
experimental laboratories for Panchayat Raj reform as suggested by
us.
22.
What a twist? The whole proposition is ridiculous. First, the so
called reforms coming after 10 years of 1993 Act, are to be taken up only
on “experimental basis”. Second, that too only in selected Assembly
segments. Third, mark the words Assembly segments not selected ZPs.
These segments are to be selected with the involvement of local MLA, not
ZP Adhyaksha.

23.
This is worse than encroachment. It is a full scale authorised
occupation of the ZP by the MLA chosen at the state level. MLA will thus
enter from the front door. He will undoubtedly be hand picked by the
Minister or Ministers - an act of patronage with predictable debasement of
the entire process.

24.
Fourth, Empowering the citizen through information. The
Report:
- A vital and important aspect of ensuring accountability is to recognize
the citizen's right to information and devise systems that ensure her
easy access to it.

- It is a natural presupposition that if the right to information is to have
any meaning, information itself will have to be systematised and
packaged in a manner that makes sense to those who seek it. But this
is easier said than done.
- We are not any closer to achieving this logical ideal even after
fourteen years of decentralisation.

25.
Alas, inspite of its well placed laments the Report has not endowed
the PRIs with any concrete functions; funds' or functionaries — so there is
little to be packaged and provided by PRIs way of information.
26.

Fifth, Ensuring upward accountability. The Report:

- Cynics are fond of pooh-poohing decentralisation in India on the
ground that all that is decentralised is corruption, and it is therefore
important that we devote great thought to devising accountability
mechanisms that ensure that this does not happen. The best point to
start would be to analyse the reasons why such a widespread negative
impression about PRIs has taken root. We then can proceed to
examining the patterns of defective decision-making that manifest in
PR1 functioning and then conclude with devising a system that cures
such infirmities.

- Why does everyone popularly believe that PRIs are incapable or at
best, capricious decision makers? First, while grass root level
institutions have distinct advantages in localising government, they
also face proximate political and social pressures that make traditional
virtues of public administration such as impartiality, neutrality and
anonymity difficult to realise locally.



- Second, regardless of whether PRJs are elected on a party basis or
otherwise, they are political institutions. Elected members have
constituencies both in the geographical and socio-political sense. One
cannot avoid legitimate aspirations to nurse constituencies in today's
context of highly competitive electoral politics and one must accept
that there is bound to be a tendency to favour a region, a group of
people or even individuals in developmental decision-making.

- Third, unlike legislators, PRI elected representatives are vested
with executive authority and are empowered to take decisions
having financial implications and authorise expenditure from
public funds, decide levels of taxation, exercise power of collecting
taxes and regulatory powers which are of a quasi-judiciai
character. These have the potential of making PRI members
arrogant, despotic, feudal and litigant.
27.
The third above (whose ever view it might be which the Report has
gathered at such length and reproduced with little disapproval) is
particularly laughable since the Report has itself documented that the PRIs
have been endowed with only the peripherals. How, then and with what
petty resources do they commit all these perfidies attributed to them?
28.

Sixth, PRIs as spheres of GoverinihehE’ THe'Repbrt:

- We can have greater clarity on how decentralisation should work if
we conceptually recognise that each Panchayat Raj Institution
constitutes a sphere of Government rather than a tier.

29.
Alas, the Report has spent a lot of energy in dividing / rationalising
functions as between the various PRI tiers, but has done little, very little, to
carve out the spheres between the State Government and PRIs. The lion’s
share is remains undiluted in the hands of the state. The PRIs get only the
residual. Much of the perfunctory treatment given by it to PRIs flows from
this basic failure to cut to size the State Government’s excessive
administrative and financial occupancy, control over functions I funds /
functionaries and to endow them in the PRI sphere. PRIs are not treated by
the Report itself as a sphere of Government.
30.

Seventh, Decentralised Planning by PRIs

The Report recognises the importance of decentralised planning. It also
identifies the major impediments which continue to frustrate any progress
with this objective. To quote the Report:

- As part of the initiative to progressively decentralise decision­
making powers on all vital developmental matters affecting
people’s life, the planning process was also to be strengthened as
an instrument to translate this objective into reality.

- However, the efficacy of institutional mechanisms for
decentralised planning have been seriously eroded by several
distortions that have taken away most of the decentralised nature
of planning. Some of these distortions are elaborated below.

- Lower levels of the PR system have neither been provided
with the machinery' nor capacity needed for undertaking
meaningful planning. While planning machinery is available at
the district level, no planning support has been provided at the
Taluk and Grama Panchayat level. This has hampered these
bodies from preparing plans of required high quality and has
therefore weakened the devolution of powers, functions and
finances and people’s participation through Grama Sabhas.
- The criteria suggested by the State Finance Commission for
devolution of funds are not being followed by the Government.

-" There -is••a- difference—between--precept—and—practice -whenproviding untied funds to PRIs:
- It has been long accepted that for formulating a meaningful and
integrated development plan based on local resources, PRIs
should have the freedom to determine and plan for their priorities
through the use of untied funds provided to them.
- However, the practice followed while finalising district plan was
that scheme-wise outlays already decided at the state level,
through the fixation of sector and minor head-wise allocations,
were given the highest consideration and consequently, district
planning exercises were de-facto plans imposed by the State.
- The planning process as implemented does not stir meaningful
debate at the PRI level.
- There is often no rationale for separation of schemes into “District
Sector’ and ‘State Sector Schemes’. The separation seems to be
perception and convenience led, that is, the perceived convenience
of officialdom.

- The Planning process at taluk and village levels is of poor quality
and neither does, or is permitted to reflect the people’s aspirations.

- Integration of Grama and Taluk Panchayat plans into the District
plan tends to be mere summation, and not a synergistic
integration.

- It is clear that the current system of classification and sub­
classification of schemes, inhibits both decentralised planning
and the development that ought to flow from it. This is a clear
case of over-engineering to the extent that the design has
grown to monstrous proportions, stifling the very objectives of
planning.
- Lingering doubts that PRIs may not conform to the priorities of
the state government constitutes a mental block that would be
most difficult for the State Government to overcome.

- There is a widespread view that PRIs tend to be profligate in their
spending and such assessments are not wide off the mark.

31.
The report then proceeds to outline what it calls its ‘mantra’ to
overcomeThese- impediments- to enable -kneaningful-deeentr-alised planning: •
Its labours to that end, may be well-intentioned but they don’t add up to
provide the requisite conditions for decentralised planning. The Report
miserably fails to treat effectively its own diagnosis.
32.
The principal reason for the failure seem to be that it has not devised
its remedies with reference to a clear goal as to the pith and substance of
decentralised planning which had to be aimed at the Report was not
required to invent that goal. The goal was given to it. It is stated explicitly
in the Constitution. Article 243G(a) enjoins upon the Village Panchayats the
responsibility of “preparation of plans for economic development and

social justice”.
33.
The Report has not even cared to reproduce the text of Article 243
G(a) in its 281 page report.

34.
In the absence of a well defined goal for decentralised planning, the
Report has followed a hit and run approach - hoping that the isolated
measures suggested by it will somehow add up to provide a creative
environment and conducive conditions to foster and facilitate decentralised
planning. Its very first mantra reveals the narrow basis of its approach:

Part one of the Mantra : simplification and rationalisation of schemes
: Rationalisation of schemes that are implemented by PRIs is the first
part of our decentralisation strategy for planning.
35.
‘Simplification of Schemes’ is desirable in itself, but given
comprehensive diagnosis of what bedevils decentralised planning, it
required not simplification but wholesale abolition of existing schemes
conceived at the top. Abolition could be either by an order of the State
Government to all its departments who have authored the schemes or by
vesting unconditional authority in the decentralised bodies to review,
restructure or abolish any scheme operating in their area, as they deem fit.
36.
In the absence of taking such a surgical view, what the Report
recommends (simplification, rationalisation, convergence etc.) are
palliatives - all well-intentioned without their ability to cure the entrenched
diseased system.
37.
As for paving the way for the future, the Report had rightly diagnosed
that Lower levels of the PR system have neither been provided with the

machinery nor capacity needed for undertaking meaningful planning.
Lower levels of the PR system have neither been provided with the
machinery nor capacity needed for undertaking meaningful planning.
But it fails to even.spell out, let alone provide, the nature of the machinery
that the PRIs will require to discharge satisfactorily the responsibility for
area planning for economic development and social justice as mandated by
the Constitution. The Report does talk of ‘building capacity’ - but what use
that capacity if the machinery and wherewithal are not provided to put that
capacity to practical use.
38.
The modification/improvements it has suggested in the fiscal
financial, budgetary spheres are necessary in themselves - but they amount
to no more than tinkering with the system judged from the viewpoint of
endowing the PRIs with capacity and wherewithal to do any credible
decentralised planning.
39.
Another reason why the report has failed to address this serious issue
constructively is that it is unable to let go of the mindset.

40.
After pinpointing excessive top down process, control and over
anxiety ‘not to let things go wrong’ as the reasons for the non-start of
decentralised planning in the past, the Report itself embraces this anxiety.
Instead of relying on local accountability of PRIs to Gram Sabha etc., it
resorts to law to enforce fiscal responsibility :

-

Quite often, we have seen the phenomenon of an outgoing PRI
making huge commitments towards new works, so that the new
body is burdened down by the need to provide funds for spill over
works. The problem has snow balled and brought a bad name to
the entire concept of decentralised planning. The concept has now
been subverted into a “grab what you can when it lasts” exercise,
done by PRI members beyond closed doors.

-

The result of such lack in planning discipline is two-fold. First, it
reinforces the belief of the State government that PRIs are
irresponsible spenders and second, if such plans are indeed
approved, it spreads funds tool thin, becomes counter productive
and result in time and cost overruns.

-

While legislative provisions introducing transparency and the duty
to give information would mitigate the problem to a large extent,
we also believe that the law should enjoin PRIs to observe fiscal
responsibility and planning discipline. We propose to introduce
provisions in the PRI act that enjoin fiscal responsibility to deal
with the issues such as over-spending, taking up more projects than
possible, violating due process and incurring wasteful expenditure.

41.
Of course,-ii-doesTiot-sayThat “such“a lawshould'Taiso_appiy_to_aIl----other Government departments/agencies who chronicle over spender,
misbudget, deviate from guidelines and are basically responsible for
breeding fiscal indiscipline at ground level.
42.
A look is merited at the composition of the Working Group which
has authored this Report. Out of eight members six are IAS officers serving or retired. Two are academics. There is not even one member drawn
from amongst the PRIs representatives - past or present.

Eighth, Amendments (proposed) to the Karnataka Panchayat
Raj Act 1993: The Working Group Report has proposed a number of

43.

amendments to the 1993 Act with the object of “carrying decentralisation
forward”. Some of the amendments are welcome such as transferring
powers presently vested in Government and officialdom to State Election
Commission and Ombudsman.

44.
But there are also a number of other amendments proposed which are
repugnant, if not obnoxious to the very essence of a “institution of selfgovernment” envisaged by our Constitution. Some of such offensive

proposed amendments which are unprincipled, improper and repugnant, are
listed below which must be rejected on all hands.

Provision / Proposed Amendment

Comment

Section 3.(1)
(a)

Vasathi Sabha

(b)
Quorum: "as prescribed by the
Government from time to time".

(c)
Powers, functions and responsibilities
"subject to the manner and procedure as
may be prescribed”

3 (b) selection of beneficiaries and
(c)

verifying eligibility

(d)

"getting information” from the officials

The provisions "as prescribed from time
to time" and “subject to ... as
prescribed” must go. These give an
open ended power to Government to
interfere in the working of PRI. Let the
Act specify what it can and leave the
rest to the body concerned to adopt with
the approval of its majority.
(b) and (c) are superfluous. They do
not require a law. In any case these are
not permanent functions.
(d)
It is odd. It should rather say that
the officials shall be bound to provide
the required information within a
reasonable
stipulated
period not
exceeding one month.
...
. . .
.

(e)
be informed by the Grama Panchayat
of the rationale of every decision of the
panchayat concerning the' area of the
Vasathi Sabha as may be prescribed in the
Panchayat Jamabandi rules.

(e)
It is carrying a good idea to absurd
limits. The Vasathi Sabha / Gram
Panchayats should workout their
equations, no law is needed.

(g)
providing and mobilizing voluntary
labour and contributions in cash and kind
for
development
programmes
and
supervising such development works
through volunteer teams.

Mobilizing yes, but “providing” by law
to say the least is unwarranted.

(h)

“Resorting to persuasion”

Do we need a law to ask people to
“resort to persuasion”?

(o) promoting harmony and unity among
various groups of people in the area of the
Vasathi Sabha and arranging cultural
festivals and sports meets to give
expression to the talents of the people of
the locality:

This must be listed as the first function
of the Vasathi Sabha and all PRI
institutions in their respective spheres.

3 (1) "Cooperating with the employees of

This is odd. It is the employees who

Provision I Proposed Amendment

-

the village panchayat "in the sanitation
arrangements" and "rendering volunteers
service in the removal of garbage".

Comment

should be directed to cooperate with the
PRI. It is a superfluous provision in
any case.

Section 54, Minutes

A copy of the proceedings shall be
displayed on the notice board of the Grama
Panchayat along with the details of the
names of the members voting respectively
for or against the resolutions decided upon
in the said meeting and the notes of dissent

This is unprecedented and outrageous that the names of members voting for /
"against a resolution~~of the Grama
Panchayat are to be displayed on the
notice board. It is unheard of. Is such a
practice being followed in respect of
St'?.? or Central Cabinet meetings?
Clearly, the mentality behind this
suggestion is that: PRIs ought not to be
given the status and respect due to an
‘institution of self-government'.

Section 54 (A)
Collective- Responsibilityof the- Members- ■
towards decisions of the Grama Panchayat.
All members attending and voting on
resolutions passed
by
the Grama
Panchayat shall be collectively responsible
for the consequences of such approval.

Also; how-does 54 reconcite "itself to
54A, which says all members shall be
“collectively responsible” and not only
for
the
decisions
but
also
“consequences” of their approval. But
if names of those opposing a decision
are to be displayed publicly will they
still be collectively responsible for the
decision?
Mark also the word
“Consequences”.
Collective
responsibility principle, as it applies to
Cabinets, is for decision. Collective
responsibility for the “consequences” of
a cabinet decision is another matter.
When Mandal
reservations were
decided upon by the Union Cabinet.
individuals
immolated themselves.
That was a consequence was the cabinet
held responsible for immolations. To
invoke
consequences
here
is
jjjtimidatoiy It speaks again of the
mental attitude towards PRIs.

n

Provision / Proposed Amendment

Comment

Section 58, Functions of the Grama Panchayats

(1-A) Notwithstanding
anything
contained in sub-section (1) and Schedule
I. it shall be obligatory on the part of a
Grama Panchayat in so far as the Grama
Panchayat fund al its disposal will allow.
to make reasonable provision within the
Panchayat area in regard to the following
matters, namely (i)

providing sanitary latrines to not
less than ten per cent of the
households every year and achieve
full coverage as early as possible;

(ii)

constructing adequate number of
community latrines for the use of
men and women and maintaining
them;

The manner in which spell it has out
functions of GPs is to ridicule the
Constitution Article 243 G(a) which
states the primary' function to be to
prepare area "‘plan for economic
development and social justice” Of
course latrines, water supply, enrolment
in school are all important. But they are
in any case listed in the Eleventh
Schedule which is not referred to in the
Report anywnere. To omit the primary
function of economic and social
planning and development as enjoined
by the Constitution and highlight only
latrines etc. is to belittle the 73rd
Amendment.
Further, is lav/ itself not being abused
latrines to at least ten percent of the
households without providing that the
state shallpfdvide'adequate resources to
enable GP etc., to provide latrines to at
least 10 percent families annually.

Section 111(A), Exercise of statutory functions by the Secretary
Where tine Secretary is conferred with any
statutory' powers or functions to be
independently and solely' exercised by
such officer, the Grama Panchayat,. the
Adhy'aksha,
the
Upadhyaksha,
the
Chairman of any Standing Committee or
any' member shall not interfere or influence
the exercise of such powers or functions
by the Secretary.

No statutory powers I functions should
be assigned -to officers of ZP / TP / GP
- whether CEO, Secretary or any other
officer of PRIs
without prior
consultation
with
the respective
Adhyakshas and with their knowledge
and consent. Or else the staff will
misuse this double charge to evade
undivided attention to the work of the
PRIs and untampered control of
Adhyakshas etc.
Similar comment on Sections 156 (A) /
193

Provision / Proposed Amendment

Comment

Section 113, Appointment and control of employees
(2)
The Secretary' may. by' order, fine, or
withhold the increment of any employee
appointed by the Grama Panchayat.

Any such order issued by Secretary
must contain the reasons for fine or
withholding the increment, and shall be
preceded by a show cause notice and a
reasonable opportunity being given to
the person affected.

Section 113(A), Arrangements for additional technical staff for Grama
Panchayat
(4) The Government shall continue to pay’
the salary, allowances and other dues to
employees and officers transferred to the
Grama Panchayat from Government, till
such time as the Government finds that
such expenses can be met by the Grama
Panchayat concerned.

Provided
Grama
Panchayat
by'
resolution in writing concurs to do so
and accepts the responsibility for
payment of salary etc., of such staff.

Section 138, Election of Adhyaksha and Upadhyaksha and term of office
(3)
The term of office of every Adhyaksha
and
every’ Upadhyaksha of Taluk
panchayat shall, save as otherwise
provided in the Act, be twenty months
from the date of his election or till ceases
to be a Member of Taluk Panchayat.
whichever is earlier provided that the
member who is elected as Adhyaksha or
Upadhyaksha to fill the casual vacancy in
the office of Adhyaksha or Upadhyaksha
shall hold office for the remainder of the
period for which the Adhyaksha or
Upadhyaksha in whose place he has been
elected would have held office if the
vacancy had not occurred.

This is unprincipled and contraty to
what the Working Group has itself
argued - that the term of the
Adhyakshas etc., should not be
curtailed.

The term must be the same as that of
the PRI body i.e. 5 years.
This also applies to Section 177(3) to
term of ZP Adhyaksha / Updadhyaksha.

Section 179, Resignation or removal of Adhyaksha / Upadhyaksha

Provision / Proposed Amendment

Comment

(4; Every Adhyaksha and Upadhyaksha of
Zilla Panchayat shall, after an opportunity
is afforded for hearing him. and if
necessary after obtaining a report from the
Ombudsman and considering the same be
removable from his office as Adhyaksha or
Upadhyaksha by the Government for
misconduct in the discharge of his duties.

Why "if necessary"? Prior report of the
Ombudsman must be mandatory where
"removal" is proposed.

Sectionl97

(3) If the Zilla Panchayat or any of its
committees or the Adhyaksha passes the
resolution or order without resolving the
inconsistency referred to in sub-section (2)
it shall be the duty of the Chief Executive
Officer, not withstanding any other
provisions in this Act, to forward forthwith
to the Government under intimation to the
Adhyaksha a copy of the said resolution or
order along with his written note and he
shall not implement such resolution or
order otherwise titan as decided by the
Government.

This is a fatal assault on the system.
CEO must be accountable to the
Adhyaksha, who is in any case
accountable to ZP. CEO shall work
under the supervision / control of the
Adhyakshas

This is another obnoxious provision.
repugnant and dignity to the autonomy
of institution of self-government. No
official can be vested with such powers
over an elected body. Yes, CEO can
submit the resolution with his opinion
for reconsideration of ZP. But must
obey the final decision of the ZP. He
cannot have the power to withhold.

Section 232, Power of Inspection and Supervision

(3) The notes of inspections by such
officers after such inspections shall be
forwarded to the Chief Executive Officer,
Executive Officer or the Secretary, as the
case may be, for appropriate action.

(4)
The Zilla Panchayat, Taluk
Panchayat or Grama Panchayat concerned
shall take follow-up action on the report of
the inspecting officer within thirty days
from the date of receipt of such report and
failure to take such action may be
construed as "default in the performance of
the duty'’- for the purpose of Section 268.

This is highly improper. No action can
be taken on the inspection report by
CEO I Secretary. The CEO / Secretary
cannot be allowed to act on the report
on their own. They should place the
report before the ZP / TP / GP as the
case may be, for consideration and
decision about follow up action, if any.
The inspecting official(s) concerned
may be informed of the action taken by
ZP.

3-0

Provision / Proposed Amendment

Comment -

Section 234, CEO’s power
Chief Executive Officer's powers in
respect of Grama Panchayat and Taluk
Panchayat.
(1) The Chief Executive Officer may in
respect of Taluk Panchayat and Grama
Panchayat exercise the following powers, -

a.

call for proceedings of any Grama
Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat or any
extra of any book or document in the
possession or under the control of the
Grama Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat
or any return or statement of account
or report:

b.

require a Grama Panchayat or Taluk
Panchayat to take into consideration
any objection which appears to him to
exist to the doing of anything which is
about to be done or is being done by
such Grama Panchayat or Taluk
Panchayat or any information which
appears to him to necessiate the doing
of anything by such Grama Panchayat
or Taluk Panchayat or within such
period as he might fix;

c.

require a duty to be performed within
a specified period if a Grama
Panchayat or Taluk Panchayat has
made default in the performance of
any duty

Provided further that he shall forthwith
forward to the Grama Panchayat or Taluk
Panchayat affected a copy of the order
with a statement of the reasons for making
it,
(2) When the Chief Executive Officer
makes an order under sub-section (1), he
shall forward within seven days a copy of
the order with a statement of the reasons
for making it to the Ombudsman who may
confirm or rescind the order or direct that

It is obnoxious. CEO of ZP cannot
have such a power over TP and GP. In
any case, if an order is passed prior (not
post) approval of Ombudsman should
be taken. But the very’ provision of
giving powers of this nature to an
official (who is not accountable) over
elected
(accountable)
bodies
is
unprincipled and repugnant to the
dignity
of
institution
of selfgovernment.

Provision I Proposed Amendment

Comment

it shall continue to be in force with or
without modification permanently or for
such period as he thinks fit.

Section 268, Dissolution of Panchayats
Recommendation
included

of Ombudsman also

It
cannot
be
“also
included”.
Recommendation
of
Ombudsman
should be mandatory

Section 310 (A), State Panchayat Council

(3) The State Panchayat Council shall meet
at least twice a year

SPC has not met all these years.
Nobody is accountable. The Report
maintains complete silence about this
matter/*) It is a statutory body. If
Adhyakshas of PRIs are accountable for
not calling the meetings as stipulated,
there should be even harsher provision
for failure to obey the statute at the very
Jop... Hence:
In the event of failure to call the
meeting of SPC within stipulated period
there should be a penalty on MemberSecretary and Chairman and the reasons
for delay and communicated to all
members of the state Panchayat
Council.

()perhaps the reason for the silence and many of the provisions which are
affront to democratic decentralization may lie in the very composition of the
Working Group which has authored this Report. Out of a total of its eight
members not even one member was from amongst the PRI representatives past or present. Six are IAS officers and two academics.

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REPORT

Discussion on
“Report of the Working Group on Decentralisation”
Date: 25-05-2002

Participants: Members of Panchayat Raj Mahila Federation
Ex and Present Members of Zilla, Taluka and Gram Panchayats.
Smt. Suman Kolhar (Ex. Vice President, Zilla Parisad, Bijapur)
Smt. Anasuya Sen Gupta, Ford Foundation, New Delhi
Smt. Ninnala Shiraguppi (DPC, Mahila Samakhy'a, Bijapur)
MSK Staff

A discussion regarding the “Report of the Working Group on Decentralisation”
was organized in association with Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation, Bangalore and
Mahila Samakhya Karnataka. Bijapur on 25111 of May 2002 at 11.30 A.M. Around 15
Panchayat Raj representatives both (Ex. and Present) participated in the discussion.

Firstly, an introduction of the Zilla. Taluka and Gram Panchayat members was
made. The agenda of the meeting i.e.. to discuss the critical comments on the
decentralization report was informed to the participants.
Ms. Suman Kolhar. SSF mentioned that the report on “Decentralisation” was
prepared by some of the Senior Government Officials and others for the welfare of the
people of the State. The report is supposed to be presented in the Cabinet meeting. She
mentioned that the main lacunae found in the report was that, no members associated
with panchayat raj institutions were involved while preparing this report. The views,
ideas and experiences of the members of panchayat raj institutions were not included in
the report. She said that the members should have been consulted because they know the
problems that exist in the panchayat raj institutions and solving such problems.

Critical comments on this report were read by Shri. M.C. Mulla, TP Member,
Bijapur and Shri. Mahadevappa Hatti, Ex. Panchayat President. Bijapur.

[Section 3 (1)]:
There is a "Quorum” regarding this issue. But according to this report, the
Government has all the powers to interfere in PRI and make changes accordingly. The
members felt that when PRI is an independent body and has powers to take some
independent decisions, the Government should not interfere in these matters.

Regarding selection of beneficiaries, they said that the decision to give houses and
other benefits to the rural people must be given by the villagers as they know exactly the
needs of the people and should not be decided by any Government Official.

They felt that the "Jamabhandi Programme" is purely meant for the villagers and
the views of the villagers are important here and hence there is no need of law to interfere
on these matters.

Relating to the issue of “Shrama Dana’7"Voluntary Service" for Sanitation
arrangements or removal of garbage to be made compulsory i.e., co-operating with the
employees of the village panchayat, the members mentioned that these kind of work
should not be made compulsory’ as it is a matter of personal interest to render ones service
for the improvement of the village.
According to the report. Section 54 on Minutes mentions that the proceedings of
the meetings of Gram Panchayat should be displayed on the notice board with the details
of the names of members voting for or against the resolution decided in the meeting and
notes of dissent. This point was strongly opposed by the participants. They said that
such a detailed report and names of the members cannot be displayed on the notice board.
This kind of provision may give scope to develop rivalry among tire villagers and such
kind of practice is not followed in State and Central Cabinet meeting and hence should
not be restricted on the PRIs?

Further, Section 58 mentions about the functions of the Gram Panchayat, i.e.,
providing sanitary latrines and constructing adequate number of community latrines for
the use of men and women and maintaining them. The participants mentioned that
constructing sanitary latrines, community latrines, water supply, etc. are all programmes
of PRI for the development and welfare of the village. So, there need not be a separate
mention of such activities and reiterated that these regular activities are already
mentioned in the ll11' Schedule of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.

The next discussion point was regarding Section 111 (A) on exercise of statutory
functions by the Secretary, which mentions that the Adhyaksha, the Upadhyaksha shall
not interfere, or influence the exercise of powers or functions by the Secretary. The
participants said that Adhyaksha has all the powers to exercise and not the Secretary and
Secretary’ should follow the decisions taken by Adhyaksha and not vice versa. All the
responsibilities of Adhyaksha cannot be given to the Secretary as it may’ lead to spoilage
of whole panchayat raj system. Secretary should be under the control of Adhyaksha.
They also said that the Secretary also has powers to exercise such as ordering fine or
withhold the increment of any employee under him. The participants felt that the order
containing such a decision should also contain the reasons for fine or withholding the
increment and an advance notice should be issued on that person.
The next discussion related to the Election of Adhyaksha and Upadhayaksha and
their terms of office as explained in Section 138. The term of office of every' Adhyaksha
and Upadhayaksha is only 20 months. The participants felt that the term of 20 months is

too less for any elected Adhyaksha and Upadhayaksha as the time just passes away in
understanding the responsibilities of the elected members and by the time the work is
started, their term ends and hence suggested that the term should be as earlier i.e., 5 years
so that the developmental activities made and their results can be observed during that
period.

Further any decision to be taken in Zilla Panchayat should be discussed by all the
members and the views of the members should be considered. There should not be any
individual decisions and group/collective decisions should be taken. The government
officials associated with the Panchayat Raj Institutions can also participate in the work of
Adhyaksha/Upadhyaksha, but the sole decisions of the official should not be considered.
as the villagers know the problems faced by them.

Section 232 states the powers of Inspection and Supervision i.e.. the notes of
inspection by such officers shall be forwarded to Chief Executive Officer and the
ZP/TP/GP concerned shall take the follow up actions on the report of the inspecting
officers. The participants said that this point was highly improper and The Chief
Executive Officer cannot be allowed to act on the report on their own. Instead they
should place the report before the ZP/TP/GP for consideration and take decisions about
follow up action. The inspecting officials concerned may be informed of the action taken
by ZP.

The next discussion point was about the CEOs power (Section 234) which states
that the CEO may in respect of Taluka Panchayat and Gram Panchayat exercise some
powers like call for proceedings of any GP/TP and get any information-from. GPZTP. .The.
participants also agreed that the CEO should not have any powers over TP/GP and the
power to an official (not accountable) over the elected bodies is unprincipled.
The role of Adhyaksha and Secretary in panchayat raj institutions was made clear
to the GP members and mentioned that both of them have equal responsibilities to share.

After the discussions, the Panchayat Raj members concluded that, according to
Karnataka Panchayat Raj Act 1983. the period from 1987 - 1992 was an ideal period for
people, public representatives and the Government Officials and why not such a system
be followed and some aspects of the system could be incorporated in the report.
They said that it was very unfortunate that no representative of PRI was involved
in preparing the report. The discussion concluded by reiterating that the Public
Representatives and Government Officials should work together towards improvement of
the PRI. The participants agreed the other comments on the report.
The meeting ended with a vote of thanks by Ms. Nirmala Shiraguppi, DPC.
Mahila Samakya Karnataka, Bijapur.

LIST OF PANCHAYAT RAJ MEMBERS INVITED:

Shri. Basavaraj Desai
President. Zilla Panchayat
Zilla Panchayat Office,
Bijapur
Ph: 277240

Shri. Chandrashekar Telli
Ex. ZP President
Tikota
Taluk/District - Bijapur

Shri Mahadevappa Hatti
Ex. ZP President
Srishail Lodge
At Post Jamkhandi
Bagalkote district

Shri. R.K. Rathod
K.H.B. Colony
Near Ganesh Temple
Bijapur
Pit: 260235

Shri. B.S. Gasthe
Ex. President. Zilla Panchayat
At Post Konnur
Jamakhandi Taluk
Bagalkote district

Smt. Sangamma Patil
Ex. President, ZP
At Post/ Vanakyal
Tq Sindagi
Bijapur district

Shri. M.S. Loni
Ex. Vice President. ZP
...... Zilla Panchayat Chalukhya Nagar
Bijapur

-

Shri. M.N. Sali
Vice President, ZP
Bijapur
.......................
Ph: 276953

Smt. Shailaja Gopal Bidari
Ex ZP Member
At Post Devargennur
Bijapur district

Shri. Ratnesh Busnur
ZP member
At Post Devangaov
Tq. Sindagi, Bijapur district

Shri. Yashvantrao Patil
ZP Member
Chalukhya Nagar
Bijapur

Shri. Basavaraj M Kori
ZP Member
At Post Loni, B.K
Tq. Indi, Bijapur District

Shri. B.S. Patil
ZP Member
At Post Guldal Tanda
Tq. Indi. Bijapur district

Shri. M.S. Nayak
ZP Member
Alamar Agasi, Bijapur
Ph: 244791

President
TP Office
Bijapur

Shri. S.R. Patil
Member of Vidhana Parishad
Bagalkote

Shri. Siddhanna Sakri
Ex TP Member
Solapur Road
Opp. Achalari Swamy Math
Bijapur

Shri. S.L. Patil
Ex. TP Member
At Post Makanapur. Bijapur district

Shri. Subashgouda Patil
Ex. A.P.M.C. Chairman
Athani Road
Bijapur

Shri. M.C. Mulla
TP Member
Taluka Panchayat Office. Bijapur
Ph:255996

Smt. Channamma Kakmari
Ex. Gram Panchayat Member
At Post Hunnur
Jamakhandi Taluk

Shri. B.M. Patil
Ex. Pradan
At Post Babaleswar
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Shri. Ramesh
Ex. Gram Panchayat Member
At Post Ghonasagi
Tq/Dist Bijapur

Shri. Mahantgouda Patil
Ex. Vice President
Zilla Panchayat
At Post Nalvatwad
Tq: Muddhebihal, Bijapur District

Smt. Laxmibai Biraldinni
President
Panchayat'Raj Mahila Federation'
Biraldinni
Taluka Bagewadi
Bijapur district

Smt. Siddamma Madar
Vice President
PR Mahila Federation
Ingalgi
Taluk: Sindagi
Dt: Bijapur

Smt. Sonnawa Honnali
Treasurer
PR Mahila Federation
Honnali
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Gangabai Hosmani
Secretary
PR Mahila Federation
Kerur
Tq: Sindagi Dt: Bijapur

Smt. Shobha Byakod
Member
PR Mahila Federation
Byakod
Tq. Sindagi Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Laxmibai Kannolli
Member
PR Mahila Federation
Kannolli
Tq/Sindagi
Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Shakuntala Guddinni
Member
PR Mahila Federation, Tikota
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Sayavva Pujari
Member
PR Mahila Federation, Arakeri
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

.......

Smt. Shantavva Maetri
Ex. Gram Panchayat Member
Machaknur
Tq/ Mudhol Dt. Bagalkote

Smt. Rannavva Myageri
Ex Gram Panchayat Member
Jaliberu
Tq/ Mudhol Dt/ Bagalkote

Smt. Kashibai Okyappa Kamble
Ex. Gram Panchayat Member
Arakeri
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Chandravva Madar
Ex Gram Panchayat Member
Almatti
Tq/ B. Bagewadi
Dt/ Bijapur

Smt. Susheelabai S. Basarkod
Ex Gram Panchayat Member
Mulsavalgi
Tq/ Sindagi Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Anasuya Shankar Hadpad
Ex Gram Panchayat Member
Jambagi
Tq/ Bijapur Dt/ Bijapur

LIST OF PANCHAYAT MEMBERS WHO PARTICIPATED THE MEETING:

Shri. M.C. Mulla
TP Member
Taluka Panchayat Office. Bijapur
Ph: 255996

Shri. L.K. Rathod
Bijapur

Shri Mahadevappa Haiti
Ex. ZP President
Srishail Lodge
At Post Jamkhandi
Bagalkote district

Shri. R.K. Rathod
K.H.B. Colony
Near Ganesh Temple
Bijapur
Ph: 260235

Smt. Channamma Kakmari
Ex. Gram Panchayat Member
At Post Hunnur
Jamakhandi Taluk

Smt. Shanta V. Mamdapur
Ex Gram Panchayat Member
Honnalli
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Laxmibai Biraldinni
President
Panchayat Raj Mahila Federation
Biraldinni
Taluka Bagewadi
Bijapur district

Smt. Siddamma Madar
Vice President
PR Mahila Federation
Ingalgi
Taluk: Sindagi
Dt: Bijapur

Smt. Subhadra Devarmani
Gram Panchayat Member
Jambagi
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Gangabai Hosmani
Secretary
PR Mahila Federation
Kerur
Tq/ Sindagi Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Sonnavva Honnali
Treasurer
PR Mahila Federation
Honnali
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Shobha Byakod
Member
PR Mahila Federation
Byakod
Tq/ Sindagi Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Sayavva Pujari
Member
PR Mahila Federation
Arakeri
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

Smt. Kashibai Okyappa Kamble
Ex Gram Panchayat Member
Arakeri
Tq/Dt. Bijapur

V’June 2002

Brief Note on the Lecture delivered by Dr. H. Sudarshan at SSF
Dr. H. Sudarshan, Chairman of the Task force on Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka and
the recipient of prestigious honors like Padmashree Award (2000), Right to Livelihood Award (1994) and
Rajyothsave State Award (1984) visited Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation on 1-6-2002 and delivered a lecture
on “Health and Population Policyl1 in connection with our two on - going projects, “Engaging local
women politicians in public/macro policy making” and “Building budgets from Below”. The Director & Staff
of SSF along with the project field teams attended rhe lecture.

Dr. Sudarshan mentioned health as probably the most important element in our efforts to achieve an
acceptable standard of living. He stressed that the involvement of rhe Panchayat Raj Institutions and of the
communit}- in providing health sen-ices should be encouraged for improving the quality of sendees based on
real needs.
He described rhe health services being provided in rhe rural areas — especially ante-natal, natal and post-natal
services- through the PHCs and Sub-centers and highlighted some of the recommendations made by the Task
Force on Health and Family Welfare, Government of Karnataka:












All essential staff attached to PHC’s must stay at headquarters; PHCs must have round the clock sendees.
Male health worker could be given rhe responsibilities of 2 subcentres.
Generally the qualit}- of RCH sendees should be improved, the attitude of doctors and other staff should
be positive and availability of safe abortion services should be ensured.
The Taluk Panchayat should have control over the PHCs in rhe Taluk.
A Medical officer should be appointed ar the Taluk Panchayat.
Training courses in health needed for empowering women members of the Panchayat and women
community leaders with special reference to drinking water (chlorination of open wells) toilet and rural
sanitation.
Two persons are needed to attend a delivery - one to take care of rhe mother and the other to clean up the
child quickly. So the Anganwadi worker could be trained and given additional amount to assist the ANM.
Village communities should be encouraged to form village health committees with wide membership
including representatives of women’s group, the youth, the ANM, Anganwadi worker and others.
Subcentres should be built within the village and not outside.
Emergency services should be provided at Community Health Centres (CHCs). An ambulance should be
available ar each CHC and needy patients should be transported to CHC ar nominal cost (Re. 1/- per km).

He stressed on the immunization program to be attended by ANMs and the role of male health workers.
According to him, Health and Population policies need not be separate, because they are related. There
should be an “Integrated State Health Policy”, he said.
According to Dr. Sudarshan, information relating to various schemes — Central, State, etc — should be made
available ar each Gram Panchayat office, as there is a need for creating awareness among the masses about the
schemes. He reiterated the importance of Right to Information Bill and need based “Bottom up” approach

for Macro planning.

Networking Elected Women Representatives
at the Grassroots

Final Report

Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies
Department of Political Science and Development Administration

Gandhigram Rural Institute - Deemed University

Gandhigram - 624 302

Tamil Nadu

Dr.G.Palanithurai
Coordinator

Dr.V. Ragupathy
Associate Coordinator

Project Facilitators
Mr.G.Umashankar
Ms.G.Uma

Ms.J. Vij ayalakshmi
Mr.K.Tamilarasan

Documentation Assistant
Mr.V.S.Karthik

CONTENTS

Page No.

Sl.No.
I.

Introduction

1

II.

Background

1

III.

The Project

2

IV.

Implications

10

V.

Shortcomings

12

VI.

Plan of action for the future

13

VII

Project Activities

13

VIII

Notes and References

14

I Introduction

Grassroots institutions are the real instruments of democracy to
make the people participate directly in governance and decide on the

issues which are affecting the life of the people. Establishing linkages
between people and the government is not so easy and that too in the
countries like India where people are grouped according to different

But the steps towards decentralization of powers in India

identities.

after the introduction of 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India

provide opportunity for multifarious social groups who had been
hitherto

marginalised.

The

marginalised

cannot

come

to

the

mainstream like the dominant social groups in the decision making
process of the governing institutions at grassroots.

Mere passing of a piece of legislation will not suffice to make the
marginalised participate in the decision making process.

Well

■organized supportive facilities and activities..are .required..to. enable
them to take up responsibilities and discharge the same. Against this

background networking of elected women representatives was thought
of.

II Background

This initiative was taken by us because of the repeated plea
made by the elected women representatives who came to Gandhigram
to attend training programmes1.

The question posited to us by the

Elected Women Representatives (EWR) was whether Gandhigram
Rural Institute would serve as a supportive resource center for the
EWR facing problems on the ground in managing the affairs of
panchayats.

Sensitized and concientised EWR were keen on certain issues in

panchayats after attending the training programmes, namely ensuring

entitlements

to

the

poor,

evicting

the

encroachers

from

the

encroachment of common properties and creating awareness among

the women about their problems and the remedy for the same.

But

conditions were not conducive for the EWR to tackle all those issues

and

they had to face a volley of problems in

the panchayat

administration2. At this juncture, they were looking for an agency to

help, guide, support and counsel them.

To perform the above tasks

we were also looking for an agency and at this juncture we contacted
Devaki

a

Jain,

well

known

woman

development

and

activist

economist. We had several rounds of discussions and finally the Ford
Foundation came forward to support our activities along with such

activities in other states, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
through the Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation.
Ill The Project

While taking up this project we deliberated on a dual strategy to

be adopted to empower the EWR to overcome all their problems.

Tamil Nadu was known for women development activities during the

heyday

of

the

E.V.Ramasamy

Dravidian
Naicker

under

the

leadership

of

C.N.Annadurai

and

an

array

of

Movement

and

legislations were enacted during the period of the Dravidian Parties in

government.

This had its own impact on the social transformation

process of Tamil Nadu.
Women leaders in Local Bodies, from their experience with men
leaders, thought it necessary to form an association of elected women

representatives.

They

formed

some

associations

but

these

associations did not have any structure. All the same they used them

as a forum to meet the officials collectively to represent their
problems.

Upon seeing this development we felt that the elected

women representatives need only facilitation. We started working on

this line since the Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies has

similar objectives.
The primary objective of the Chair is
democracy

by

conducting

action

to activate

grassroots

and

extension

research

2

programmes. It has

to work

with the panchayat leaders for

regeneration of the rustic folk and to create awareness among the
people about the new

system of governance

through the new

institutional arrangement namely Panchayati Raj System. The Chair
will work at different levels. It will act as a policy research cell and

give advice to the policy makers. It will also act as a nodal centre to
to the elected

offer training

especially

in administering

coordinating

agency

action for sustainable

local body

leaders

in

governance,

development. Further it will act as a

for NGOs

for people oriented participative

development and good

approach emanates from the basic

governance. This

premise that people are capable,

honest, sincere and committed in deciding their destiny and hence all
the issues will be visualized from the perspective of the people.
Against this background it was planned to keep the following as

objectives and activities of the project: to enable elected women

representatives ■ to be courageous with-self-confidence and-not to -be
affected by atrocities or yield to pressure in carrying out

their role

and responsibilities; to empower the elected women representatives to
assert their rights; to facilitate the sharing of experiences among the

elected women representatives not only within districts and states but

also between states; to build a movement of women political leaders to
address issues on their own; to make the government

collective

voice

institutionalise

of

the

elected

women

listen to the

representatives;

a gender perspective in decision making.

to

Keeping

these as objectives, we have planned a charter of activities and

strategies to be followed while carrying out the action plan.
consultation

meeting

was

arranged

on

26th

August

2000

A
in

Gandhigram by inviting women activists, feminists, scholars, gender

specialists, lawyers, academics and representatives from women’s
organizations.

3

In this consultation meeting our activity chart as well as our

approach was presented3. They included:
1.

Networking the women leaders organizations

2.

On request, organizing interface programme for the office
bearers of the organizations in other States; e.g.

Kerala

and Karnataka
3.

Supporting

the

women

... organizing..conferences

leaders

organization

to._.di.s.QU§s

while

their problems.

annually
4.

Organizing

periodical

meetings to sensitize the women

leaders on gender and social development issues
5.

Performing the role of policy advocacy - aggregating the

problems of the women

leaders

and transmitting the

same for policy and decision making at the

appropriate

level

6.

Organizing counselling for the leaders who are under

mental depression
7.

Organizing capacity building exercise for office bearers of

8.

To provide necessary information to the office bearers to

the associations to manage their organizations

perform their role

and responsibilities as leaders of

panchayats

4

9.

To bring all the issues of the women leaders to the media

for wide publicity
10.

To provide legal assistance to women leaders through
their

organizations

whenever

they

demand

(Women

Lawyers Association of Tamil Nadu has agreed to provide
such assistance).

chart,

the

consultation meeting finalized the proposed agenda for action.

It

After

a

thorough

discussion

on

the

activity

included:

Awareness creation
Sensitization
Information dissemination
Association formation

Creating supporting base - Information centre
Organizing, interface programmes

Tie-up with NGOs

Documenting success stories on women related issues
Conducting women conventions meetings

Policy advocacy.
Before embarking upon the actual work in the field

another

meeting was organized at Gandhigram on 23rd October 2000 to pick
partners from the NGO sector.

5

NGOs were invited to discuss the proposed activities and the

approach to be adopted in this project. NGOs from all over the state

participated and deliberated upon the charter of activities.

They

agreed upon the basic objectives of the proposal and to extend their
support in carrying out the activities as partners.

They divided the

entire state into five zones. The activities have to be carried in all the
five zones through the NGOs and the NGOs have to act as nodal and

zonal resource centres for the elected women representatives4.

Based on the decision taken in the NGOs consultation meeting
zonal meetings were organized at Madurai on 21st December 2000, at

Thiruvarur on 2nd February 2001, at Chengalpattu on 16th February
2001, and at Karur on 21st March 2001.

In all the zonal meetings the

problems in panchayat administration and the problems of the women

6

Finally office bearers were identified for the zones and districts

in the respective regions. All the problems faced by the elected women
representatives were properly documented and published for wider

dissemination.

Thus all those problems were brought to the annual

meet of the elected women representatives drawn from all over the

state at Gandhigram on 5th August 2001.

Women activists were invited to participate.

They decided to

highlight the problems faced by the elected women representatives
and bring them to knowledge of the policy makers.

Further they

decided to share their experience in panchayat administration with

media, for which the Rajiv Gandhi Chair would take the initiative.
They further decided to share their success along with their struggle
all the aspects were to be documented6.

7

Further they decided to visit model panchayats in other states,
especially Kerala.

The day after the annual meet, a partners meet was arranged

where the activities carried out in all the four states by our partners
were discussed. It was decided to prepare a basic approach papers on

certain issues which would be discussed with the members of the
federation.

Key issues were to be researched by making use of the

resources available in the project7.

After the election to local bodies in the month of October, a

training module was prepared to conduct a training programme for

panchayati leaders8.

Yet another module was prepared to conduct

leadership training for the elected women representatives9.

Both of

them were published for wider utility. During January 2002 from 20th
to 24th network meeting and interface were organized. In the network

meeting the elected women representatives took up some key issues
for discussion ' and" these' were'' sent" to* the

Development.

In

the

interface

meeting,

Director of Rural

the

elected

women

representatives interacted with their counterparts from Kerala10,
which motivated them to work on social development issues.

They

decided that by carrying out activities in Tamil Nadu, Panchayats in

Tamil Nadu should draw the attention of the whole country.

8

For the past two years the Elected Women Representatives

Federation has been trying to bring the Central Minister to their
meeting for a discussion.

This year, on 20th February 2002,

Mr.Venkaiah Naidu, Minister for Rural Development, Government of

India, participated in their meeting. The Federation leaders expressed
the problems that they are facing in local bodies and requested him to

intervene and help them to discharge their roles and responsibilities.

State level officials also participated and responded to the questions of
the women leaders11

T hey organized the second annual meet in Gandhigram on 3rd
May 2002.

In the second annual meeting they discussed the Chief

Ministers 15 point programme and made known to the government

that all the 15 point programme activities come under the purview of
panchayats.

They also discussed the strategies to be followed to

strengthen the Federation. They decided to form an advisory council

including retired IAS officials, academics and representatives of the

media12.

9

• Since., the participants discussed the issues very broadly in the.........



second annual meet, they decided to have another meeting on 9th May
2002 to make an indepth analysis of the issues.

On 9th May 2002,

selected leaders from all the districts met and analysed their problems
and

prepared

a

charter

of demands

to

be

presented

to

the

government13.

A

IV Implications
So far the sequence of events have been traced.

But the

implications of the activities have not been explained. One should not

assume that the federation has met once in a year and deliberated
only in Gandhigram.
places.

They organized several meetings in several

They met political party leaders and officials for presenting

their charter of demands.

They used to meet the press periodically

and express their opinions on vital issues which are affecting the life

of the people, especially women children and dalits14.

Based on the

training programme, we have collected the problems faced by the
panchayati leaders generally and women and dalit leaders specifically

10

and those problems have been documented by our centre.

These

documents have been used by this Federation for policy advocacy. It

was very difficult for them to get information regarding Government
Orders, rules and schemes.

But now they are being received from

Gandhigram Rural Institute and so they regard G.R.I. as a resource

centre. Contacting the Minister, higher officials, MPs and MLAs is no

more a problem for them. Women leaders who are in this federating
arrangement are highly sensitized on the issues of social development
and more specifically on the issues of women and children.

Though Tamil Nadu,

has a District Panchayat Presidents

Association, a Block Panchayat Association, and a Gram Panchyat
Association,

the

only

of Women

Federation

Panchayat Leaders

Associations is visible and sharply reacting on many of the vital

issues.

Even though the elected women representatives have a

charter of demands, they are more keen on getting reservation of seats

for

women

for

ten

years,

retrieving . common.

properties .from

encroachment, and, ensuring the entitlements of the poor through the
public distribution system. Active leaders in the Federation are very
much sensitized on these social development issues after visiting

Kerala panchayats.

During the first period the women leaders were

harping on transfer of power, finance and functionaries.

speak about issues and problems.

Now they

They have gained voice and

bargaining power.

One major achievement that they have made through their work
is getting the reservation of seats for women in Local Bodies extended

for one more term. In is unique in the whole of the country. Another
impartant milestone in their achievment is that the Federation had

made the State Government withdraw the cheap liquor. They pleaded
with the government that in every month higher level officials at the

district level should convene a meeting of the women panchayat
leaders and solve their problems.

The Director, Rural Development,

Government of Tamil Nadu issued an order immediately to District

11

Collectors to convene such meetings and solve the problems of the
women leaders15.
Because of their repeated pleas and activities, the Federation of

Women Leaders Associations is visible to the policy makers and 33.3%
of seats have been reserved for women even in cooperatives societies.

Likewise an order has been issued that in all statutory committees

reservation should be provided for women.

one third

women panchayat leaders were in deep trouble.

Some of the

It was only the

Federation which saved them. Menaka, the President of Oorappakkam
was murdered in the panchayat office due to her stern action against

encroachment. No FIR was filed till the Federation leaders went to the
panchayat.

It was only because of this Federation, that the culprits

were booked.

Another interesting note-worthy feature is that more

number of office bearers in the Federation are now from dalit
community and the Federation has focused its

attention on dalit

issues,
V Shortcomings
There are a number of projects in our centre and all are related

to panchayati raj.

Hence our activities are always focused on

panchayati raj. Our basic aim is to muster a movement for panchayti
raj throughout the state of Tamil Nadu. The regions are so vast that

coverage becomes difficult.

The leaders demand meetings in each

and every district and the majority of them ask for interface
programmes.

One layer of elected women representatives is alert and

they are oriented and concientised but other segments are not so well
oriented.

When oriented leders take up social issues for redressal

they face a volley of problems and to tackle they are in need of a
support structure.

This calls for more partners in different regions.

The leaders

still discussing a proposal for registering the

are

Federation.

They want to have a loose Federation and to keep it in

Gandhigram

since G.R.I. has made a name for rural development

activities. We have not yet decided on this.

12

VI Plan of action for the future
The Federation’s activities will be broad based, Block Panchayat

and District Panchayat Women leaders will be enrolled.

SHG leaders

will also be enrolled. A permanent office has to be established. The

Federation will be integrated with other Federations in other States.

Meetings will be organized for the whole of South India for elected
women representatives.

Specialized training will be organized for

office bearers of the Federaton in accounting and office management.

VII Project Activities
SIN

^ate & Place

Programmes

1.

28.08.2000
GRI

2.

23.10.2000
GRI

3.

21.12.2000
Madurai

4.

02.02.2001
Thiruvarur

5.

16.02.2001
Chengalpet

6.

21.03.2001
Karur

7.

05.08.2001
Gandhigram
06.08.2001
Gandhigram
6, January,
2002 GRI,
Kottayam

State
level
consultation
on
Feminist
perspectives
in
Associating
Women
Representatives in Local Bodies
State
level
NGOs
meet
on
Associating
Women
Representatives ...... inLocal
Government
Regional
Network
meet
on
Associating
Women
Representatives
in
Local
Government
Regional
Network
meet
on
Associating
Women
Representatives
in
Local
Government
Regional
Network
meet
on
Associating
Women
Representatives
in
Local
Government
Regional
Network
meet
on
Associating
Women
Representatives
in
Local
Government
State level meet on Elected Women
Representatives of Local Bodies
Inter agency meeting of the
partners
Network Meeting

o

8.

9.

No. of
Participants

21

40

47

35

36

53

320

15

150

13

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

20-24,
January,
2002 GRI,
Kottayam
9-12,
February
2002 GRI,
Palakkadu
20,
February
2002

23, April,
2002
Palakkadu
3, May,
2002 GRI
9, May,
2002 GRI

Network Meeting & First Interface
Programme

40

Second

30

Network
Meetings
Interface Programme

&

Women Panchayat Leaders meet - 350
HonTole M.Venkaiah Naidu, Rural
Development Minister, Govt, of
India
Third Interface Programme
20

II Annual conference of Elected 200
Women
Representatives
of
Panchayat in Tamil Nadu
Fourth Interface Programme
50

VIII Notes and References
1.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies has been
recognised by the Government of Tamil Nadu as a nodel centre
for training and hence series of training programmes had been
organised with the financial support of CAPART, Government of
India, Social Welfare Board, Government of India, Population
Foundation
of
India,
DANIDA
and
DRDA,
District
Administration. For more details about the training programme
see the following reports.

List of Reports on Activities Brought out by Rajiv Gandhi Chair
SI.

Title of the Report
Sponsoring Agency

No

Year

1.

1997

Report of the training programme conducted Population
for District Panchayat Council Members on Foundation of
Social Development
India

2.

1998

Report of the training programme conducted Social Welfare
for Women Presidents of Gram Panchayats Board, Govt, of
in Five Districts of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu,
Chennai

14

3.

1999

Report of - the training programme DANIDA
conducted for Gram Panchayati Presidents Villupuram
and Vice-presidents on Panchayati Raj
Administration with special reference to
Water Supply and Sanitation in Villupuram
District - Phase I

4.

1999

Training for Gram Panchayai Presidents and DANIDA
Vice-Presidents
on
Panchayati
Raj Villupuram
Administration with special reference to
Water Supply and Sanitation in Villupuram
District - Phase II

5.

1999

A report on training on Improvement of DRDA
Panchayat Administr'^on and total Rural Cuddalore
Sanitation Programme in Cuddalore District
- Phase I

6.

2000

A report on training on Improvement of DRDA
Panchayat Administration and total Rural Cuddalore
Sanitation Programme in Cuddalore District
- Phase II

7.

2000

Report of the training programme CAPART
conducted for Gram Panchayati Women Hyderapad
Presidents of Madurai, Ramanathapuram
and Pudukottai Districts.

8.

2000

Report of the training programme CAPART
conducted for Gram Panchayati Presidents
Hyderapad

9.

2000

Report on the Training of Trainers on Multi State Planning
Level Planning
Commission,
Govt, of Tamil
Nadu

10.

2001

2.

The problem faced by the women panchayati presidents had been
documented.
For more details refer to Rajiv Gandhi Chair,

A report of the training programme on Rajiv Gandhi
Testing of Training Module for Training of Foundation, New
Panchayati Raj Functionaries
Delhi

Empowerment of Women: Problems faced by the Elected Women
Representatives in Local Bodies in Tamil Nadu, Gandhigram: Rajiv
Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2001.

15

3.

Detailed proceedings are reported in the document. For more details
See Rajiv" Gandhi Chair, State Level Consultation on Feminist

perspective in Associating Women Representatives in Local Bodies:
A Report, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies,
2000.

4.

For more details about discussion, See Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report

on State Level NGO’s Network meet on Associating Women
Reprsentatives in Local Bodies, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for
Panchayati Raj Studies, 2000.
5.

Entire discussions and deliberations have been documented. For details
refer to the following documents: Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on

Regional Level meet on Associating Women Representatives in
Local Bodies - I, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj
Studies, 2000.
Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on Regional Level meet on Associating
Women Representatives in Local Bodies - II, Gandhigram: Rajiv
Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2001.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on Regional Level meet on Associating
Women Representatives in Local-Bodies- =-111,- Gandhigram: Rajiv-------Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2001.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on Regional Level meet on Associating
Women Representatives in Local Bodies - IV, Gandhigram: Rajiv
Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2001.
6.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, The Annual Convention of the Elected Women
Representatives in Tamil Nadu: A Report, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi
Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2001.

7.

For more details, Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on Inter-agency
meeting of the partners working on the project Associating Women
Representatives in Local Bodies - I, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair

for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2001.

8.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, Panchayat Leaders and Functionaries training
module, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies,
2002.

9.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, Module for Women Leadership Training,
Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2002.

16

10.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on First Networking Meeting and
Interface Programme, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati
Raj Studies, 2002.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on Second Networking Meeting and
Interface Programme, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati
Raj Studies, 2002.
11.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, A Report on Women Panchayat Leaders Meet
on 20.02.02, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj
Studies, 2002.

12.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, Report of the Second Annual Meet of Elected
Women Representatives, Gandhigram: Rajiv Gandhi Chair for
Panchayati Raj Studies, 2002.

13.

Rajiv Gandhi Chair, Report of the Special meet of the Elected women
Representatives of Local Bodies at Gandhigram, Gandhigram: Rajiv

14.

Their activities are covered in the press. The details are:

Gandhi Chair for Panchayati Raj Studies, 2002.

Nev/- Indian Express ■
06.05.2002
Dinamalar
12.01.2002

Panchayat Chiefs- favour Govt. - programmes.
Women leaders keen on development activities of
panchayats
Nanillam Union-Panchayat Leaders meet

Dinamani
13.01.2002

Network meeting of SSF-Thiruvarur
Cheap liquor Scheme / Hitting below the belt.

Dinamalar
10.05.2002

Second Annual Meet of SSF
Director of Rural Development - Suggest

Dinamani
29.04.2002

Annual Conference of Women Leaders at State
Level

Dina Thanthi
01.05.2002

Annual Conference of Women Leaders at State
Level

The Hindu
02.05.2002

Elected Women Representatives Meet

Dina Thanthi
04.05.2002

Elected Women Representatives Meet

17

The Hindu
04.05.2002

Information kiosks coming up for SHGs in 10
districts

The Hindu
08.12.2001

Cheap Liquor Scheme / Hitting below the belt.
Women feel let down by a woman

Theekkathir
21.12.2001

Funds to Local Bodies plan to file PIL

Dinamalar
05.03.2002

A modified Family Card - Leader did - Minister
encouraged

Dina Thanthi
04.12.2001

Satisfying the basic needs - Funds to Local Bodies
- A request

The Financial Express
19.12.2001

Tamil Nadu panchayats plan to fild PIL for release
of statutory grants.

News Today
20.12.2001

Funds to Local Bodies 'Relent or face a stir’
Women panchayat chiefs on warpath

Dinamani
20.12.2001

Funds to Local Bodies 'Relent or face a stir’
Women panchayat chiefs on warpath

Dina Thanthi
20.12.2001

Funds to Local Bodies 'Relent or face a stir’
Women panchayat chiefs on warpath

Dinamalar
20.12.2001

Allot 20% of MLA and MP fund to panchayats leaders wish

Dinakaran
20.12.2001

EWRs meet at Chennai
- a crisis on implementing activities
- struggle on cheap liquor scheme

The Hindu
03.04.2002

No nomination for wards, polls went empower
dalits

The Hindu
19.03.2002

Spell out stand on
Panchayat

The Hindu
06.11.2001

Tamizh Natil Puthia Panchayathu Arasangam
Dr.G.Palanithurai, South Vision, 6,Thayarsahib
Second Lane, Chennai - 2 Rs.200.

devolution:

Tamil Nadu

18

New Indian Express
07.11.2001

End grant of funds to legislators. The Justice
V.R.Krishna
Iyer
endowment
lecture
on
'Panchayati Raj’ - S.S.Meenakshi Sundaram

Dinamani
06.11.2001

Fulfill the responsibilities and Commit your
needy Dr.Pankajam, Vice-Chancellor, GRJ suggest

The Hindu
08.11.2001

Village panchayats told to concentrate on tax
collection

New Indian Express
22.02.2002
Dina Thanthi
22.02.2002

Centre fixes target of 14 lakh SHG - M.Vengaiah
N*idu, Rural Development Minister, Govt, of
India at GRI.
Conference on Decentralization - going to be held
in Delhi - an announcement

Dinamalar
21.02.2002

Conference on Decentralization - going to be held
in Delhi — an announcement

Dinamani
. 22,02.200.2

Conference on Decentralization - going to be held
.in Delhi - an announcement.............................

The Hindu
16.02.2002

Participatory development key to panchayat raj

Dinamalar
16.02.2002

From Education to Family Planning - need for a
change in training the leaders

Dinamani
15.02.2002

New method of training to the president suggest

The Hindu
13.01.2002

Panchayat
Education

chiefs

play

key

role

in

Primary

Dinamani
12.01.2002

Panchayat
Education

chiefs

play

key

role

in

Primary

The Hindu
20.12.2001

Women panchayat chiefs threaten stir

New’ Indian Express
18.12.2001

Bureaucrats treat women panchayat president as
servants

19

Dina Thanthi
07.10.2001

Women Panchayat chiefs threaten stir.
to corruption in panchayat

The Hindu
06.10.2001

Women Panchayat chiefs threaten stir. Say 'No’
to corruption in panchayat

Dinakaran
06.10.2001

Women Panchayat chiefs threaten stir.
to corruption in panchayat

Say 'No’

Say 'No’

15. Letter is received from the Director Rural Development, Government of
Tamil Nadu on 20.05.02

20

Uh - litLOK SATTA

Associating Elected Women Representatives in Local Governments
About Lok Satta:

Lok Satta is a people’s movement for governance reforms with wide reach and credibility in
Andhra Pradesh. The three core activities of this five year old movement are:
1)

People’s Watch: Collective and informed grassroots assertion for corruption-free and
better public services.

2)

Swarajya: Advocacy and campaign for specific, inexpensive, locally achievable,
strategic governance reform goals which are universally acceptable across the
spectrum of political and public opinion as listed below:








3)

Right to Information
Citizen’s Charters
Empowerment of Local governments
Direct empowerment of citizens as stake-holders
Universal access to school education and Primary Health
Rural courts for speedy, time-bound and accessible justice
Toilets in every household

Election Watch movement to monitor elections for better democracy consisting of
_the following specific activities:










Verification of electoral rolls
Bringing pressure on parties to select candidates democratically through
members’ choice
Screening of candidates for corruption and criminal record, and making the
findings public
Making all details of candidates public
Common platforms facilitating public questioning of all candidates
Monitoring polling process
Focusing on governance issues, in particular - devolution of power to local
governments and stake-holders

Conceptualizing the Project:

In pursuance of the constitution amendments and the conforming State acts one-third of the
elective positions in the Panchayat Raj institutions and Local governments are reserved for
women. In a male dominated society participation and involvement of women in public
institutions is very limited. Most of them are catapulted into elective positions without any
experience in politics or political institutions. In this scenario women representatives of
PRI's/Local Governments need orientation on various facets of the working of such institutions;
their role and responsibilities, the expectations of the peoples and the limitations there of etc.

Page 1 of 1

LOK SATTA

They also need to be provided inputs' on administration, inter personal relations, conduct of
meetings, inclusive attitude and .consensus building.
As part of its campaign, Lok Satta established intimate links with leaders of local governments
and advocates of local self-governance from the perspective of better governance. Lok Satta feels
that reservation of one-third of the elective offices in local governments offers us an invaluable
opportunity to help reshape governance agenda and change the culture of administration.
Women, who are doubly disadvantaged on account of poverty, caste and other related social
disabilities as well as gender, have a need and natural propensity to identify with other women
exclusively. As they have stormed into local governments in large numbers without any real
party experience and exposure to the corrupting influences in traditional power structure, it is
opportune to help them organize separately as women leaders for better governance. Women also
are naturally inclined to pay attention to real issues that make a difference to people’s lives schools, health care, toilets, water supply etc. Women leaders need to share the best practices
they have developed or experienced, and facilitate propagation of the idea of people’s direct
participation.

All this involves women leaders coming together to associate themselves and eventually
emerging as an effective pressure group and advocacy body. While the need for such an all­
woman’s association is felt, it requires external support and initiative in the early phases until it
becomes an independent, viable, self-sustaining advocacy body.

The project was conceptualized with the specific and clearly defined goal to support capacity
building of Elected Women Representatives (EWR) of PRI's/Local Governments, equip them
with requisite skills and help them in performing their functions and duties in a responsive,
transparent and accountable manner.
The project was designed to provide to EWRs of PRI's/Local governments, inputs on:

Broad understanding of the constitution, functions and institutional framework of the
PRI's/Local Governments.
Enhancing their knowledge of policy issues
Linkages with Government and non-governmental organizations.
Identifying development needs in a participatory manner and allocation of resources on a
consensual approach.
5. Developing a policy framework from their perspective - with emphasis on the following:
- Right to Information
- Citizens charters
- Stake Holders groups
- Empowering of Ward Committees
- Empowering of Local Governments
- Toilets for every Household
1.

2.
3.
4.

6.
7.

Nuances of administration, inter personal skills etc.
And impart in them a culture that they are elected not to promote themselves but to serve the
people in contradiction to the cunent expectation of elected representatives; this genuinely

Page 2 of2

LOK SATTA

democratic perspective needs to be imbibed by them before they are acculturated to the
prevailing male-dominated, power-centred societal norms of seeking salience without
reference to public service or social good.
8.
Create a State level forum to become a powerful pressure and advocacy group supported by a
professional secretariat.
Equipped with a financial grant from SSF and our own resources, we took up the project of
Associating Elected Women Representatives in Krishna, Medak and Mahboob Nagar Districts of
Andhra Pradesh. Krishna district is in coastal Andhra and is reasonably well developed, where as
Medak and Mahboob Nagar are in Telanagana and are backward districts. All the three districts
have women chairpersons of Zilla Parishads. In view of the delay in elections to the
Panchayat Raj institutions in 2001, the project was slightly behind schedule, but we were able to
make up the last ground since then and completed it on schedule by 30th April, 2002.

Participatory orientation workshops were held for the elected Womens Representatives in groups
- one group consists of ZPP’s, ZPTC and MPP (1 meeting per district) , another group consists
of Municipal Chairpersons and Counselors (1 meeting per district) and the last group consists of
MPTC’s and Gram Sarpanch’s (6-8 meetings per district). The breakup of number of EWRs
participating in the workshops is given in annexure I.

The content of the orientation programme was designed in such a manner that 70% of the time
was allocated for inputs from experienced resource persons while the balance time was utilized
for interactive session. Most of the time in the workshop was allocated for experience sharing on
pre-identified issues. A detailed orientation manual was prepared in Telugu and-distributed to the
participants along with other relevant literature.
Medak: Of the 3 districts that were selected under this project, probably the best organized and
most enthusiastic was Medak'. Lok Satta’s district unit had planned and executed all the
programs quite systematically and not only surpassed its prescribed quota of 8 workshops but
organised two more such workshops of EWRs. With the active assistance of Lok Satta, a
chamber of EWRs was created in Medak district on 30th of March, with participation from
across the political spectrum, which is a significant achievement in a highly polarized state like
Andhra Pradesh.
Mahaboobnagar: In the case'of Mahaboobnagar dist., the first workshop could not be organised
as per our expectations. However, the subsequent 6 workshops were conducted with the
participation of around 60% EWRs. Owing to the backwardness and remote nature of terrain we
weren’t able to mobilize as many EWRs as we hoped for. The process of creating a forum of
elected EWRs is currently underway in the district.

Krishna : In the case of Krishna district the first categoiy workshop of EWRs was successfully
conducted. But, by the time we commenced organising second category level workshops there
were already groups like Eenadu and other NGOs which organised similar workshops with
media support and thereby preempted our initiative. But still we have conducted 4 other
workshops with the involvement of about 70% EWRs. The process of creating a forum of
elected EWRs is currently underway in this district also.

Page 3 of3

LOK SATTA

To sum up, our workshops were well received by the participant EWRs. Our methods were
innovative and participatory. Unlike one-sided political speeches or academic lectures our
resource persons were able to present their candid views on a range of women and governance
related issues. We were exposed to the hopes and aspirations of these enthusiastic women at the
grass roots level and based on the feed back we received we would like to slightly redesign the
workshops in the 2nd phase of this project to address more women’s related issues.

SSF Partners meet: We were privileged to host a partners meet with participants from the other
3 southern states during the first week of April in Hyderabad. We had a highly interesting meet
with presentations from all the partners followed by lengthy sessions during which the partners
were freely able to share their experiences and exchanged views and opinions on a wide range of
issues.

Page 4 of 4

LOK SATTA

Associating EWRs; Details of workshops held
Dist / Coordinator
MEDAK
1. Mr. BRM Rao
2. Mr. T. Srinivas

Type of EWRs
ZPTC'+ MPP0
Presidents
Municipal representatives
MPTC + Sarpanches

••

Date

Participating
EWRs

03/11/01
18/11/01
23/12/01
05/01/02
06/01/02
27/01/0209/02/02
10/02/02
23/02/02
28/02/02
30/03/02
Total

29
24
30
35
32
37
34
40
113
35
30
439

Mahaboobnagar
16/12/01
24/02/02
Kalwakurthi
10/03/02
Narayanpet
17/03/02
Kothakota
! 18/03/02
Jadcharla
23/03/02
Nagarkumool
24/04/02
Gadwal
Total
09/12/02
Machilipatnam
23/02/02
Nuziveedu
24/02/02
Vijayawada
26/04/02
Machilipatnam
30/04/02
Gudiwada
Total:

22
23
38
26
19
27
31
186
29
31
45
47
42
184

Place
Meeting
Sangareddy
Medak
Narsapur
Kandi
Medak
Jogipet
Narayankhed
Zaheerabad
Pragnapur
Siddipet
Medak

District Chambers
MAHABOOBNAGAR
1. Mr. VL Murthy
2. Mr. Ram Mohan

ZPTC + MPP Presidents
MPTC + Sarpanches
»•

KRISHNA
1. Mr. DS Rao
2. Dr. Sarangapani

ZPTC + MPP Presidents
MPTC + Sarpanches

* : ZPTC - Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency Member
0 : MPP - Manda! Praja Parishad President
0

: MPTC - Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency Member

Page 5 of 5

Remarks

Ward
Members
included

MfiV. zOOz

FINAL REPORT
SAKHI
RESOURCE CENTRE FOR WOMEN.
TRIVANDRUM 1 KERALA

Networking Elected Women
Representatives
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

FINAL REPORT

March 2000 - May 2002

Project Co-ordinator
Project Associate

:

Aleyamma Vijayan
Daya. J.

Sakhi Women’s Resource Centre
T.C. 27/2323, Convent Road
Thiruvananthapuram - 1
Phone:
0471 -462251
E-mail: Sahi@md2.vsnl.net.in

In association with
Singamnia Sreenivasan Foundation
‘Tharanga', l(fh Cross, Raj Mahal Vilas Extentension
Bangalore - 560 080

We acknowledge the services of Ms. J. Snadhya who worked in the
project in the 1st Phase.

Smt. Mercy Alexander associated with the

project from the beginning and helped to organise meetings and

consultations.

We also acknowledge the services of all our co-workers at Sakhi and last
but not least the willingness and co-operation extended by the elected

women representative and the presidents of the Grama Panchayats in

-Zhiruvananthapuram District.

Networking Elected Women Representatives

In Trivandrum district, Kerala
Final report.

1.
1.1

Background
.History of local Governance

India has a long tradition of local governance and in as early as 1882, the Indian

Government had announced its policy on local governance. In 1885, Local Bodies
Act was passed. There were several efforts during independence struggle to

understand and evolve appropriate local government institutions. It is in1959, the

Balwantrai Mehta committee, which recommended a three tier governance system
(grama-block'district) in’India without the intervention of political parties. It hoped

that_through

democratic

decentralization

and

by

people’s

participation

in

implementing programmes panchayats would act as links between people and
governments. On the basis of this, many states enacted new laws but the goals

were not achieved. In 1977, the Ashoka Mehta Committee formed by Janata Party
Government found out that mistakes in structural

matters,

apathy of the

bureaucracy, power hungry leadership in the centre and states, corruption, lack of
resources, lack of political will etc as the reasons of the failure of the Panchayat raj

system. The Committee viewed the Panchayats as an agency to do the

development works

rather than

as

self-governing

bodies

or village self-

governments.

The G.V.KRao Committee formed 1985 suggested strongly that, for Panchayats to
involve in developmental work with people's participation, enough resource
allocation and power for governance should be imparted to panchayats. District

panchayat committees should be made stronger. Singhvi Committee (1986),

Sarkaria commission (1988), Parliamentary Committee headed by P.K.Thungan etc
made further recommendations to strengthen the panchyat raj system.

We acknowledge the services of Ms. J. Snadhya who worked in the
project in the 1st Phase.

Smt. Mercy Alexander associated with the

project from the beginning and helped to organise meetings and

consultations.

We also acknowledge the services of all our co-workers at Sakhi and last
but not least the willingness and co-operation extended by the elected
women. representative and the presidents of the Grama Panchayats in

-Ihimvananthapuram District.

Networking Elected Women Representatives

In Trivandrum district, Kerala
Final report.

1.

Background

1.1.History of local Governance
India has a long tradition of local governance and in as early as 1882, the Indian
Government had announced its policy on local governance. In 1885, Local Bodies
Act was passed. There were several efforts during independence struggle to

understand and evolve appropriate local government institutions. It is in1959, the

Balwantrai Mehta committee, which recommended a three tier governance system

(grama-block-district) in India without the intervention of political parties. It hoped ■
that^through

democratic

decentralization

and

by

people’s

participation

in

implementing programmes panchayats would act as links between people and

governments. On the basis of this, many states enacted new laws but the goals
were not achieved. In 1977, the Ashoka Mehta Committee formed by Janata Party
Government found out that mistakes in structural matters,

apathy of the

bureaucracy, power hungry leadership in the centre and states, corruption, lack of
resources, lack of political will etc as the reasons of the failure of the Panchayat raj
system. The Committee viewed the Panchayats as an agency to do the

development works

rather than

as

self-governing

bodies

or

village self-

governments.
The G.V.K.Rao Committee formed 1985 suggested strongly that, for Panchayats to

involve in developmental work with people's participation, enough resource

allocation and power for governance should be imparted to panchayats. District

panchayat committees should be made stronger. Singhvi Committee (1986),

Sarkaria commission (1988), Parliamentary Committee headed by P.KThungan etc
made further recommendations to strengthen the panchyat raj system.

The 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution prescribed a uniform three-tier
system: -district, taluk I block and village levels in the rural areas and town

Panchayats in smaller urban centers, besides the traditional Municipalities and

Corporations in the larger urban centres. Local bodies should have a uniform fiveyear term and in the event of dissolution, elections are to be held within six months.

SC/ST representation proportionate to the population and one-third reservation

for women were introduced at all levels. A state Finance Commission has to be
appointed by every state government to decide on revenue sharing by these local

bodies.

District Planning Committees (DPC’s) is to be constituted in every district with twothird of the membership reserved for district Panchayats and urban governing
Institute in proportion to the population. A separate 11th schedule was added to the

Constitution listing 29 subjects that could be devolved to local self-governments.

However, powers, finances and functional autonomy of the local self-governments

were left to the discretion of the state governments.

1.2

About Kerala

Kerala is one of the 28 States in India. It has an area of 38,863 Sq. km occupying
1.18% of Indian Union with a population of 3.1 Crore (Census of India 2001). The
state is divided into

Panchayats.

14 Districts,

152 Block Panchayats and 991

Grama

Besides these rural local bodies, there are 53 Municipalities and 5

Municipal Corporations.

The quality of life indicators put Kerala closer to the

developed countries than to the rest of India or third world nations despite its poor
economic status.
Kerala’s performance on the basic indicators has continued to improve since the

early 1980’s.

The current female-to-male ratio is 1.58: 1 against the National

ratio of 0.933: 1.

In 1996, Kerala had 956 Primary Health Centres serving an

average of 30,346 persons each, compared with an all-lndia average of 38,618.

Health sub-centres numbered 5,094 serving 5,695 persons each, compared with an

all-lndia rate of 6358. Kerala offered 147 hospital beds per one lakh people against
the all-lndia average of 96 per one lakh.

The above set of high material quality-of-life indicators coinciding with low per
capita income can be considered as “enigma” and a “paradox'’. The state's

excellent gender-development indicators are often misleading.

It is more visible

when we take into account the work participation of women which is lower than the

national average, increasing violence against women, lesser number of women in

political arena, increasing suicide rates etc.

1.3

Decentalisation in Kerala

In 1996, the Left Democratic Front Government decided to go ahead with the bold
experiment of devolution of power and devolution of funds to Local Self

Government institutions.

It was considered path-breaking and revolutionary

experiment of power sharing under the banner of “People’s Planning Programme”.

It was launched formally in on 17lh Aug 1996.
The following were its objectives: 1.

Decentralisation and People’s Participation.

2.

35-40% Plan Funds for Projects/Schemes formulated and to be implemented

by Local Bodies.

3.

All Departmental Schemes to be implemented in consultation with Local Bodies.

4.

Local Bodies to prepare and priorities a list of projects

5.

Maximum popular participation at every stage of planning process.

6.

To break the atmosphere of cynicism.

7.

To tap new resources both material and human and

To
8.

empower the Panchayats and make them real self-governments.

A major milestone was laid in the State Budget of 1996-97 when Rs. 69 crore was

provided for urban Local Bodies and Rupees 143 crore for the rural Local Bodies

as untied plan grants.

Of the untied funds to the rural Local Bodies, rupees 100

crore was allocated to village Panchayats, rupees 15 crore for Block Panchayats

and rupees 28 crore to the District Panchayats.

Share of LSGIs in the State’s Plan
(Rupees in Crore)

year

grant in aid

1997-98

State sponsored scheme

Total

749

276

1025.00

1998-99

950

166.50

116.50

1999-2000

1020

134.40

1154.40

The budgetary provision for grant-in aid to the Local Bodies had initially three

components: Tribal Sub Plan (TSP), Special Component Plan (SCP) and General

Sector Plan. Later on a Woman’s component plan (WCP) was also added
Certain broad guidelines were given regarding sectoral allocation in the plans of the

Local-'Bodies.

Thrust was given to three broad development sectors, namely

productive, service and infrastructure.

Rural LSGIs has to invest 40% of their

grant-in-aid for the productive sector and maximum of 30% for the infrastructure
sector and the rest of the 30% in the service sector.

1.3.1

The first stage -formation of Gram Sabhas.

The grama sabhas were constituted as the base of the 3 tier PRI’s. Section 243 of
the constitution defines gramasabha as a ‘body consisting of persons registered in
the electoral rolls relating to a village, comprised within the Panchayat. However
the Constitution left the powers and functions of the gramasabhas to the discretion
of the state legislatures.

To overcome the problem posed by the large size of the Panchayats in the state,
the Kerala legislative limited the grama sabha to the voters in a ward. A typical

Grama Panchayat has 10 to 12 wards. Besides, the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act of

1994 had endowed the gramasabhas with substantial powers and functions. They

have to be convened at least twice a year. The Grama Panchayat is to present
before the gramasabha the financial account, work report and a statement of the

development activities that need to be undertaken in the ward.

mandate

that

the

recommendations

of the

gramasabhas

The law also
be

given

due

consideration by all three tiers of Panchayats. If any decision of the grama sabha

cannot be implemented, the reasons must be presented at the next grama sabha.

The gramasabhas are to participate in the preparation and monitoring of the
Panchayat development plans to mobilize resources through voluntary.labour.and
help in the selection of beneficiaries.

The gramasabhas provided an ideal forum to identify the needs of the people.
Instead of gramasabha meeting as a general body of several hundred people, after
a brief common' gathering, the participants would divide into small groups, each

dealing with a particular development sector, and discuss in depth the problems of

that sector. Twelve groups/sectors-are given preference namely Agriculture and
Irrigation, Animal Husbandry and Fishing, Education, Drinking water, Sanitation and
health, Industry, Transport and Energy, Housing and welfare, culture, Women’s

development, SC/ST welfare, cooperatives and Resource mobilization. Depending

upon the Panchayat, some groups could be either enlarged or combined.
However, it is mandatory to have separate groups to discuss development

problems of women and SC/ST welfare.
Registration counter^ are opened one hour before the Sabha begin. Half an hour is
allotted for Presidential address and inaugural speeches to be followed by 2

presentations of 20 minutes each regarding the development crisis in Kerala and

PPC. (From the guidelines given to Panchayats on running the gramasabha.)
The state wide public inauguration of the campaign took place on 17 August 1996.

1.3.2

Second stage - Preparation of development report

A study of local geography and natural resources is conducted so as to chart out

action plan for implementation.

For this, each Panchayat had to prepare a'

development report. Part I of the report consist of Introduction, economic social
history and geo-physical conditions and human resources of the Panchayats.

Part II consists of 12 chapters giving the present status, problems and development

prospects of each sector viz. Agriculture & Irrigation, Animal husbandry and

fisheries, Industry, energy & housing, transport, education, health, drinking water

and sanitation, women and development, welfare of SC/ST, culture and resource
mobilization.

Then development seminars were conducted which was the nodal event of the
second stage of the campaign.

This was to consider the Panchayat/Municipal

development reports and finalize their recommendation for the development
proposals.

1.3.3

Third stage-formation of task force

Development seminars provided every Panchayat and Municipality with a list of
recommendations regarding what tQ-.b.e_d.Qne .in..each-development-sector.~These-

sectors are classified into three: - Production sector, infrastructure sector, service
sector'and welfare sector. And in each of these sectors, task forces of 10 to 12
members were formed. And these task force members were trained as how to

prepare project proposals and also methods to implement it.

Voluntary Technical Corps (VTC) (non official technical experts who showed
willingness to undertake appraisal of plans) key Resource Person (KRPs), District

Resource Persons (DRPs), Block level Expert Committee(BLEC) Municipal Level

Expert Committee (MLEC), and Corporation Level Committee (CLEC) were formed
later. These expert committees are empowered to issue technical functions to the
projects.

1.3.4

Gender and peoples planning programme

The government tried to give attention to women in the People’s Plan Campaign in
the following ways: Women Component plan (WCP)

7

Gender is included as an important criterion in the selection of beneficiaries in
poverty alleviation programmes.

Planning Board during the first year, gave a

direction to all Panchayats to set aside 10% of the total fund for the welfare of
women. But in no district the suggested minimum standard was reached.

During the second year of PPC the Planning Board made it mandatory to earmark
10% of plan fund for women development projects. Hence now all the Panchayats
take serious effort to see to that the allotted money is spend for women.

1.3.5

Training programmes

In all the phases there were classes on women and development at the state and

district levels training programmes.

It drew attention to the marginalization of

women in developmental process in the state, the discrimination and violence
against women and emphasized the need for incorporating gender concerns in
local level plans. Taskforce on women were given separate training on the women

oriented projects.

During the discussions in gramasabha women welfare is a compulsory 'section' to

be discussed. A structural write up on gender problems is provided to facilitate the
discussions usually.
In the development reports, in which it is expected to write in detail about the
current status on each area under different heads, a separate section on Women’s

Welfare was included so as to give significance to the welfare of women.
This background is necessary to understand in what context have we started the

network and how much work burden the women members had as well as what kind
of knowledge and skills were to be imparted. This intense process meant that the
EWR's had very little time at their disposal too.

2.

Networking elected women representatives.

This project of “Associating Elected Women Representatives” was an initiative in 4

southern states of India. The Singamma Srinivas Foundation, Banglore with the
support from FORD foundation, initiated it

8

As a partner in this project, our attempt was to work with three different groups of

women: Elected Women Representatives (EWR’s) in Trivandrum, Dalit EWRs in
Kollam and EWRs of the coastal belt.

2.1 Preparation work for the programme
Sakhi started the work on 1st March 2000. Already the Decentralised planning
process had been initiated in Kerala and Sakhi was involved in the training
programmes of panchayat members, and in the women’s component plan. This
project gave us the opportunity to focus on improving the working ability of elected
women representatives in Trivandrum district.

During a period of three months, between March and May the preparation work for

1

the programme was done. The major purpose of this was to create a good
foundation for the work. This was done through getting deeper knowledge about

the decentralized planning process and the situation of the EWRs.

This.. process.Jncluded-_collecting--©f—relevant—materials—orr—Elected-Wo'men~
Representatives (EWRs) and meeting people with deep knowledge in this field.
SakfiT visited Planning Board, where we met officials like Mr. Thomas Isaac,

member of the planning board and in charge of the decentralization program. Sakhi
also met Dr.Seema, the consultant on gender in the Planning Board. Both of them
gave us useful information and ideas on the how to continue our work.

The preparation period also included contact with people working closely with
EWRs, participation in meetings and visits to others organizations working on this

matter. Sakhi also collected secondary data on the decentralization planning
process and met a few women members to discuss the possibilities of the idea of
networking. During this period we planned the work in a more concrete way.
From the office of the Panchayat Directorate we collected the addresses of EWRs
of Trivandrum district, and the addresses of Dalit EWRs of Kollam district. Letters

were sent to activists, academicians, and women representatives requesting for

their participation in one-day consultation to be held on the 17th June 2000.
Seventeen people who work in different levels of the peoples planning project
participated in this meeting.

1

9

This one day consultation was meant to brainstorm on the idea of associating
elected women members as we ourselves had apprehensions about getting
together women of different political parties.

Kerala is a highly politicized state and

the political parties would wrongly interpret our intervention. We also wanted to

consult the modalities and approaches.
The meeting deliberated on the implications and significance of Governance.
-Institutions like World Bank now talk of 'good governance’ but it is from the
perspective of 'efficiency”. These approaches pave the way for privatization and for

competition and market economy
-The decentralization programme in Kerala is a genuine effort at devolving power to

people.

-Yet, even here the middle classes are keeping away from the process. Apathy is a
great social problem. If all sections of people do not participate, it weakens the
democracy.

' .

-It'iS'the poor who will have to bear the ill effects of bad governance, of corruption
and favoritism. The interests of the poor and marginalized rarely get reflected in
governance.

-Women’s participation in governance has always been very nominal. Although

33% women have entered public space, there is no gender perspective in
governance. The patriarchal power usages and masculine political atmosphere

makes women’s participation difficult.
In these contexts the relevance whether a network is needed in Kerala was

deliberated. It was pointed that the State Planning board is giving training to women
and they are publishing booklets etc. What is the relevance of NETWORK THEN?

The elected members present in the meeting argued strongly for a network.
The reasons pointed out were
> All members do not receive the training given by planning board, especially on

gender and empowerment; sector specific matters like fisheries etc

10

> This network can compliment what the planning board is doing. This is not at all
in conflict with their efforts

> Women who come to public space through elections come from various political

parties, religions and castes. A network above all these considerations is

important and only an organization like Sakhi can do this
> There are a lot of uncertainties regarding WCP. The need to move from

practical needs to strategic concerns is very important and inputs from feminist
organizations only will ensure that the planning is moving in the right direction.

There is also need to sensitize men on gender. There are possibilities on
dissemination of ides on gender based planning, monitoring and evaluation.
The elected representatives believed that formation of self-help groups was the

only way to achieve women’s empowerment. Although there was relevance for
these self-help groups due to their role in bringing women to the public forum, their
effect in bringing about true women empowerment remained a contentious issue. In
this contoxt-thsre-ie-•aFr-er-geRt-nee-d- -to-develop-a-weman-leadership-with—&~

comprehensive outlook. The role of a network in these circumstances is:

> To coordinate different women organizations and panchayats that

come forward to study gender issues.
> To put pressure on political parties so that women are given the
opportunity to contest in general seats apart from their reserved

wards.
> To interact with the women representatives of other states.
> To impress upon women organizations on the need to give sufficient

support for women representatives.
2.2

FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT

❖ Starting the network
In July 2000, the first three meetings of EWRs were held, and approximately 45

members from the three taluks of Neyyattinkera, Attingal and Nedumangad

participated. These centers were selected for the convenience of the members. We

experienced some problems with low participation. We sent around 350 letters
inviting the members and it was out of this 350 that 45 took part in the meetings.
Reluctance of the members to participate in a meeting convened across political

lines by an unfamiliar organization was one of the main reasons for this low turnout.

All three meetings included inputs on the subject of development, decentralization
and gender. We impressed upon them the need to look upon a gender sensitive
development paradigm and how over the years women were marginalized with
regard to planning and implementation of development activities. We also

explained the context in which reservation of seats for women became a necessity

and how this opportunity could be used to the advantage of women and their

empowerment.

However, the participants were more concerned on personal

experiences of being a female politician, and on fund utilisation reserved for the

Women’s Component Plan. They said that although women representation in the
grama sabhas were significant most of them came with the intention of receiving
personal benefits and were disinterested in other aspects of planning.

The questions of networking women across party connection were also discussed

during all three meetings, and there were some discussions on whether it is
possible to network above political considerations and perspectives. The EWRs in

12

general welcomed the idea, and they expressed great expectations. Their primary
interest was in creating a forum for sharing experiences and learning from each
other. The members agreed to bring more EWRs for next meetings and this

showed their interest in the idea of a network.

❖ Women’s manifesto
By the time the first phase was completed the panchayat elections were
announced. We felt that there was a need to emphasize the necessity of giving

more seats to women by accommodating them in the general-seats also. And a

woman friendly development plan needs to be evolved. So we decided to bring out
a “women’s manifesto” (right proclamation document) to be distributed among

political parties and panchayat officials. For that the consultative committee met
again and finalized the document. The document asked the political parties to give
fifty percent of the seats to women and deny seats to accused people in offenses

against women. The document asked the elected representatives to ensure gender

equality. iOLgenerat-pJan-apart--from-the-women-comporieni" plariTTTie”w6men
component plan fund was be utilized for the social and collective development of
wofnfen. The necessity to form panchayat level Vigilant Committees to address

violence against women was emphasized in the document. The document
requested the government to take necessary steps to stop the selling of

multinational consumer products through self help groups and help to make
possible

proper marketing

of the

products

made

by

local

level women

entrepreneurs.

2.3

Networking Dalit EWRs in Kollam District

As mentioned in the background passage, one of our target groups was the Dalit
EWRs in Kollam. On the first of August 2000, a meeting with this group was held.

The purpose of meeting Dalit EWRs separately was to increase the understanding

of Dalit women’s situation, and to support them in the politics. At this occasion too,
we faced problems low participation, Out of the 39 invited, only five came to the

meeting. However, those who took part in the meeting, found it enriching and
empowering, and wished to participate in forthcoming meetings. After the elections

in September, again efforts were made to get in contact with the Dalit EWRs in

Kollam district. A survey form was send to all 39 but only 9 responded. Only one

among them was re elected. Most of them responded saying that they had no
problems as dalit members but they knew of others who had problems. Since dalit

mobilization and activities were not strong in Kerala and since they had come from

mainstream parties, it was not easy to network them on their dalit identity.

As we faced many difficulties in reaching this target group, and bringing them
together into a network, we had doubts about continuing the work. Due to these

problems, the work on Dalit EWRs did not continue

3. Elections - September 2000
In September the elections to the Local Bodies were held. During this time we

visited a number of panchayats to observe and understand the election campaigns
and the election process. .The purpose was also to support and establish a good
relationship to. the women participating irithis process.
"Dtfe to the rotation system, a great majority of the sitting women members could

not contest, as their wards became general seats. The rotation system implies that
a reserved seat becomes general after one election period. EWRs realized that
they were given only reserved seats, no matter how good they preformed during

their tenure.
The election results gave some positive trends regarding women representaton in

local bodies. Of all the elected people’s representatives in the local bodies, 38%are
women, up from35.8% in the councils that demitted office.

Presence of women as a percentage of the total number of elected representatives
is the highest in Block panchayats, their strength being 40.79%. Politically, the
block panchayats are the weakest link in the three-tier panchayat raj system.
The presence of women is the most insignificant in the Municipal corporations

[35.07%] At the level of Grama panchayats, their number close to 5000 [apprx36%] and at the level of district panchayats, their strength is only 34.7%

Statistics also show that almost 70% of the women elected representatives are less
than 40 years old and men aged below 30 years is a meager 13%.

In respect of educational attainments too women are ahead of men. Roughly 22%of

the women elected representatives are graduates or postgraduates, as compared
to their 20% male counter parts. The total number of women representatives who
have had college education would stand at 44.5%.

During this period Sakhi brought out a publication on “Women and Power”.
Through this publication we wanted to share some of our experiences and

concerns expressed during the past six-month’s working with the EWRs. This was
widojy read and appreciated

4. After the election - meeting with former EWRs
After the election, we realized that, the. majo.rjf.y_ofthe_£WRs. withwhom-we had—
established contacts and started working were not re-eiected. As mentioned, their

seatsrbecame general seats in the rotation system, and only a few of the former

EWRs were re-elected. This situation created some difficulties in our efforts to

networking the EWRs, as it implied that we had to “start from the beginning" again.
We convened a meeting of former members and 18 women came. Majority of them

did not get their seats back once it is converted to the general ward. Besides this,
since the decentralization process has started, the members have much more

power and command and hence the position of panchayat member is a coveted
one. There is stiff competition to get a party seat as now the members can travel a
lot, get trainings and wider contacts. They will also get a remuneration of Rs. 1000/-

month. Hence the influential persons in the party see to it that their own persons
get the seat. Some of the members' felt that women who develop as independent
and assertive will be dropped out.

At this meeting many of them expressed concern about the future of projects in the
panchayats initiated by them. They also felt that their chances being in the public

space itself would be limited.

15

There was an animated discussion when one member said that the activities of the

panchyats are highly politicized. The local committee of the party interferes in the
disbursement of funds and in the selection of beneficiaries. Some felt that certain

amount of partisan attitude is justifiable, as that only will help to strengthen the

party base. In the strict sense, nobody can be ‘impartial’ or ‘independent’. But
majority disagreed with this view and felt that once elected, one should be able to

rise above party affiliations and becomes true representative of all people.

They also made an evaluation of the last 5 years of People’s plan campaign (PPC).
In their' assessment the WCP

has really focused on

income generation

programmes like formation of self-help groups, micro level income generating
programmes etc. The discussion was whether these are sustainable? What are the

short term and long term advantages of such a process? What about the leadership
of SHG’s? There was a discussion on how the demand that only BPL (Below
Poverty Line) be in the groups! The confusion arising out of such a situation was

discussed. This will mean that those who are just above BPL and who have some
leadership'skills will not be in the groups with the danger that these will be

completely under bureaucratic control.
Their suggestions on the tasks for the network in the coming months are the
following:



Issues of primary health care .All EWR’s be helped to facilitate that the

PHCs

are working in a women friendly manner; that there will be facilities for normal

delivery and primary health care are for gynecological problems


Take initiatives to from ‘Jagrutha Samithis’ at all panchayts to enquire and take

action on issues of violence on women


To bring the gender concerns in the planning process.



To develop the perspective that all problems are women’s problems

Sakhi’s help was demanded in the following areas.

1. To develop a criterion to assess whether a project is gender sensitive (develop

indicators for gender based planning)

16

2. To develop a leadership training manual for women leaders of SHG’s which
EWR's can use to train them

To develop materials on adolescent health education

3.

An ad-hoc committee was also elected during this meeting, which will support the

forthcoming networking of new-elected women representatives. This committee had
7 members and they agreed to convey to the new members the need of such
coming together of women members.

We assured them that they could continue to come to our meetings. But later on
we learnt that they had pressure from their family members to stay on at home.
Another obstacle was finance. While being a member they were receiving an
allowance of Rs.1000/-month and now they have to depend on their husbands.

Eventually, most of them dropped out of the network and only a handful continued
to come for the meetings.

5. Second phase of the project,
a)

,---------------- -—■■■------ ---------- ~

Another round of meetings with new members.

Three taluk level meetings' with newly- elected EWRs were held in Trivandrum

district during January and February 2001. On January 10th a meeting was held in
Attingal area; On February 3rd a meeting was held in Neyyttinkara, and on the 15th
a meeting was held in Nedumangad.

17

To establish contacts with the newly elected members was an uphill task. It was

also difficult to start the process of implementing the idea networking again. But our

work gave result, and compared to earlier meetings, the number of participants

increased drastically. Between 40 and 70 women took part in each meeting during
January and February. Elected Women in the panchayats heard from older

members about the networking program, and we felt that the idea was slowly
getting accepted and appreciated. The former EWRs we had worked with played an

important role in this process, since they inspired newly elected EWRs to take part
in our meetings.

The participants in this round of meetings were new in the politics, and hence they
could not yet identify much of the problems of being a female politician. The
discussion in the meeting focused on three things
a)

Getting to know one'-another.

b)

Politics and good governance

c)

Gender sensitivity in planning

Since all of them were aware of the WCP, the question raised was even if women’s
needs were given priority in designing projects, would it help to change the

condition or position of women? The difference between these two were shown
with examples. This further resulted in a discussion of how to differentiate between

needs and wants and how gender is different from the biological difference and /s a
social construct.
The elected women present were from varied backgrounds and hence the

response to the discussion was also varied. Some were eager to understand the
conceptual issues whereas others were eager to get into practical aspects like new

project ideas, how to manage the self-help groups etc.
The most urgent item on the agenda during the meetings with EWRs during the

second round was to work on suitable ideas for projects on women in the
panchayats. On directives from the planning board, the panchayats had to prepare

18

plans for the next phase in a time bound manner and there was pressure to bring

up innovative projects under the women’s component plan. The sessions and
discussions on these meetings also focused on women and development.
decentralization and the situation of female politicians.

Our effort here was to develop in the members a perspective on development. If
they have to get involved in local planning, they need to know what is development,

and how to maximum use the local resources. They also need to know the priorities
to be kept in mind like the issues of food security, employment, and environment.

Since the members were new, they were eager to learn.
We attempted a data collection process here by distributing survey forms in one
meeting. 51 members responded.

b) Profile of the newly elected members-a study
The average age group the EWR’s was 30-40. Only two were above 60.
Twenty-five of them studied up to SSLC; 18 up to Pre degree and 14 are degree

holders. One is a practicing lawyer. Only three women had education below SSLC.
Some of them were schoolteachers, anganawadi workers, mahila pradhan agent
and self-employed like tailors etc. Majority of the women came from working class

families. Their partner or brother worked casual labourer or agricultural worker.
None of the members in this survey were panchayat presidents. Only five had any

positions like standing committee chairpersons.
Only seven out of the 51 were re-elected members and there was only one woman

who contested and won from a general seat!

50% of the members were first time in politics or in any public position. Only 6 of
them had membership in political parties and another 8 had membership in
women's organizations of parties.

The basic information regarding the members was very useful in designing
programmes for them in subsequent meetings.

19

c)

Attending Gramsabhas

In the gram panchayats of Kerala, Gramasabhas were conducted in the end of July
and the beginning of August for submitting the plan for 2001-2002. These grama

sabhas were also supposed to have done the evaluation of the projects undertaken
in 2000-2001. As part of the assurance given to the women panchayat members in

the last network meetings, we participated in many grama sabhas conducted at
different parts of Thiruvananthapuram. In some places we gave them some project

ideas for the women’s component plan.
We participated in the gramasabhas of

Kazhakkuttom,
Kadinamkulam,
Kunnathukal,

'. Vizhirijam and

.



Vatfiyoorkavu.
In some places we also participated in the panchayat committee meetings.

Observing and evaluating the procedures in the gramasabhas was very useful to a

person who intends to study the peoples planning project.
=> Participation of women in the gramasabhas was comparatively high. Even

where the panchayat member was a woman, men controlled the gramasabha

procedures. Health and education did not come up for discussions of the sabha
as major issues. The problems related to the ration card, (which deal with the
clarification of BPL and APL family) the inability of Anganavadi to provide food

for children and pregnant women, were raised as basic issues. But they were

not asking such questions with the right consciousness but just as complaints.

=> Attendance of a large number of women (physical presence) in gramasabhas by
itself cannot ensure true participation of women in planning. It is to be assumed
that the decentralisation programme is not a success in terms of creating ’

20

awareness among public in general and women in particular, regarding their

rights in the panchayati raj system.
=> Even women panchayat members were not adequately trained to facilitate a

large meeting nor there was any strategy worked out earlier at the panchayat

meeting how to handle a group and ensure a democratic process.
=> If large number of men is present, then the dynamics and process of the

meeting invariably changes. It is noisier and men take over the process and all
the decisions.

In our next round of meetings, we need to focus on training EWR's to facilitate
group meetings in a democratic and participatory manner. They could convene

leaders of self-help groups early and train them to act as key persons in the
meeting. One of th6 most urgent items on the agenda during our meetings with

EWRs has been to work on suitable ideas for projects on women in the panchayats,

mainly. Self. . Help...Groups-(SHGs),-The-focus-on-SHGs-arises—from--the-------implementation of the Women’s Component Plan (WCP). The decentralization
program implies that ten percent of the state budget for the panchayats should be

spent on women. Because of this, many SHGs has started. During our meetings,
the EWRs have expressed need for ideas on how to work on the WCP. The
distribution on ideas for WCP would also strengthene the network of women. As a

part of the work oh ideas for WCP, we visited Allppey to study a few units there,
working with women. We visited a unit in which women were trained in masonry
skills, in vermiculture to make bio-fertilizer, and a sanitary mart where women make
prefabricated doors windows etc for toilets and sell them. We also studied how

rainwater harvesting works and how non-artificial fertilizer can be used. In spite of
our best effort, only 9 members took part in this exchange programme but once

they explained what they saw, there is great enthusiasm among others to

participate.
In the beginning of May the election to the state Assembly was held. The EWRs

were very much involved in this process and hence we could not have any meeting
during this period.

In April we focused on getting more knowledge of successfully run economic

programmes conducted by other NGO’s. The aim was to arrange an exchange visit
of interested women members there to get ideas to prepare their own projects.

(More information to be found in the in the passage “’women component plan and

self help groups”.)
April 7th' on the world health day, one network of women’s organizations including

Sakhi organized a workshop on the proposed women's health policy in Kerala.

Sakhi invited all the EWR's and many of them participated in the workshop. This
way of becoming part of larger women’s movement in the state is inspiring to many
women and they feel that even after their term as panchayat members is over, they

have a public space to be present and get involved

d)

Assembly elections

During the -assembly- elections- -the network -of women’s group (Kerala. Streevedi)

conducted a campaign against two candidates who were accused in sex scandals
in Kerala. The men came from different parties and this created a debate among
the EWRs about the need to stand above party politics in issues related to women.

On May 10th elections to the state assembly was held and United Democratic Front

(UDF) came to power. Their approach to the Peoples Planning Campaign (PPG)

was different from their predecessors, the Left democratic front (LDF). UDF
Government announced some changes in the PPC with created a lot of confusion
about the future of PPC. The fact that the government was facing financial crises

also effected the situation for the panchayats.

During this period Sakhi was involved in many other activities related to our work
with the EWRs. These activities included:

Support to self-help groups

Work with a sex trade case which was reported from a panchayat
Organizing classes on gender in panchayats for leaders of self help groups

22

Taking part of a module preparation and faculty of the training programs of
the Kerala institute of Local Administration (KILA)
Arranging a public hearing with in collaboration with the National Commission

for Women and SEWA on how globalization is affecting women workers in
the agriculture and fisheries sector.

During this period, we noticed a positive development in our contacts with the

EWRs. We were pleased to see that the women started to make contact with us, to
ask for support and consultation on different matters. They would phone when

issues or cases of sexual harassment or violence came up and when then had to

write a proposal. They also started to come to programs we arranged, for example
during the World Health Day and Women’s day.

e)

Sub block level meetings

Until October 2001, we used.to have block level meetings, but since the number of

participating-EWT?s:Tiaci'-Thcrease'd7' ‘we~decfded—td"-organize‘7sr76-'b7oc?r“7eve/ ’.
meetings. Now, we have five sub block levels, instead of three blocks, as earlier.

The dividing into smaller groups encouraged better interaction and close
communication among the participants.

Five meetings were held during this round. On October 12th, thirty EWRs in the
area" of Parassala participated-in a meeting.

The Second and third meetings were held at Nedumangad and Chirayinkeezh.
There were two resource persons, Ms Nalini Nayak and Ms C.S Chandrika. The

main topic was how the socialization of girls is taking place and femininity is getting
constructed.

We are living in a society where marriage is the primary concern of a girl child from
her birthday where as education and job seeking are the primary concerns of a boy.

The training given to children is oriented to develop the brain of the boy and the

beauty of the girl. For girls life is a struggle. But the need to equip themselves with

the process of how gendering takes place was felt by all.

23

The forth meeting was held on 22nd January for the Aralummood block. We invited
50 members but only 15 participated. Due to the economic crises of the
Government the panchayats were not willing to support the travel expenses of the

members for any meeting other than the government function. In this section we
spoke about reproductive health and the situation of adolescence girls. The session

included an exercise about the construction of gender. We also discussed the role

of parents, especially the role of mothers.

The fifth meeting at Kilimannor block was held in January 29th. 31 members
participated in this session. We discussed the status of women in Kerala and the
problems experienced by the female panchayats members. In this section we

spoke to them about the reproductive rights and health of adolescent girls.
Ms.S.Jaishree was the resource person. Daya.J assisted with the participatory

sessions.
In this training, they were given three exercises. On three sheets they had to write

ideal characteristics of 1) a girl 2) a boy-3) a.panchayt member. After-writing
individually, they had to come together in groups and put together commonly
agreed characteristics in Chart papers.

The general characteristics identified for the boys were the following
Intelligence, cleverness, Politeness, masculinity, braveness, education, occupation,

human love, sincere, money, (.There was difference of opinion about beauty; two

felt physical beauty important, whereas others preferred inner beauty)
For girls the ideal characteristics were
Chastity, Calmness, sincerity, patience, obedience, cleanliness, respect to elders,

submissive to men, very silent, good interactions, culture, beauty, disciplined, polite

and educated.
The panchayat member should be: eloquent, lovable, able to freely interact, able to
decide for oneself, education, patience and good will, brave, good dealings and

behaviour.

-

24

It was interesting then to see whether what is considered ideal for girls is not
helping them to be good political leaders. The process of socialization, which leads
to the construction of what, is feminine and masculine is debated and the role of

parents and especially of mothers is discussed. The members felt that in the
changing cultural context where mass media is playing a big role, adolescent
programmes are very crucial.
The discussion started on the status of women in Kerala. The composition of the
group contributed a lot to the dynamics of the discussion. Six women were young

and unmarried and three of them were presidents of panchayats. The exercises to
write ideal qualities for men and women elicited different responses here, as many
young and progressive thinking women were present. The group reports reflected

that they identified more or less same characteristics for men and women

The group also chalked out the problems felt by women panchayat members. Most
of the senior members felt that they have no problems. But the young members felt

they were not taken seriously and they had-to be doubly assertive to get things
done^-Most of the time they had to face words likes Kutty” (young girl). In one
panchayt (Nagroor) the three women who belonged to opposition and ruling party

had to stand together across party difference to establish their place and power.
They said sometimes the condescending and paternalistic attitudes were disturbing
them. Like, if they had to go to police station, the male members feel t-hat they
should be accompanied. Most often there will be only one chair and inevitably it will

be the male member who gets the seat and EWR will have to stand along with the
accused!

The anti sexual harassment committees in the line of Supreme court guidelines and
its functioning were discussed here as the members were interested in this. Sakhi
had made a poster on this and this was distributed to the members.

f)

Networking EWRs in the coastal area of Trivandrum district

The third target group we have been working with is EWRs in the coastal area.

25

Since there are special circumstances in this area, due to the Coastal Regulating
Act, we found it important to meet this target group. The purpose was to create

awareness about the power this act gives to the panchayats in this area. Belov/ is

an overview from the two meeting in this area.
Before the meetings, two consultation meetings were held with Mr.A.J. Vijayan, Ms

Nalini Nayak and Ms Mercy Alexander. All of them have years of experiences of
with the fisheries sector and close relationship with all the coastal areas in the
southern Kerala.

Sakhi invited all women members in eight coastal panchayats to a meeting on June
20th 2001. 28 women members participated in the meeting. The meeting included
sessions on following subjects; The powers of the panchayats in relation to local

resources, problems and resources in the coastal areas, globalization and how it

effects our lifestyle, how the elected women can use their power in the decision
making process to create a sustainable development.

GIS maps were used to

. convey the ideas- and to make them understand the ecosystems '

-AMhe members participating in the meeting wanted to follow up the session, and
the second meeting was held on July 31. In this meeting Mr. Nandakumar,

Professor in Geography from the University College Trivandrum took a study class
about the coastal regulations act and coastal regulation zone, issues relating to the

coastal environment was also discussed. In the afternoon we had planned to
discuss problems of the members face as women, but the discussing developed
into a discussion of equality of men and women.

These meetings could not be then followed up due the busy schedule of members.

But most members continue to participate in the other networking meetings

6.

Final phase of the project
1) Residential Training

After a series of different one-day seminars and meetings we planned to organize

one residential camp for the women panchayat members as requested by some of

26

them. We planned this camp for forty members. We send letters to nearly 200
women, who regularly attend our meetings. Two important conditions were there.

One was about the number: each panchayat could send only two members. We
wanted the maximum number to’be only 40, so that meaningful interaction can

happen. Second one was that this is a residential training and those who can stay
only can participate in the camp. For confirrrflation of the participation we attached a

reply post card with these letters. But most of them were not willing to stay in the

camp. They had excuses like that they have children and their husbands were not
able to manage the children etc. So they promised to came by early morning and

go back only after the classes. 46 EWR's attended the classes, only fourteen of

them residing there. The camp was on 24,25 &27 of February.

Shri

Vijayananth

(IAS),

the

Secretary

of planning

and economic affairs,

Government of Kerala took the first section. It was about the present situation of the

people's planning campaign. He tried to explain about the economic crisis of the
government. He says that all the money that was spent through panchayat was
taken as a loan and we are committed to repay the money with 13% interest. So we
are responsible for each and every rupee paid for development. We must make

sure that are we spend this money for sustainable development activities. He also

27

pointed out the lack of management skills of the authorities. The women v/e'e
sharing their anxieties and worries about the present situation of peoples planning

Lot of games and exercises were planned for this camp. The classes were mair iy
focused on gender, development, law and history. We also provided some classes

which helps to develop their communication skills. The subjects that were dealt with
in the camp were Gender, critique of development, law, communalism, history and

a class to develop their communication skills. As part of the law section we showed
one documentary prepared for the state women’s commission. For those members

who were not able to participate in this camp, we are planning to conduct another

camp. The women members pointed that awareness classes about gender equality
must be conducted for men also and especially for the male panchayat members.

2. TWO-DAY WORKSHOP FOR EWR’S ON “JAGRATHASAMITHI”

We conducted this workshop on 29 and 30 ApnT2002 to explain the need and

relevance of Jagratha samithis, how to initiate the process and the functioning

of such forums.

The class began with an explanation of various forms of violence. We
identified from the reactions of the members that the following were the

dominant forms of violence experienced by women.

>

Sexual violence

>

Violence in buses and public places

>

Economic problems

>

Child abuse

>

Violence related to dowry

>

Violence inside the family

>

Problems caused by alcoholism

>

Mental harassment

A questionnaire to know their perspective on violence against women was

distributed. The responses were the following.

28

1.

They identified the major reasons for violence against a woman by her

husband as alcoholism and economic problems.

2.

For the question, whether wife beating is right,*only two of them answered
in positive. Those who gave no to this question justified beatings in

situations where the wife is not attending the family matters or obeying her

husband

3. For the question what should a woman do if she is beaten by her husband,
most of them have the opinion that she can ask for the help of elders in the
family or can approach a women’s organisation. But there are EWR’s who

wrote that the wife must tolerate it.

For the last question, if there is a woman in their neighborhood who usually
gets beaten by her husband, what will their intervention is, most of them
answered that they would advise the husband who beat women. Some said
they will not like to get involved in such personal affairs!

Prof Meenakshi Thampan, former MLA and Chairperson of the welfare

committee for women and children of Kerala Assembly addressed the

memebrs. She opined that the participation in political power is very important

for women. What we gained is .the aftermath of a continuous struggle for

equality. But the term equality had been very much misunderstood as physical

equality. But actually it is'social equality. She exhorted the members to keep
fighting and stay on in the public space, even if their term as elected members

is over.

29

Second day Mr.Jagajeevan Jrom Kerala people's science movement took a

class. He started with quoting from the speech of a male representative. “We
have so many programmes for you, but if four women come together they

fight and can’t work efficiently. So if you promise that you will work together.
we will give you more support." He asked the group’s reaction to such a

speech. Some women supported this idea because they believe that ‘women

are the enemies of women' If a man is criticized badly he can overcome it with
his will power but a woman gets completely shattered. He explained how the
socialization process of a girl and boy are so different. While a boy goes out to

the world by age of 5, the girl has to go back to the home and limits her

movements to the sui roundings of her family.

So she lacks that much

•experience and leadership quality compared to the man. This is not because
of the woman’s fault but of the society’s. In the present society woman doesn’t

have a face...a taste...a place.... This must be changed. They must exploit
the 73,74 constitutional amendments. The EWR’s must prefer to intervene in

the special problems of women as we have 10% WCP of the total plan fund..
The social' orgariizations such as ‘Gramasabha’, Neighborhood groups,

^Libraries, Women’s Neighborhood groups, Jagratha samithies, must be

utilized for the welfare of women. To exclude male domination in the
administrative level, women must interfere in it from the local level. For

women to achieve the mental power to come to the mainstream, ‘we must
look into ourselves’ he concluded. '

There was a discussion on the sudden termination of the State women’s

commission by the Government in the name of austerity. The members
decided to submit a memorandum to the Chief Minister of Kerala on this matter,

expressing their protest.

7.

Preparation of training materials and posters

We are preparing a set of training modules and posters for the elected women
representatives. This is demanded by them as resource materials to train the

leaders of self-help groups and for their own benefit.

30

We had a consultation meeting for the preparation of these training modules. The

contents of this set of modules are given below
1. About the panchayati raj and local self Government system, history of
panchayati raj, about 73rd &74th amendment, present structure of the system,

about democracy (representative and participatory democracy) & relevance of

three- tier system.
2. Concept of development: What is development? History of development,

Present models of development (about new economic policy and related things)

Development & common people, Resources for development, women &
development and alternative concepts of development.
3.

Status of women: About the development indicators related to the status of

women, role of. empowerment in building up their political status, gender
relations in institutions, division of labour.

4.

• Women and law'Violence against women, types of violence, forms of violence,.
existing laws against violence, formalities regarding the formation of Jagratha

samithis, guidelines for the Jagratha samithis, about CEDAW.
5.

Women organizations and movements: differences between organizations and

movements, about the four international UN conferences on women that
prompted the governments to give attention to women’s issues, brief history of

women’s movement in Kerala.

6.

Women and panchayat administration: women friendly planning, the need for

women’s control in the use of local resources.
7.

8.

Gender budgeting:

Environment and development: resource maps formation, need to consider the

impacts of human activities and development projects on the environment,
social responsibility of people.

9.

Information on the dynamics and politics behind the SHGs and micro-credits
programs.

31

10.. Women's empowerment-indicators, measures to achieve empowerment

8. Conclusion


Major accomplishments

The achievements of the project cannot be easily quantified. It is a process of
capacity building,, developing new perspectives and vision. The EWR’s who
participated in the process will surly be confident to raise the gender issues in

their own party organizations. Their sensitivity will be reflected in the
decentralization process going on Kerala.

Even if the reservation system pushes them out of party politics, we are sure

that many of them will continue to be in the public space, working actively

for the cause of women.

The networking process was limited to Trivandrum district alone but it has set
an example to many women’s organisations working in different parts of

Kerala and opened the possibility to work with local self Government
institutions and elected women representatives. Other NGO’s and training

institutes can also use the training modules and posters prepared widely.
This initiative has also shown that women when engaging in politics is
interacting differently from men and can be networked across political parties.



Problems encountered and ways to address them.

The main

problem was that the elected women

members were

overburdened with work that it was very difficult for them to be present for

training programmes. The decentralized plan programme meant that each

member had a very heavy workload like convening gram sabhas,
preparing projects and meeting many deadlines. So at any point of time,

one or the other panchayat had committee meetings or gramsabhas or.
standing committee meetings or meetings of SHG’s. This meant that

continuity could not be maintained which is very essential for a process of

32

capacity building. We overcame this by inviting a larger number of women

so that we get at least one third of the members. We also tried to
establish personal relation with the interested members like visiting the
panchayat, attend gram sabha or SHG meetings etc.

Another difficulty was the high degree of politicization existing in Kerala.

Elections to the panchayat are fought on party basis. Because of this it

was impossible to from organization or association of EWR’s. Hence we
had to be cautious and be above party politics or specific ideological
debates. That is also the reason for the attempts in Kerala are limited to

networking rather than association.

One or two occasions there were

problems. In the last assembly elections, the feminist movement in which

we were members organized a campaign against a Left front minister who
was involved in a sexual harassment case. EWR’s belonged to the left
parties were upset and angry with us. But the movement also had a

similar campaign against a former minister who was part of the United
front govemmentrSo we pointed out”that olir politics is not of left or right
but of standing for women’s rights above political considerations. This was

understood and taken in the right spirit. A recent incident is the move by
the present government to dismantle the state Women’s commissions. In

the 2-day seminar, this was raised and most EWR’s were willing to sign a

petition condemning the move. But some congress party members were

upset about this, seeing this as a move against the ruling government.
Such difficulties, will continue to be there because of the political

atmosphere in the state.



Plan of action for the coming months.

If the network has to be strengthened, it needs more members and more
opportunities for learning. This can be through exchange visits and

building capacities especially on managerial and technical skills. The
EWR’s manage a number of Self-help groups and they need skills to

check accounts, to be aware of marketing opportunities etc. So besides

perspective building, we may also need to help these women gain
confidence by creating opportunities for skill development. Since the steps

to start “Jagrtha samities"(vigilance cells) are already taken, we plan to

conduct more legal awarness sessions and equip them with knowledge of
violence intervention programmes. Another area will be knowledge of
Reproductive heath needs of women and how Public Health Center's

under each panchayat can be made more women friendly. At present we

are engaged in a research programme to understand whether de­
centralisation has made any impact on women’s reproductive heath. This
will throw light on specific steps to betaken by the panchayat

The project has helped us in building a strong and lasting relationship with the
women panchayat members. At the same time the network provided the members
a platform to come together and share their problems and ideas. The members

could also come close to the women organizations and interact with them about
various gender related issues as well as development issues.
But it became evident that the political subordination of the members became a
hindrance when it came to sincere intervention in women issues. Because of the
rotating reservation system, the members have no hope of continuing at their

present positions after their current five- year term. It is very difficult for them stay

on in the public life because it needs money and most of the members cannot
afford it. The society has not yet accepted women’s entry into politics especially

when they don’t have any particular position in the power structure.
Considering this situation we plan to make the present network into a strong

cohesive network giving enough support to the women members to become

assertive and gender sensitive. It is also our aim to instill a new politics in them that
has a different vision on planning and development.

LIST OF ACTIVITIES

Date

Place

Participants

17-6-2000

Sakhi

18

Consultation

7/7/00

SN Auditorium
Neyyattinkara

members of the
consultation committee
EWRS from four blocks

25

14-7-2000

Teachers Hall,
Attingal

EWRS from four blocks

9

21-7-2000

SS Complex,
Nedumangad

EWRS from four blocks

10

28-7-2000 & CDS Guest house
29-7-2000
Trivandrum
1/8/00
Public library hall
Kollam
10/8/00
YWCA Hall, TVM

Partners of the PRI
project
Dalit EWRS from
Kollam
EWRS from TVM

9

Introducing the concept of
network &talk on
Development
Introducing the concept
of network &talk on
Development
Introducing the concept of
network &talk on
Development
Inter Agency Meeting

48

26-8-2000

Sakhi

Consultation

Sakhi

Mbrs of consultation
Committee
Former EWRS

16

7/11/00

15

For selecting an ad-hoc
committee to help the
network
Consultation

-

8/12/00

P&T Hall

10/1/01

Teachers Hall,
Attingal
Muncipal Townhall
Neyyattinkara
SS Complex,
Nedumangad
YWCA Hall TVM

3/2/01

15-2-2001
8/3/01

7/4/01

10/4/01

20-6-01

31-7-01
12/10/01

9/11/01

16-11-01

22-1-02
29-1-02

Participation Nature of meeting

5

Ad-hoc committee
meeting
■.
EWRS from Four
Blocks
EWRS from four blocks

48

EWRS from four blocks

53

EWRS, SHG mbrs &
Members of women
groups
YWCA Hail, TVM
Women who work with
health sector including
EWRS
P&T Hall, TVM
members of the
consultation committee
AICUF Centre.TVM Members from coastal
panchayats
AICUF Centre.TVM Members from coastal
panchayats
Panchayat
EWRS from two blocks
commu nity Hall,
Parassala Panchayat
EWRS from
commu-nity Hall,
threeblocks
Chirayinkeezh
EWRS from
SS Complex,
Nedumangad
threeblocks
Block panchayat
EWRS from two blocks
Hall, Athiyannoor
Block panchayat
EWRS from three
Hall,
blocks
Pazhayakunninmel

83

9

72

98

Class on Development &
on WCP
Class on Development &
on WCP
Class on Development &
on WCP
Women's Day programmes
meeting &discussion on
contemporary issues
Seminar on national health
policy

17

Consultation

21

Classon coastal zone
Management
Classon coastal zone
Management
Sexual health &rights of
Addoloscent giris(class)

15

30

32

Sexual health Slights of
Addoloscent giris(class)

20

Sexual health &rights of
Addoloscent giris(class)
Sexual health &rights of
Addoloscent giris(class)
Sexual health &rights of
Adolescent girls(class)

9
31

.

24-2-02 26-2-02.
8/3/02

ICM.Poojappura

EWRS from TVM

44

Residential training

Mannam Memorial
Hall, TVM

EWRS, SHG mbrs &
Mbrs of women groups

128

29-4-02 ,
30-4-02

YMCAHall.TVM

EWRS from TVM

106

6/5/02

AICUF Centre,TVM EWRS from coastal
panchayats

Documentary
show(Father,Son&Holy
War, and discussion on
communalism
Classes on the formaton of
panchayat level
jagrathasamithi
Classes on women &health

24

MEMBERS OF THE ADVISORY BOARD
1.Ms. Nalini Nayak
SEWA
Murali Nivas
Kuthiravattom Lane
GPO
Tvm-I

8.Sr.Marykutty Mathew
Prana
TC 27/332/1
Kunnukuzhi P.O
TVM.

9. Ms. Vanita Nayak Mukherji
GRIT
Prasanth Nagar
Ulloor
TVM.

2. Ms. Thresiamma Mathew,
SEIJF,
Iswaravilasam Road
Thaikad'
TVM.
3. Ms. T.Radhamony
State Convenor,
KSSP
Parishat Bhavan
Kuthiravattom Lane'
TVM-1
4. Ms. Mini Sukumar
Kerala Mahila Samakya Society
Women’s College Lane
Vazhuthacaud
TVM-14
5. Ms. Lourd mary
Streenikethan
Kunnukuzhi
TVM

6.Dr.Manu Bhaskar
Department of Sociology
University of Kerala,

TVM
7.

Ms. Sophy Kunjachan
Arackal Veedu
Kattoor PO
Alappuzha

10. Ms. Sreekala
Former President
Thiruvallam Grama Panchayat
TVM.


-1-1. Ms. Pravosr.o Kedothu • ■ Centre for Development Studies
Prasanth Nagar
Ulloor
TVM.
12. Ms. C.S Chandrika
Medha
Vallakkadavu P.O
TVM.
13. Ms. Jagajeevan
KSSP
Parishat Bhavan
Kuthiravattom Lane
TVM-1

Abbreviations used

PPC:

People’s Plan Campaign

EWR:

Elected Women representative

SHG

Self-Help Groups

PHC

Public Health center

LSGI .

Local Self-Government Institution

WCP

Women’s component plan

kJ H ' I k ■ 1

Karnataka Women's Information and Resource Centre
1st April 2002

Associating Elected Women Representatives in Local Self Government
Summary Report
The project to associate women politicians' engaged in local self government
(EWRs) into a federation of women politicians was initiated in four states with
partners from varied backgrounds.

In Kerala the partner is a Women’s Organisation, (SAKHI) which is known
to have a track record of engaging in mobilisation of women to assert their rights - An
organisation with a feminist perspective.
In Tamil Nadu the selection was based on an agency, which had not only
engaged itself in strengthening the Panchayati Raj system but had also, participated in
State Level Councils related to the laws and conventions to strengthen the Panchayati
Raj system, namely the Gandhi Gram University.

The third partner in Andhra, Foundation for Democratic Reforms (FDR) has
been deeply involved in strengthening democracy and strengthening it through
advocacy for reform of some of the institution and laws related to democracy. They
have been advocates for localising of governments and have spread across the state
and are engaged in mobilising support as well as in training potential political
candidates in participation and politics.
The fourth Partner, the home base, in Karnataka, the Karnataka Women’s
Information and Resource Centre has been engaged in district level planning as well
as in partnership with the national and state level department of women and child
development, in various policy and programme design exercises. It is committed to
the devolution of powers to the local bodies, as a perspective and a belief, as the most
effective vehicle for women’s emancipation.

The first two years of this initiative has strengthened the belief, the premise on
which the project was based, namely that there is a case for bringing the women
politicians together in some form of network and association. This is a feed back
from the variety of institutions who have been engaged in the last two years in various
types of consultation with elected women, as well as from ground level non
governmental agencies who have been engaged in training and advocacy of the
elected persons men and women

For example, in the case of Kerala there was some concern and reluctance to
begin with an association of EWRs. The strength of the political parties and the
affiliations which all those engaged in politics have to the party, usually inhibits
women or other social categories from coming together under any other banner than

the party. Thus the assumption that women could be associated across parties into a
federation was challenged by the Kerala partner. However during the course of two
years they have followed a strategy of bringing women’s groups including EWRs
together to discuss the larger issues in their environment whether it is globalisation,
natural resource, or violence. During these sessions, which are for both creating
awareness and getting opinions, the consciousness has emerged amongst the women
that it is possible and useful to come together as women across the usual divides.
Therefore some networks and some groups are getting strengthened, which could
eventually emerge as informal structures of elected women, particularly addressing
themselves to the problems of local self-government. The Kerala partner is also very
conscious of the overall economic landscape and focuses on strengthening women in
the economic roles, to which the political role is a handmaiden.
Tamil Nadu has added the gender dimension to the already existing
associations of elected local politicians and this inclusion has been a transforming
experience both for the university as well as for the state government. The voice of
women and the mobilisation has added information to the political leadership in Tamil
Nadu and one of the strong demands of EWRs, all India, that the rotation clause
should be removed, has actually achieved in Tamil Nadu.
The third partner in Hyderabad, came on board late, as the local government
elections took place only in the second half of 2001, is convinced that this can be an
important social mobilisation in improving the quality of democracy and a strength of
women’s voice in the political process.

The home agency namely KWIRC had the advantage of being in a state which
has the longest exposure to the devolution of government mainly Karnataka.
Secondly, Karnataka has two additional advantages:
1. An innumerable number of NGOs who are engaged in some form of links with
elected women either to train them in legal literacy or development schemes or
to bring them together in agitations whether it is against arrack or against
atrocities.
2. The second advantage is the strong Mahila Samakya programme. Mahila
Samakya (MSK) programme has been one of the most effective consciousness
raising programmes in the State. The KWIRC’s State partner has been Mahila
Samakya, and this has added momentum to the attempts to organise EWRs.

Methodologies and interconnections
KWIRC and SAKHI being women’s organisations and also deeply feminist in
perspectives have engaged themselves with the larger networks of women’s
organisations. For example in Karnataka the main partner for KWIRC has been
Mahila Samakhya, which had been acclaimed for extraordinary success in bringing a
sense of self strength to women. Women from Mahila Samakya have entered politics
on what can be called a feminist agenda rather than as proxies for men. KWIRC
initially tried to work through the other NGOs - it started with consultation with 40
NGOs, and then a sub set a core group of 8, sent out a proforma to find out which
villages or taluks or districts they were working in, tried to fund them to cany on the
2

membership idea. However after nine months of such an effort KWIRC found they
were not making much headway, as most of the agencies had their own projects and
the time and effort to negotiate MOUs with them, seemed a burden. Hence they began
to engage themselves directly in building the association but chose areas for work
were the close partners namely MSK, ISST, and NIAS do their work, or are engaged
in working at the grassroot level with whatever was their special focus.

SAKHI has similarly allied itself with other agencies, which are also working
with women and it holds other projects, which have focus on strengthening women’s
participation.

This methodology of alliances, “women centred consciousness - using” type
of work is a characteristic which could be discussed and transferred as methodology
to Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where the organisations are not necessarily
women led or feminist. In
reverse, large scale operations, and the kind of
methodology by which these agencies enter into what can be called mainstream, is a
technique, which can be a value for the small feminist organisations.

[The KWIRC is now handling two other projects, which are linked to the
federating idea and outcome. One is a UNIFEM funded project, called building
budgets from below, which hopes to enable EWRs to draft revenue and expenditure
statements according to the kind of development they wish to see. It is hoped that the
summation of some budgets would become a critique of the state fiscal policy and
thus women’s voice would be engaged in macro fiscal policy. The other, funded by
CIDA is to enable EWRs to engage in macro policy - as part of transforming macro
policy. Both these projects have mentioned the federation as a useful platform and
institution for sustaining these pilots - and it is hoped that the other state level
federations can also access such projects].
Thus there is a cross fertilisation and synergising which has been interesting,
though its real value and its impact has to be encashed in the second phase through
more exchange and more interventions in each other’s work.

Each agency has developed its own methodology, has also developed
literature in order to operationalize the project. SAKHI has a newsletter in
Malayalam as a part of its own work but the newsletter also becomes a medium,
which can become an organ for the network of EWRs. KWIRC has been partnering
with ISST’s newsletter UMA. KWIRC also has been involving all the partners in
every national conference that it convenes, be it on population policy or financing for
district development or drafting a policy paper for Karnataka Government or
developing indicators for preparing GDI I GEM by inviting them and hosting them at
KWIRC’s cost. What ever reports emerge out of these gatherings is usually sent to the
partners.
Thus at the end of two years, KWIRC has prepared a list of documents which
are available at KWIRC, a sublist which has been mailed to the partners and the third
list which is the documents available generated by the partners as a part of the project.
This will be an ever-growing list of documents, which can become, by itself, a
resource pool.
3

The way forward:

The learning of last two years has revealed both the potential and the problems of
bringing women into a federation. In Karnataka for example while the membership
drive is growing the question would arise on the role that the local and state level
federations would like to play and the source of financial support for the federation
after the project period. In other words what is the momentum that will keep this
growing unless there is an incentive that it brings rewards both to the women who are
members and to the overall interest in devolution of power and equalising gender
relations? This aspect has to be strengthened in the next two years both by, far more
inward looking discussions as well as learning the SAKHI technique of enabling
women to see the value of collectivity.

In Karnataka, another prospect is the report that has been prepared by
Raghunandan, which is supposed to be a path breaking because of its commitment to
devolution of power. Four copies of this report have been brought to be distributed to
the partners. Raghunandan has been informed about the federation and its
participation in the efforts that have been made in Karnataka to devolve financial and
political power on to the elected bodies. Therefore the federation could become
another partner apart form civil servants and civil society members in that process of
pushing the system to devolve.
In Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the women’s formation has to emerge and
their emergence has to be seen in relation to the existing power groups. The
possibility of other women’s organisations providing support to these new federation
in Andhra and Tamil Nadu have also to be explored by those partners. So in other
words, the women’s platform is yet to be built and its own location in the overall
firmament is to be established.

In Kerala, the embryo of local women politicians as a collective is just almost
getting formed and therefore the next two years would have to see whether it gets
formed at all and it is does what is the role if defines for itself.
At the end of two years the four state efforts would have to not only reveal that
formations of local women politicians can be made, but what is the voice they bring
what do they as women .politicians wish to contribute, or seek to provide for
themselves. This work will be nurtured over the next two years.

Other formations, which have inspired these groups, are the federation of
Indian women lawyers and federation of Indian women journalist and the national
women’s parliamentarians association. Parliamentarians led by Najma Hepthulla
have now challenged the bureaucracy and the technocracy arguing that they have to
reclaim power into the representative institutions, away from both the bureaucracy
and the NGOs. Local women politicians, if sufficiently strong and if enabled to assert
themselves may claim back power to elected governance, as different from civic
society and bureaucracy. This would be the overall aim of the project in the next two
years but emerging with different colours with different localities.

4

'However, reviewing and retrospecting the past it appears as if a common
.strum is emerging from the diverse institutions. Attached are tables, which give the
events and activities of KWIRC and partner meetings - similar formats of each
partner are in their proposals.
A gist of Inter Agency Meetings of the Partners is given below in a tabular form:

Date

Place

- . .

t

Subject

20th March Bangalore
2000

1

Outcome

1st Inter Agency ❖ Need for a new kind of political
Meeting
of
the
consciousness - leading to good
Partners
governance
❖ Project to aim at the backlashes
that are already started
❖ Need to construct feminist theory
in India
❖ Need for effective ways of
communication
28U1 and 29th Trivandrum, Ilnd Inter Agency ❖ Gandhigram to continue meetings
July 2000
Kerala
Meeting of partners
with EWRs and parties
❖ Kerala to continue meetings in
coastal areas and district level
meeting of EWRs at Trivandrum
and prepare training materials-en­
gender and planning, critique of
development, etc.
❖ KWIRC to federate old and new'
EWRs to preserve continuity
5th
August Gandhi gram Hird Inter Agency ♦♦♦ Gandhigram to identify good
2001
NGOs
before
forming
of
Meeting of Partners
Rural
Institute,
federations
❖ Sakhi to network locally with
Tamil Nadu
women from particular areas such
as Trivandrum, Kollam and dalit
communities
❖ Andhra Pradesh - identification of
3
districts
viz.,
Medak,
Mahboobnagar and Telangana
❖ Karnataka - identification of 7
districts of Karnataka for forming
associations.
The membership
cards, posters and brochures were
1
circulated in the districts to create
awareness of the EWRs about the
formation of federations

5

Exchange Visits
Date
December
15,2000

Event
Subject
|
Outcome
Discussions with Ms. The Project Coordinator, The
Project
Pratibha Rao, Project KWIRC interacted with Coordinator,
Lok
Coordinator, Lok Satla
Lok Satta about the Satta expressed her
in
progress of the Project and interest
the activities undertaken.
networking
with
Ms. Nandini Prasad,
State Coordinator,
Mahila
Samatha
Societv, Hyderabad
July 5 - Visit to Mohema Grama To
understand
the The 15 panchayat
10, 2000
panchayat at Alleppey functioning
the members
were
with Ms. Deepa Dhanraj panchayats with local accompanied
the
resource person Mr. Jos project coordinator
Chatakulam,
Director, were exposed to
Centre
for
Rural field visits and this
Management, Kottayam
provided a way to
share
their
experiences with the
EWRs of Kerala
•March — - Visit by -representatives'' 'The ■discas's'i'Ons~peftained “By expIbfmg--tHe"
28th, 2001
of Gandhigram Rural to the progress of the update,
ideas
Institute, Tamil Nadu to project and the meetings emerged on the
Karnataka
Women's held
by Gandhigram future of the PRI
Information
and Institute in 4 regions of Project.
Resource
Centre, the State viz., South,
Bangalore
on
28*h North, East and West.
It was viewed that
March 2001
the SHGs women
The
discussions
also inspired EWRs, as
pertained
to
the they
are better
functioning of SHGs in aware
of
the
Tamil Nadu.
knowledge._______
June
22, Visit to Lok Satta, Open discussion with Dr. They
expressed
2001
Hyderabad
by
the Jayaprakash Narayan of their interest in
Project Coordinator of Lok
Satta,
Andhra networking with the
KWIRC
Pradesh.
They had a local level NGOs
discussion
regarding and individuals
networking of Lok Satta
with Mahila Samatha
Society', COVA and Ms.
Fathima Ali Khan, Centre
for Women’s Studies,
Hyderabad

6

The Activities'of KWIRC with the local level partners are given below in a tabular
form:

Date

Event

Partner

No. of
participants
(EWRs)

Outcome

18^-20“*
April
2000

3-day Panchayat
Mela at Athnur village,
Gulbarga

Mahila
Samakya,
Karnataka

24thApril
2000

Seminar on Women’s
Political Empowerment
Day held at Bangalore
Local level partners
meeting held at SSF,
Bangalore

Institute of
Social
Sciences
Singamma
Sreenivasan
Foundation

200 EWRs
from 7 districts
and 200
women
members of
Mahila
Samkaya
Sangha
300 EWRs

The concept of association
of elected women
representatives was
discussed. Many EWRs
voiced disappointment at
not being able to stand for
elections owing to vagaries
of roster points.
The group felt the need for a
state-level forum to voice
the views of elected women.
Discussions pertained to the
areas and subjects that could
be researched and
documented.

2?“ May 2000

One day district level
conference held at
Tumkur

Singamma ■
Sreenivasan
Foundation

3 rd May
2000

One day consultation
with Karnataka based
NGOs on gender audit
held at Bangalore

Singamma
Sreenivasan
Foundation

26u' April
2000

7

Local level
NGOs-ISST,
BPF, MSK,
NIAS, ISS (8
persons
participated)
22 EWRs


25 NGOs

The conference elicited and'
assessed the views on
district level governance on
gender audit as well as
eliciting the views of a
broad range of participants
The conference concluded
by saying that women can
use these statistics to
negotiate with the
government to substantiate
that there are structural
conditions that prevent them
from meeting official
criteria and this statistical
information can be used as a
tool to represent their issues
and concerns in dealing with
government.
Contd....

1 Date

j Event

i Partner

i No. of

Outcome

participants
i (EWRs)

12th May
2000

| Local level partners
meeting held at
Bangalore

Is' and 2nd
June 2000

Two day workshop on
National
40 NGOs
“Women in Local
Institute of
Governance:
Advanced
Experiences and
Studies
Effective Intervention
Strategies in Karnataka,
Kerala, Andhra Pradesh
and Tamil Nadu
One day workshop Department
43 NGOs
preparation of a policy
of Women
document and a
and Child
strategy for women’s
Development,
development
GOKand
SSE----------One day meeting for
DANIDA
20 villages
selection of panchayats
under “Gram Panchayat
Fund”

19th June
2000

27th June
2000

29th June
2000
72®
December
2000

| Mahila
i Samakya

DANEDA
One day meeting for
selection of panchayats
under “Gram Panchayat
Fund”
National Workshop on
UNDPCommunity Driven
World Bank
Management and
and Swiss
Agency for
Decentralisation
Development
and Co­
operation

! 12 NGOs
1

10 NGOs

500
(K.C. Pant and
Venkaiah
Naidu were the
chief guests

A decision was taken that
the elected women would
not be confronted with the
idea of forming the
association without
adequate process and
preparation
Exchanging of information
with other states about the
association was made. The
local level partners informed
about their partnership in
federating the EWRs in 7
districts.
Preliminary discussions
pertaining to the policy
document/vision statement
was done.

20 villages of Bijapur
district were selected and
preliminary discussions for
meetings in these villages
were held.
Preliminary discussions
were held about the gram
panchayat fund

EWRs from Alwar district,
Rajasthan shared their
experiences

Contd....

8

Date

Event

Partner

No. of
participants
(EWRs)

Outcome

26“ July
2001

Core Committee
Meeting of the partners

KWIRC,
Bangalore

lONGOs

5“-8“
March
2002

Mahila Samakya
Sammelan - Sakhi

Mahila
Samakya,
KWIRC and
CHC

500 women
leaders

Discussions related to the
action plan, nomenclature of
the federation and 73rd and
74“ Amendment of the
Constitution. The partners
reiterated that they would
help KWIRC in forming
associations
A movement of women in
the leadership of EWRs was
held to culminate the
Women’s Day celebrations.
Several EWRs were
enthusiastic in joining the
federation of KWIRC.

9

Karnataka Women's Information and Resource Centre
Annex 1
LIST OF MEETINGS AND ACTIVITIES
(March 2000 to March 2002)

Project Title: Associating elected women representatives in local self
government

1.

2.

3.

November - December 1999, Initial
conceptualization of building a federation
of EWRs - partners from the four states of
the project attended the meeting
March 20, 2000 - Meeting with partner
NGOs to formulate the concept of a
federation - partners from the four states of
the project and other local level NGOs
participated in the meeting

April 18-20, 2000: Workshop of Political
Awareness and discussion about the

federation, Athanoor Village, Gulbarga.
.4.

Apr.1.24,. 2000: Dialogue on the Experience­
sharing and call for a state-level forum of
EWRs at ISS, Bangalore.

5.

June 1 —2, 2000: Workshop on Women in
Local Governance: Experiences and
Effective
Intervention
Strategies
in
Karnataka, A.P. Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra, EWRs from the mentioned
states attended. Function was graced by Her
Excellency Rama Devi, Governor of
Karnataka, ISST (at the NIAS premises).

6.

7.

June 19, 2000: Preparation of Policy
Document and Strategy for Women’s
Development
Government
officers,
representatives of NGOs, Social Workers
etc., attended organized by Department of
Women and Child Development, Ban
galore.

9.

July 12, 2000: Meeting on the National
Population Policy and linking population
issues to the panchayats at SSF, Bangalore

10.

August 29, 2000: Meeting at SSF with Ms.
Chandni Joshi, Regional Program Director,
UNIFEM on Gender Budget.

11.

August 30, 2000: EWRs of Tikota Gram
Panchayat assembled for a one day
workshop in Mahila Samakhya Bijapur
Premises to discuss about the Panchayat
Budget.

12.

September 14*15, 2000: SSF participated in
the workshop of Regional Consultation for
Preparation of case study—a document on
Gender and governance held in Bangalore.

13.

September 18,
2000: A meeting in
Ashriwad, Bangalore on the Woman’s
Policy.

14.

October 19 - 20, 2000: Two-day workshop
on National Population Policy 2000
organised
by Singamma Sreenivasan
Foundation, Bangalore and Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi.

15.

December 6, 2000: SSF participated in the
one day workshop on the elections of
Panchayat Raj Institutions - 2000 organsied
by Institute of Social Saence, Bangalore-

16.

December 12, 2000: Participated in the
national workshop on Community Dnven
Management
and
Decentralization,
organized by Planning Commission in
Collaboration with UNDP - World Bank
and Swiss Agency for Development and
Co-operation in Vigyan Bhavan, New
Delhi.

17.

December 15. 2000: Discussion on the PRI
project with Ms. Nandini Prasad, State Co­
ordinator,
Mahila
Samatha
Soe.ety,

June 30, 2000: Seminar on Violence Against
Women in which EWRs from panchayats
attended at NIAS, Ban galore.

8.

July 5-10, 2000: Meeting with GP women in
Kerala to understand their needs at Aleppy
(Alapura) district, Kerala.

10

I lyderabad and also with Ms. Pratibha Rao,
Project Coordinator, J /4:.-.atta, Hyderabad.

28. March 30, 21X11: A round table discussion
with Revath: Narayanan, Lsha, Savitha arid
Suman Kolhar on action plan of the PRI
Project at MSK, Bangalore.

18. December 27, 2000: Suman Kolhar &
Nageena Khaleel participated in the
Samavesha (conference; organized by the
Mahila Samakhya Sangha Women in
Kausalya Complex at Nanjagund Taluk,
Mysore.

29. March 30, 2001: A brain storming session
svith Devaki Jain along with C. P. Sujaya &
Suman Kolhar at 'Iharangavana, Bangalore.
30. March 30, 2001: A round table meeting
with Meera, ISST along with C. P. Sujaya &
Suman Kolhar at ISST, Bangalore on the
action plan of the PRI Project.

19. December 27 - 29, 2000: Participated in the
consultation meeting on the Base line
reports of the facilitating Project related to
Convention to Eliminate all forms of
Discrimination
against
Women
CEDAW), organized by National Institute
of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
20.

January 16, 2001: Participated in the
meeting to discuss about EWRs Problems
and Training Program, organised by Mahila
Samakhya, Bijapur.

21.

January 17,
2001: Participated in the
Women’s
political
participation
in
Governance at a one day workshop held in
NIAS, Bangalore.

31. March 31, 2001: A dialogue in SSF with
C.P. Sujayaji on Interim report of PRI
Project.

February 20, 2001: Interacted with the
Southern States partners as well as our
Karnataka partners regarding
building
........ do.cument’t’on,.as.welLes.i'.:e.hadxliscussion—
on the way forward to firm the objectives of
the project.

32.

April 20, 2001: Participated in Sahayogmi’s
meeting in MSK, Bijapur where convention
of MSK members of seven districts was
planned
and it was recommended that
convention would be held in Bijapur.

33.

May 17, 2001: Dialogue with Panchayat
members and GP Secretary in Arakeri
village (Bijapur district) where the
discussion was held to call Gram Sabha as
well as a few EWRs, and Sangha women
had an open dialogue on their milestoneparticulariy on the anti-arrack struggle.

34.

May 21 -22, 2001: Attended the First phase
of Gram Panchayafs Training program,
organized by ZP- Bijapur.

35.

May 25 -26, 2001: Ibid (Second phase —
MSK Staff attended).

36.

June 8, 2001: Attended the Gram Sabha at
Arakeri with MSK Staff and Asst
Agriculture officer.

22.

23.

March 13,
2001: Interview with the
President of Baba Nagar Gram Panchayat.

24.

March 28, 2001: A meeting with Tamil
Nadu partners, Gandhigram - Participants
were Prof. Raghunath, L'ma
& Uma
Shankar and from our foundation we had
C.P. Sujaya, Suman Kolhar and Nageena
Khaleel, at SSF, Bangalore.

37.

25.

March 28, 2001: A round table meeting
with Poomima Vyasulu- advisor DANIDA
along with C. P. Sujaya and Suman Kolhar
at DANIDA, Bangalore.

June 12 -13, 2001: Dialogue with Prof.
Rameshwari Verma and Ms. Pramila,
District Coordinator Mysore regarding
Taluk federafion at Mysore.

38.

26.

March 28, 2001: A round table discussion
with Rerathi Narayanan & Savita, MSK
along with C. P. Sujaya and Suman Kolhar
at SSF, Bangalore.

June 19 —20, 2001: Attended the seminar on
the Wither Panchayat in Gandhi Peace
Foundation organised by AWARD in New
Delhi.

39.

27.

March 29, 2001: A round table discussion
with Stephen, Search along with C. P.
Sujaya , Suman Kolhar and N’ageena
Khaleel at SEARCH, Bangalore.

June 22 -23, 2001: Attended the seminar on
the Municipal Councilors Role organized by
COVA in Hyderabad.

40.

June 22, 2001: Visited Loksatta in
Hyderabad and had an open discussion on

11

the pre- election process in Hyderabad with
Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan.

53.

December 6—7, 2001:
General body
meeting
KWIRC,
Bangalore,
Mahila
Samakhya, Bijapur and Vishala, Bijapur are
jointly supporting the Brainstorming Session
of EWRs in Bijapur and the first General
Body Meeting of the Federation of District
Level Women Panchayat members organized
by the Women Panchayat Members in
Bijapur. District-level association of EWRs
was formed.

41.

June 27, 2001: Visited Sonnappanahalli
(Bangalore Rural district) with Jennifer Klot
from UNIFEM, New York. There, the GP
meeting was organised and the issues on
budget were discussed.

42.

June 29, 2001: Suman Kolhar & Nageena
Khaleel participated in the round table
discussion on the women’s policy' in NIAS.

54.

43.

July 20 —21, 2001: Suman Kolhar &
Nageena Nikhat Khaleel participated in the
seminar on Part IX of the Constitution:
Issues and Problems" (Panchayats and
Municipalities) at ISEC.

December 29th, 2001: The district level
association of EWRs was formed in Bcllary
district Nearly 50 EWRs from different
Gram Panchayats in three taluks attended
the meeting.

55.

44.

July 26, 2001: Core Committee Meeting of

January 17th, 2002: The district level
association of EWRs was formed in
Gulbarga. 40 participants comprising of
EWRs from Gram Panchayats of Gulbarga
district and Mahila Samakya Sangha
members were also present

56.

January 19th, 2002: The district level
association of EWRs was formed in Bidar.
About 100 participants consisting of EWRs
and Mahila Samakya Sangha attended the
meeting.

the local partners at KWIRC, Bangalore

45.

August 2, 2001: A meeting in MSK, Bijapur
where a discussion was held with EWRs on
forming the federation

46.

August 5,2001: Ibid, at Vishala, Bijapur.

August 29, 2001: Participated in the
workshop on women leadership organized
----- 57.--February-14th —12*,--2002:—Ms.--Suman---------by hunger project, Delhi.
Kolhar, Project Coordinator and Ms. Indira
participated in the training programme on
48.
September 25, 2001: Suman Kolhar &
Panchayati
Raj where information about the
Suchitra Vedant had a discussion with Mark
associations formed by KWIRC were
Robinson on the extension of the PRI
shared. About 20 EWRs and 10 EWRs
Project - (2nd proposal) in Bangalore.
from Raichur attended the meeting.

47.

49.

October 24, 2001: Mr. V.S. Badari and Mrs.
Ahalya S Bhat participated in the discussion
meeting on backtracking on decentralization
in Karnataka, a talk given by Dr. Vinod
Vyasulu at NIAS Bangalore.

50.

November 19, 2001: Participated in the
Empowerment Day of Women function,
organized by Bangalore District Co­
operative Union.

51.

November 20, 2001: Discussion with Dr.
Poomima Vyasulu about the 1“ executive
meeting of EWRs and on Orientation
Program of selected women for WYTEP
program (meeting scheduled to be held on
6th -70. December 2001).

59. March 14th, 2002: The district level
association of EWRs was formed in
Koppal. About 120 EWRs and Mahila
Samakya Sangha members attended the
meeting.

52.

November 21,2001: Meeting in MSK along
with District Program Coordinators of 7
MSK districts about the federation of
EWRs.

60. March 16th, 2002:
The district level
association of EW Rs was formed in
Raichur. About 40 EWRs and Mahila
Samakya Sangha members attended the
meeting.

58. March 5th - 8th, 2002: Mahila Samakya,
Karnataka
in
collaboration
with
SSF/KWIRC and CHC, organized A
Mahila Samakya Sammelan. SSF made a
presentation on 6th March 2002 and
described about the associations of elected
women representatives.
Several other
themes viz., bringing women’s agenda in
panchayat raj and procedures and funds
were also discussed.

12

‘Tharanga’, M.A. Sreenivasan Road, 10th Cross,
Rajmahal Vilas Extension, Bangalore 560 080
Tel: (080)361 0928, 361 2492
Fax: (080) 361 1762
E-mail: ssfb@giasba01.vsnl.net . in

Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation

13* June 2002

To,
Dr. Thelma Narayan
Community Health Cell,
Bangalore

Dear Thelma,

Greetings from SSF, Bangalore.
We are happy to inform you that the project on “Associating Elected Women
Representatives in Local Self Government” has completed the 1st Phase as on March
2002. We hope to receive the grant for the find Phase also. We thank you very much for
the cooperation rendered to us in the process and wish to continue in future also.

We would like to keep you informed of the activities of the 1st Phase and hence
we have pleasure in enclosing the reports of the partners of the Project viz., Sakhi —
Kerala, Lok Satta - Andhra Pradesh and Gandhigram Rural Institute - Tamil Nadu. The
Consolidated report would be sent to you in due course.
We also enclose the Critical Comments of Mr. L.C. Jain on the Report of the
Working Group on Decentralisation brought out by Rural Development and Panchayat
Raj Department of Government of Karnataka. In this regard, a meeting was also held to
discuss the Report as well as the critics at Bijapur on 25* May 2002. The reports are
enclosed for your information.

We hereby request you to kindly advice us and suggest any corrections if any, that
you feel could be made in the reports.
With warm regards,

Yours sincerely,

b

a~~ 'iei'

V

*

(Suman S. Kolhar)
Project Coordinator

" Tharanga", 10th Cross, Raj Mahal Vilas Extension, Bangalore - 560 080
Tel : (91-80) 361 0928, 361 2492, Fax : (91-80) 361 1762, E-mail : ssfb@giasbg01 .vsnl.net.in

%
6t

I
3

1

on?: Neither. Milbank Q. 66(Suppl. 2):

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THE UNTOLD STORY:
HOW THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS IN

T. K. Sundari
Iliis article attempts to put together evidence from maternal mortality studies in
developing countries of how an inadequate health care system characterized by
misplaced priorities contributes to high maternal mortality rales. Inaccessibility of
essential health information to the women most affected, and the physical as well as
economic and sociocultural distance separating health services from the vast
majority of women, arc only part of the problem. Even when the woman reaches a
health facility, there arc a number of obstacles to her receiving adequate and
appropriate care. These arc a result of failures in the health services delivery system:
the lack of minimal life-saving equipment at the first referral level; the lack of
equipment, personnel, and know-how even in referral hospitals; and worst of all,
faulty patient management. Prevention of maternal deaths requires fundamental
changes not only in resource allocation, but in the very structures of health services
delivery. These will have to be fought for as part of a wider struggle for equity and
social justice.

the medical profession? The case of
’ntnrio. Social. Work Occup. 4: 3-26,
igo Press, Chicago, 1975.
y Review Press, New York, 1974.

ng
he
ho
an
di­
Ia
hs
cd
an

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gjs
,sth

or
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anization of physicians. Int. J. Health
a and development of coronary care

' a
rth

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTE
TO MATERNAL MORTALITY

The high maternal mortality rates in most of the developing countries, despite
advances in health care, have prompted several studies analyzing the main causes of
maternal death and groups at risk, so that medical care can be appropriately directed.
However, the role of the health services system itself, both in preventing a woman with
a complication in pregnancy or delivery from seeking medical help and in providing a
woman who reaches a medical facility with appropriate care, has rarely been looked
into. Of the several links in the chain of events that culminate in a maternal death, the
role of an inadequate health care system characterized by misplaced priorities seems to
be vital. This article attempts to put together evidence to this effect, using data from
maternal mortality studies in several developing countries.
It is common practice for hospital-based studies on maternal mortality to look into
“avoidable factors”: factors that, if avoided, could have prevented the maternal death. In
a number of cases, the researchers stale explicitly that the avoidability of deaths was
evaluated by standards realistic under the circumstances prevailing in that country al
that time. The discussions in this article arc based on such accounts.
International Journal of Health Services, Volume 22, Number 3, Pages 513-520, 1992

© 1992, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.
513

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Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 515

514 / Sundari

Delayed Arrival or Nonarrival at a Health Facility

“PATIENT FACTORS,” OR INACCESSIBLE
HEALTH SERVICES?

One of the standard categories into which avoidable factors arc classified is what
are known as “patient factors.” Patient factors, as the name suggests, arc deemed
faulty action on the part of the patient, for which the health care system is not respon­
sible and about which it is helpless to do anything. Table 1 gives an overview of
the proportion of maternal deaths attributed to various patient factors in different
studies (1-8).

Maternal deaths with "patient factor" as an avoidable factor
in selected developing countries

Country: hospilal/rcgion
(reference no.)

Factor

_____________

No. of all
maternal
deaths (%)

Years

19781981

Malaysia: all
government health
facilities
in Krian district (1)

Refusal to go to hospital
Handled by traditional birth attendant
and relatives; delayed medical aid
Handled by traditional birth attendant
alone; no medical aid

95 (10%)
182 (20%)

Vietnam:
22 institutions (2)

Patient not presented
Patient noncompliancc

22(17%)
13 (10%).

19841985

Pakistan: Civil
Hospital, Karachi (3)

Patient’s or relations’ attitude
Deficient management by traditional
birth attendants

85 (67%)
11(9%)

19791983

Malawi: Kamuzu
Central Hospital,
Lilongwe (4)

Patient delay

29 (48%)

1985

Tanzania: Muhimbili
Medical Center,
Dar-es-Salaam (5)

Delay in arrival
Interference with pregnancy

11(7%)
2(1%)

1983

India: 41 teaching
institutions (6)

Delay by patient or relatives

2,109 (45%)

19781981

India: Anantapur
district (7)

Lack of early and adequate antenatal
care
Termination of pregnancy by
unqualified personnel

18(8%)

19841985

Zimbabwe: Harare
Maternity Hospital,
Harare (8)

Late presentation
Refusal of treatment
Unbooked
______________ __

8 (16%)
2 (4%)
5 (10%)

164 (18%)

18 (8%)

1983

Of the various patient factors identified in studies, patients’ nonarrival and delayed
arrival at a medical facility feature prominently. It is also mentioned in some
eases that the patient’s and her relatives’ attitudes were incorrect, leading to a
preference to deliver at home with the help of relatives and/or traditional birth
attendants, rather than go to a hospital or health center. Instances of the patient's refusal
of treatment arc also mentioned. (Delays due to distance and transportation problems
arc discussed later.)
There may be a number of reasons why women do not seek medical care during
pregnancy and delivery. The first of these is probably a lack of awareness of the
seriousness of the problem. In Anantapur, India, when family members of women who
died were asked if they were aware of the seriousness of the problem, more than
one-fifth indicated that they did not comprehend the seriousness of the patient’s condi­
tion. Of those who knew about the seriousness, the great majority took steps to call a
health workcr/doctor or to move the patient to a hospital (7). Studies of maternal deaths
in the Tangail and Jamalpur districts of Bangladesh indicate that women who developed
complications during pregnancy more often received medical help prior Io death than
women who developed complications during labor and delivery or post partum (9,10).
These studies indicate that the seriousness of complications encountered during preg­
nancy, and of specific complications such as toxemia that lead to convulsions, is
probably more apparent than the seriousness of prolonged labor or postpartum sepsis.
This illustrates the failure of the health care system to reach out to the population with
important health messages. If women knew how to identify danger signals that call for
immediate medical attention, a large majority of them would certainly attempt to reach
a health facility.
Poorer and higher parity women remain uncovered by medical services, whereas
relatively well-off and lower parity women who are not at any special risk benefit the
most (11). Poorer women and women with large families may find it difficult to get
away from work at home and on the farms, often at the cost of their lives. In Zaire, for
example, 13 of 20 maternal deaths occurred during the first five months of planting and
harvest, seasons when the need for women’s work in the field can make women
reluctant to go to the hospital (12). Lack of available money is, of course, a major
deterrent to seeking medical help. That economic factors arc an important intervening
variable in access to health care is evident from a study in Oran, Algeria, between 1971
and 1980 (13). The maternal mortality rate plunged from 157/100,000 live births in
1971-1975 to 91/100,000 in 1976-1980. One of the reasons for this decline was that
after 1974-1975, when fees for medical services were waived in public hospitals, the
number of unassisted home deliveries was greatly reduced.
There may be a number of other reasons why women prefer home delivery assisted by
a traditional birth attendant or relatives. These include (he unfamiliar setting at the
health facility where the woman would be attended to by strangers, in the absence of her
family and friends and the physical and moral support they offer: the possibility of being
attended to by male doctors, unacceptable in some cultures; the nontolcrancc by hospital
staff of cultural practices related to childbirth, such as consumption of special foods and
practice of certain rituals; the total lack of sympathy and understanding on the part of

Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 517
516 / Sundari
health personnel; and not least, the belief that childbirth docs not need medical inter­
ference. All of these reasons arc valid and cannot be ignored or disclaimed.

Failure to Seek Legal Abortion, or Interference with Pregnancy

Another patient factor often mentioned is the failure to seek a legal abortion, or
interference with pregnancy. A detailed discussion of the complex issues surrounding
why women do not seek legal abortions, or why they interfere with their pregnancies
instead of preventing a pregnancy, is beyond the scope of this article. Some of the
underlying reasons may be similar to those that explain why women do not seek medical
help during childbirth: not knowing that abortions can be legally obtained, lack of
information about where such services are available, and lack of resources. There arc,
however, many essential differences arising from laws that severely restrict abortions in
several countries, and the social, cultural, and religious pressures against seeking an
abortion where it may be available. In addition, the degree of privacy afforded by a
traditional abortionist may be a factor. The least that can be said is that “failure to seek
a legal abortion” cannot be classified neatly as a patient factor for which the woman
alone is responsible.
Whatever the reasons for a woman’s not going to a medical facility for pregnancyrelated problems, the consequences arc serious enough to warrant corrective action. To
give an example from Kenya, several women who died of maternal causes in the
Kenyatta National Hospital between 1972 and 1978 arrived in a poor condition after
futile management had been attempted at home for many days (14). This was especially
true of women who had illegal abortions. Most of those who died of puerperal sepsis had
delivered at home. One patient who had delivered at home with the assistance of a
midwife had been treated for nearly a week before she was admitted to the hospital. In
Togo, again, women referred to the Centre Hopitalierc Universitaire de Lome during
1977 included many with uterine rupture that had occurred several days earlier at home
and had not been detected (15).
Nonuse ofAntenatal Care

The next most important patient factor mentioned in studies is the nonuse of antenatal
care by pregnant women. This is disturbing given the overwhelming evidence that the
lack of antenatal care increases the risk of maternal death.
According to the famous Zaria maternity survey that monitored 22,725 deliveries
in Ahmado Bello University Hospital in Nigeria, antenatal care was associated with
a reduction in maternal mortality in all age-parity groups (16). In American University
of Beirut Medical Centre, Lebanon, the maternal mortality rate for those who had
antenatal care was 19/100.000, whereas the rate for those without antenatal care was
197/100,000 (17). In Vietnam, only 34 percent of women who died had attended
antenatal clinics, compared with 74 percent in the control group, a statistically signifi­
cant difference (2).
Early antenatal care is important. In Thailand, mothers who started antenatal care in
their first and second trimesters of pregnancy had lower matcma^iortality rates than
those who did not start antenatal care until the third trimester (18).^P also necessary to

make several antenatal visits spread over the gestation period, so that complications that
arise at different stages may be identified and followed up. In Zaire (1981-1983) the
maternal mortality rate was 250/1(X),000 live births for those who had made four or
more antenatal visits, 270/100,000 for those who had made between one and three visits,
and a very high 3,770/100,000 for those who had no antenatal care at all (12). Similarly,
in a study of three hospitals in Senegal, 20 percent of the women who died had no
antenatal care, compared with only 2 percent in the control group: and only 40 percent
of them had made three or more visits, compared with 75 percent in the control group (19).
The case for early and adequate antenatal care is clear. The obstacles to use of
antenatal care need to be investigated. There are some clues to the possible reasons for
nonuse in these same studies. A community study from Ethiopia found that just as in the
ease of institutional delivery, it is the better-off and lower parity women who use
antenatal care adequately (11). Use of antenatal care decreased with increasing parity,
both in hospitals and in the Maternal and Child Health clinics. The extent of nonatten­
dance among the high-risk women who were currently para 5 to para 8 was 35 percent,
and that for women who were now para 8+ was 44 percent. Sixty percent of those who
did not receive antenatal care had unwanted pregnancies. Women with unwanted
pregnancies who did receive antenatal care tended Io visit Maternal and Child Health
clinics, which were free of cost.
The failure of higher parity women to seek antenatal care may not only result from
lack of time and money. They may feel it is unnecessary to seek antenatal care,
especially if their earlier pregnancies were problem-free. In the ease of unwanted
pregnancies out-of-wedlock, hesitation to seek antenatal care is understandable. As for
high parity women with unwanted pregnancies, the very reasons for which the preg­
nancy was unwanted may also impose constraints in seeking antenatal care. The women

may also not feel motivated for self-care.
The deficient quality of antenatal care may be another major deterrent. A study of
Primary Health Centers in India found that women attending antenatal screening were
not screened either for anemia or for high blood pressure or proteinuria to detect the
risk of eclampsia (20). This can be a costly shortcoming, as judged from a study in
Mozambique: more than 80 percent of the women who died had attended antenatal
clinics, and yet there were deaths from preventable causes such as anemia and eclampsia
(21, 22). Poor quality of antenatal screening and the indifferent attitude of health
personnel in health facilities can destroy women’s faith in the usefulness of antenatal
care. Darc we blame the women if they decide that it is not worth expending their scarce
resources on what may be a futile exercise?

Transportation Problems

In many instances, the late arrival of a patient at a hospital, usually classified as a
patient factor, is the result of lack of transportation methods. Poor roads, lack of

ambulances or other means of transportation to health facilities, and inadequate means
of transporting emergency cases from peripheral to referral hospitals make the essential
difference between life and death in most developing countries. In a heart-rending and
extreme cxamplBJrom a Tanzanian study, a rural woman had to walk 70 kilometers after
the onset of labl^P> reach a hospital, only to collapse on arrival (23).

Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 5

518 / Sundari

Laie arrivals and referrals account for a disproportionately large number of maternal
deaths in hospitals. The following examples illustrate the magnitude of the problem:
• In Centre Hopitalicrc Univcrsitairc de Cocody, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in 1986, the
maternal mortality rate was 2,000/100,000 deliveries for those who had been transferred
from within the urban zone, 3,000/100,000 for those who had been transferred from the
suburban area, and 6,000/100,000 for those who had been transferred from rural
areas (24).
• In the Maternity Hospital, Katmandu, Nepal, 40 percent of the women who died
arrived in a very poor condition; 17 percent were unconscious. Forty-five of the 81
deaths (56 percent) occurred within the first day, 38 of them within the first eight
hours (25).
• In an Aden Hospital, 73 percent of deaths were of women from rural areas who had
to travel a long way. Ten percent of the women who died were dead on arrival, and
another 15 percent died within an hour of arrival (26).
• In Zaire, all but two (90 percent) of the women who died were admitted in a critical
condition. The most common complication was prolonged labor (greater than 18 hours)
due to fcto-pelvic disproportion or malprcscntation. Sixteen of the 20 women who died
had been in labor for more than 18 hours, and nine of these had been in labor for 48
hours. The risk of death was more than 400 times greater for those who had been in labor
for more than 48 hours than for those who had labored 12 hours or less. Prolonged labor
resulted in a ruptured uterus in 14 cases, which increased the risk of death more than
100-fold (12).
• In Togo, women referred to Centre Hopitalicrc Univcrsitairc de Lome during 1977
included cases of uterine rupture that had occurred several days earlier (15).
• In a study of 48 hospitals throughout Tanzania in 1986, 63 percent of the 247
women who died had to travel more than 10 kilometers to the hospital where they
eventually died. Of these, 37 percent lived more than 30 kilometers away (27).
• In Krian district. Malaysia, 73 deaths (8 percent) were due to poor transportation
methods, and a further seven deaths occurred cn route from one hospital to another (1).
When the hospital is far away, not only the distance but also the mode of transport
becomes an important determinant of how soon medical help becomes available and,
consequently, of survival chances. In Ananlapur, India (1984-1985), 41 percent of all
maternal deaths occurred at home, and 9 percent cn route to a hospital. Of 140 women
who were taken to hospital in a serious condition, 96 (69 percent) were transported by
' public bus. 27 (19 percent) by bullock carts, five (3 percent) by manually drawn
rickshaws, and only 12 (9 percent) by motor-driven vehicle or by ambulance. Twentyfour women died on the way to hospital, and another 54 died immediately on arrival (7).
These problems arc accentuated when the cause of death is a difficult-to-anticipatc
complication such as postpartum hemorrhage. In Gambia, where an extremely high
maternal mortality rate has been recorded (2.360/100,000 live births), 11 of a total of 15
deaths occurred within four hours after deliver and were associated with hemorrhage or
sudden collapse; there were no resuscitation facilities at the nearest dispensary, and the
government hospital at Banjul was several hours’ journey away, including a ferry
crossing of the river Gambia (28).

Weather conditions may also affect the possibility for rapid transportation to hospit;
A study covering three hospitals in Senegal found that maternal deaths from hemorrha;
and uterine rupture occurred 1.7 times and 3.5 times more frequently in the four w
months between July and October, and suggested that this is probably because of tl
way rain paralyzes transportation on mud roads and foot paths through which patien
have to be transported (19).
All of the patient factors discussed above are a consequence not only of geograph
inaccessibility but of the social, cultural, and economic inaccessibility of health scrvict
to pregnant women. Could we not consider attributing responsibility for these factors t
the patient a case of “victim blaming"?

FAILURES IN THE HEALTH SERVICES DELIVERY SYSTEM
When other obstacles arc overcome and women with a complication in pregnancy <
childbirth finally reach a health facility, there may be yet other problems that jeopardiz
their chances of survival. Personnel and equipment arc scarce, and health facilities ar
often unable to cope even with the small proportion of affected women who arrive. Th
quality of care is far from satisfactory, and may be summed up as “doing too little, to
late.” Table 2 shows the proportion of maternal deaths attributed to various “hcalt
service factors” in different studies (2, 6, 8, 29, 30).
Shortage of Trained Personnel

Many countries have a shortage of trained personnel not only at the specialist love
but all down the ladder to the midwife. An extreme example is that of Gabon, wher
there is a shortage of trained obstctricians-gynecologists: six of the nine provinces c
Gabon do not have the services of a specialist obstetrician. In addition, health center
and even provincial hospitals do not have 24-hour services (31).
Even where the situation is not quite so bad, understaffing of health facilities is .
common problem. In Malawi, at Kamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, medical staf
were at times required to be at the Central Hospital and the Old Wind Maternity thro
kilometers away at the same time, and this alone had contributed to maternal death it
some cases (4).
Another problem is that staff have inadequate or inappropriate training and canno
cope with obstetrical emergencies. Cameroon is a unique case in point. A hospital stud'
in Yaounde found that the incidence of deaths from ruptured uterus was high not onh
because of the poor standards of midwives in rural hospitals, but because specialists it
referral hospitals were trained abroad and could not handle cases of uterine rupture (32)
Health personnel interviewed in a 48-hospital study in Tanzania stated that, in lheii
opinion, the following were among factors contributing to high maternal mortality (27)

• Scarcity of medical and paramedical personnel, especially in rural areas:
• Poor on-the-job training of health staff at all levels;
• Low salaries, poor working conditions, etc., for health workers, leading to lack ol
motivation.

Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 521

520 / Sundari
Tabic 2
Maternal deaths with “poor patient management in hospital” as an avoidable factor,
selected developing countries

Country: hospital/rcgion
(reference no.)

Factors

No. of all
maternal
deaths (%)

Years

Vietnam: 22 institutions
P)

Delay in diagnosis
Wrong diagnosis
Delay in treatment
Wrong treatment
Delay in referral
Inappropriate referral

68 (53%)
28 (22%)
80 (63%)
47 (37%)
77 (60%)
I (8%)

19841985

Malawi: Health centers
and referral hospitals
in Central Region (29)

Medical staff factors
Nursing staff factors (includes
failure to diagnose, failure to
initiate appropriate treatment.
delay in referral)

30 (28%)
26 (24%)

1977

Zimbabwe: Harare
Maternity Hospital,
Harare (8)

Failure to diagnosc/dclay in
diagnosis
Failure to operate/ delay in
operation
Failure to give appropriate
treatment
Poor operative technique
Overtransfusion
Anesthetic problem

4 (8%)

1983

South Africa: 267
hospitals throughout
the country (30)

Delay in diagnosis
Delay in consultation or transfer
Judgment errors in diagnosis
Treatment given “too little,
loo late”
Surgical and anesthetic problems

11(1%)
25 (3%)
11(1%)
87(11%)

India: 41 teaching
institutions (6)

Defective obstetric care

5(10%)

2 (4%)

2(4%)
2 (4%)
1 (2%)
19801982

24 (3%)
1,525 (32%)

19781981

The unsatisfactory working conditions of lower-level health workers often tend to be
overlooked, but may be a key cause of the scarcity of health personnel so vital to the
improvement ofcoverage of maternal health services.

Lack of Equipment and Facilities
The absence of a blood bank or of facilities for transfusion can be one of the most
catastrophic inadequacies in a health facility, anc^Kt is one of the most frequently
encountered. A patient with hemorrhage may not s^Pve to reach the referral hospital.

In Gabon, a study from Centre Hfipitaliere de Libreville mentions that patients suffering
from hemorrhage often were kept waiting until a donor with a matching blood group
was found, before operative intervention (31). In some studies showing a high incidence
of deaths from hemorrhage, absence of a blood bank was often a contributing factor.
For example in Vietnam, where 48 percent of maternal deaths in selected hospitals
during 1984-1985 were from hemorrhage, lack of blood led to deaths in 46 eases
(36 percent) (2). In Kenyatta National Hospital, Kenya, no blood was available for a
patient admitted in a highly anemic condition due to postpartum hemorrhage, until she
died a day later (33).
Lack of other facilities and equipment is mentioned in many other studies. For
example, the study of L’hOpital Arslridc 1c Dantcc, L’hOpital Principal, and Centre
Abbas Ndao in Senegal (1986-1987) found (hat 70 percent of the 152 maternal deaths
were attributable to Jack of equipment and facilities (19).
In the hospital al Libreville, Gabon, mentioned above (31), there was overcrowding,
with a bed occupancy rate of 130 percent. Supplies of drugs were inadequate, and
treatment was delayed until the patient’s family bought the drugs from a pharmacy.
There were even inordinate delays in transferring the patient Io the operative block. In
Vietnam, lack of drugs was responsible for 26 deaths (20 percent), and lack of other
equipment for 14 deaths (11 percent) (2).
The study of maternal deaths in Kenyatta National Hospital also mentions over­
crowding; patients often had to share beds and mattresses, leaving them vulnerable
to cross-infection within the hospital. There was not enough clean linen, and
even basic equipment such as gloves and antiseptic solution fell short of require­
ment (33). The lack of basic equipment in conjunction with overcrowding and
the scarcity of trained personnel has led to an increase in in-hospital sepsis
rates. Sepsis deaths increased from 8 percent of maternal deaths in 1953-1960 to
17 percent in 1961-1971, and stood at 12 percent in 1975-1982 in a hospital
study from Durban, South Africa; during this period the maternal mortality rates
also rose (34, 35). The reasons for this increase were overcrowding and nonadhcrcncc
to aseptic and antiseptic principles when doing vaginal examinations, among other
things. In Sudan, deaths from puerperal sepsis in the Khartoum Teaching Hospital,
Khartoum, increased from 10 percent of all maternal deaths in 1968-1972 to as high
as 32 percent in 1978-1982 (36). And in Venezuela, a study in Concepcion Palacios
maternity hospital, Caracas, covering the period 1939-1974, found that while the
maternal mortality rate declined from 196/100,000 live births in 1939-1963 to
125/100,000 in 1964-1972, it subsequently rose to 144/100,000, owing to an alarming
increase in post-cesarian section and puerperal sepsis deaths during the last ten years of
the study (37).
Lack of equipment is a more acute problem in most peripheral hospitals; the
Kenyan study found that of 92 women referred to Kenyatta National Hospital from
peripheral hospitals, in 43 eases the anesthetist or the medical officcr-in-chargc was
not available. In 19 of these eases the hospital had no facility for operative delivery,
in 21 no blood was available, and in nine eases the hospital had no water or electricity.
An added problem was that the hospital admitted high-risk patients when it had
no facilil^s to tackle the problem, or had diagnosed the problem loo late, delaying
referral

522 / Sundari

Poor Patient Management
Inappropriate action by health staff in treating patients has been identified in several
studies as a factor contributing to maternal deaths.
Delay in diagnosis and treatment and inadequate treatment arc often responsible for
maternal deaths. There seem to be inordinate delays in initiating treatment even when
the patient’s condition is critical, for reasons quite apart from lack of equipment and
facilities. Crucial decisions arc delayed, and not infrequently, wrong decisions arc made.
Standard procedures for patient management arc often absent, which makes it difficult
for nursing staff and junior doctors to take appropriate action in emergency cases. Also,
decision-making and initiation of sophisticated procedures in hospital settings arc fre­
quently concentrated in a small number of senior doctors and specialists, while other
members of staff arc restricted to carrying out instructions.
A study of Kenyatta National Hospital illustrates some cases of poor patient
management. Lack of proper investigations of the etiological causes of infection led
to an inappropriate choice of drugs and nonresponse of the microorganism Io
therapy. Decisions for operative interventions were at limes taken too late, and the
operations were entrusted to junior doctors. In one instance, a woman admitted
for sepsis following abortion had to undergo one colpotomy and two laparotomies
within a space of 10 days because the pelvic abscess was not properly drained
in the first two procedures. Another instance of patient mismanagement in the
same hospital was of two women with ruptured ectopic pregnancies who virtually
lost their entire blood volume before they received laparotomy because cross-matching
of blood, for transfusion was inordinately delayed. Both women died following
laparotomy (33).
In another study from the maternity and children’s hospital in Saudi Arabia (1978—
1980), mismatched blood transfusions were a factor in two of 29 deaths, one from
hemorrhage and one from septic abortion (38). Delays in decision-making by the health
personnel occurred in two instances: in a case of uncontrollable hemorrhage during
cesarean section and in a patient with antepartum hemorrhage, in which case there was
delay in deciding about definitive surgery. In another instance the avoidable factor was
clinical, namely, combining major surgery with cesarean section in a peripheral hospital
with limited facilities. Delay in decision-making and failure to initiate prompt intensive
care were responsible for several first-hour deaths in R.M.C. Hospital, Imphal, India
(39). In five cases, immediate surgical interventions by experienced obstetricians could
have prevented death.
A confidential inquiry into all maternal deaths in Jamaica between 1981 and
1983 gives a very useful analysis of avoidable patient management factors with respect
io three major causes of maternal death: hemorrhage, sepsis, and eclampsia (40).
According to this inquiry, some of the factors contributing Io deaths from hemor­

rhage were:
• Delays in midwives' appreciating the extent of blood loss and contacting a doctor;
• Delays in starting and inadequate resuscitative procedures for blood loss, partly due to
unavailability of blood or plasma in many of the smaller hospitals;

Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 523
• Delays in manual removal of the placenta in patients with retained placenta, or
attempting this procedure without the necessary preliminary establishment of a
reliable intravenous infusion;
• Inadequate use of ergometrine.

In the case of deaths from sepsis the avoidable factors were:
• Inadequate surveillance of body temperature in women with a prolonged first stage of
labor, and post delivery;
• Not giving antibiotics to women with prolonged rupture of the membranes;
• Inadequate bacteriological investigations in women with puerperal pyrexia;
• Reluctance to use aggressive treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics for women
with puerperal pyrexia.

Avoidable in-hospital factors that were responsible for deaths from eclampsia
included:
• Absence of relevant information on antenatal surveillance symptoms and signs
(c.g., weight gain, blood pressure readings) at the time of admission to hospital;
* Inadequate monitoring of patient’s blood pressure and urine, particularly on admission
and immediately following delivery;
• Delay by hospital staff in initiating appropriate treatment when signs of preeclamptic
toxemia were found or the patient had convulsions, the delay being due to lack of
coordination among various levels of staff;
• Lack of a clear-cut clinical-therapeutic strategy for dealing with patients with
eclampsia.

Problems related to operative techniques and administration of anesthesia also claim
a large number of maternal lives, and routinely appear as a cause of death in most
hospital studies of maternal mortality. One of the highest rates for maternal deaths from
complications of anesthesia has been reported from Ivory Coast (110 deaths/100,000
live births) (41), and high rates of death associated with cesarean sections have been
reported from Egypt (222/100,000 live births) (42) and Malawi (142/100,000 live
births) (4).
A good proportion of deaths related to complications of cesarean section and anes­
thesia may in fact be related to the poor condition of the patient prior to the operation.
Surgical procedures arc often undertaken on emergency admissions as a last recourse,
with the knowledge that survival chances arc limited. However, the sharp increase in
post-cesarean section sepsis in instances such as in Caracas, mentioned above (38),
point to faulty in-hospital procedures. In Cuba, again, cesarean delivery was identified
as a risk factor associated with maternal death in a study covering the period 1980-1984
(43). Forty-one of the 54 cases of death from sepsis during that period followed a
cesarian section, and 13 deaths from complications of anesthesia were also simul­
taneously associated with cesarean section. In another example from Sudan, a study of
all cesarean sections carried out in the Khartoum hospital between 1978 and 1982 found

Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 5
524 / Sundari
that of 24 maternal deaths following cesarean section (of a total of 140 maternal deaths),

i

only six could be attributed to underlying causes (36).

i

Clearly, the performance of medical systems in saving maternal lives entrusted to
them is far from satisfactory. This is unfortunate, considering the difficulties that women
must overcome in order to reach a referral facility. They have to leave their families
behind, expend a great deal of money in finding a quick means of transportation, and
find a suitable person to accompany them. The person accompanying has to find the
means and money to stay in a strange town or city during the period of the patient’s
treatment. And if the patient should die, quite apart from the fact that it would greatly
distress her to be away from family and friends in her last hours, transporting the body
back
both difficult
and expensive.
Wehome
hopewould
that theprove
existence
of a number
of studies looking into avoidable in-hospital
factors in maternal deaths demonstrates a commitment to effecting the required changes

wherever possible.

CONCLUSIONS
The prevention of maternal deaths requires far-reaching social and economic changes
beyond the confines of the health care system. The factors that make the natural
processes of pregnancy and childbirth highly risky and even fatal for poorer women arc
structural; so arc the factors that influence the value women place on their personal
well-being, and those that influence their ability to seek health care for themselves. The
last depends crucially on resources such as time, money, and information that women
have at their disposal, and whether they have the authority for decision-making.
However, this does not absolve the health care system of its responsibility to make
fundamental changes in both the structure and the delivery of health services. From the
discussions in this article, certain areas stand out as priorities for action. These arc
presented not as policy recommendations to the medical status quo—whose priorities
arc, more often than not, determined by the interests of those in power and by their own
professional interests—but rather as a proposal for action by health activists.
r The starting point of an agenda for action would be to call for a drastic reallocation of
national resources with a larger share for the health sector, and a substantial allocation
within the health budget for the health care of women, of which maternal health care is
one component. The health expenditure of a vast majority of countries falls short of 5
percent of gross national product. Less than half of this is allocated to “primary health
’ care" (a term that has come to be used to define all health care below the secondary and
referral levels, as opposed to the principle enunciated in the Alma-Ata Declaration). A
minuscule amount of this allocation is spent on maternal and child health care, in which
child health and family planning get the lion’s share of the resources compared with
f. maternal health. And although it is well known that maternal health cannot be improved
without improvement of women’s health in general, as far as the health care system is
concerned women count only as mothers and have no existence prior to or after a
pregnancy and delivery. Also, the disproportionately large share of resources allocated
Io family planning programs (often a cuphcmist^or population control programs), at
the cost of other aspects of maternal health carc^^i in no way be justified.

j
I

r Appropriate reallocation of resources for women’s health care would have to beg
with strengthening health services at the community level. Women who arc in greak
need of health care, and who run the greatest risk of maternal death, have the 1c:
resources to seek medical help. They can only be reached if services arc available clo
to home, and ideally at their very doorsteps. What is needed is the deployment
thousands of community health workers who arc also equipped for maternal health cat
Training traditional birth attendants and local women to provide domiciliary care
perhaps one of the best ways to invest resources. However, action in this direction hi
been disappointing. Far from being one of the cornerstones of the strategy for prcvcnlk
of maternal mortality and morbidity, it remains a low-priority activity, carried out in
sporadic and haphazard manner.
The next step in appropriate resource allocation would be to equip the first referri
levels with the necessary supplies, equipment, and personnel. The World Hcalt
Organization guidelines on essential obstetric functions at the first referral level identif
eight groups of functions that should be available al a health facility catering to
population of 100,000. Among these arc surgical functions such as performing ccsarca
sections, surgical treatment of severe sepsis, and laparotomy for treatment of uterin
rupture; anesthetic functions; and blood-replacement functions. This would bring abou
an estimated 5 percent reduction in the number of maternal deaths (44).
Shortage of trained personnel is often cited as a major barrier to upgrading fin
referral facilities. This is usually the result of the strict hierarchy in the division of labc
among health personnel, and inflexible notions held by doctors regarding the ethics
propriety of entrusting complicated interventions to lower level staff. The Centr
Medical Evangelique’s Nyakunde, Aba, and Ara hospitals in the Upper Zaire rcgioi
have successfully overcome such barriers. Here, nurse practitioner surgeons deliver al
types of labor, normal or complicated. A study of their performance has shown that th<
outcome of complicated labor in the hands of the nurse practitioner surgeons is com
parable to the outcome of such cases in the hands of physicians (45). Training nursin;
and midwifery staff to deal with complicated deliveries is clearly a viable option
but may not be welcome to the medical establishment, which would resent such ar
encroachment on its territory.
There have been a number of such creative interventions aimed at better utilization 01
scarce resources for maternal health care. In Ekedwani hospital, Malawi, for example
an antenatal waiting shelter was opened for “high-risk” women, to deal with the problem
of distances and transport. This greatly reduced the maternal mortality rale, obstetric
emergencies having become a thing of the past (46).
The second major area for action is improving the quality of care in health facilities.
This involves more than ensuring the availability of equipment and supplies and trained
personnel; it also entails making the health services more socially accountable. There
should be careful record-keeping, and records should be accessible to the public. Every
maternal death and every complicated delivery should be carefully scrutinized. Prevent­
ing the recurrence of an “avoidable factor” should be a medical priority. Inappropriate
organizational and managerial procedures that cause inordinate delays in instituting care
must be challenged: it is not unusual for a patient to be kept waiting while paperwork is
bcingmmplctcd or because the person authorized for decision-making is not present.
Mord^Pfiortantly, seeking health care should cease to be the dehumanizing experience

Health Care Systems and Maternal Deaths / 527

526 / Sundari

it now is, devoid of respect and consideration or even compassion on the part of health

personnel.
The third and perhaps most urgent area for action is to assist and equip those most
affected by the problem of high maternal mortality—women (and men) from the
most deprived sections of society—to actively participate in demanding the changes
outlined above.
The existing state of affairs in the health care system that contributes to high maternal
mortality is not the consequence of mere inept planning or poor organizational and
managerial capabilities. It is a reflection of the priorities set by an elitist system in which
the poor and powerless do not count. We do not expect the demands made in these pages
to be handed down from above. They have to be fought for, as part of a much wider

struggle for equity and social justice.
REFERENCES*
1.

Karim, R Overview of Maternal Mortality in Malaysia and the Application of the Risk
Approach Strategy in Maternal Health. Paper presented at the Seminar on Maternal Health,

Kcmcnlerian Kesthalan, Malaysia, 1982.
Vietnam, Institute for the Protection of Mother and Newborn. Maternal Mortality in
Selected Areas of Vietnam. Paper presented al the Interregional Meeting on the Prevention
of Maternal Mortality, Geneva, November 11-15, 1985. Unpublished WHO document no.
FHE/PMM/85.9.8.
3.
Ahmad, Z. Maternal mortality in an obstetric unit. J. Pakistan Med. Assoc. 35: 243-248,

2.

4.

1985.
Keller, M. F.. Maternal mortality at Kamuzu Central Hospital for 1985 Med. Q. (Malawi) 4:

13-16, 1987.
Justensen, A. An analysis of maternal mortality in Muhimbili Medical Centre, Dar cs Salaam,
July 1983 to June 1984. J. Obstet. Gynaecol. East Central Afr. 4: 5-8. 1985.
Bhasker Rao, K. Report on the Maternal Mortality Committee of the FOGSI, 1978-1981.
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Bhatia, J. C. A Study of Maternal Mortality in Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India.

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6.

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Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, 1986.
Crowther, C. A. Maternal deaths at the Harare Maternity Hospital during 1983. South Afr.

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Med. J. 69: 180-182, 1986.
Alauddin, M. Maternal mortality in rural Bangladesh: ThcTangail District. Stud. Fam. Plann.

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17: 13-21. 1986.
Khan, A. R., el al. Maternal mortality in rural Bangladesh: The Jamalpur district. Stud. Fam.

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Plann. 17: 7-12, 1986.
Kwasl, B. E., cl al. Report on Maternal Health in Addis Ababa. Swedish Save the Children

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Smith, J. B., cl al. Hospital Deaths in a High Risk Obstetric Population: Knrawa, Zaire.
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Gana, B.. and Louadi, T. La mortalite maternelle en milieu hopitalier: le cas d'Oran.
Universile d’Oran, Institute de Sciences Socialcs, Departement de Demographic, Oran,
Algeria, 1982.
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Makokha, A. E. Maternal mortality—Kenyatta National Hospital. 1972-1977. East Afr. Med.
J. 57: 451-460, 1980.

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on mafernal mortality maintained by lhe Division of Family Health. World Health Organ.zal.on, Geneva,
Switzerland.

Vovor, M„ and Hodonou. Togo. Paper presented at the WHO Regional Multidisciplinary
Consultative Meeting on Human Reproduction, Yaounde, December 4—7, 1978.
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Harrison, K. A. A Review of Maternal Mortality in Nigeria with Particular Reference to the
Situation in Zaria, Northern Nigeria 1976-79. Paper presented at the WHO Interregional
Meeting on Prevention of Maternal Mortality, Geneva, November 11-15, 1985. Unpublished
WHO document no. FHE/PMM/85.9.12.
17.
Mashini, I., ct a). Maternal mortality in the American University of Beirut Medical Centre
(AUBMC). Im. J. Gynaecol. Obstet. 22: 275-279, 1984.
18.
Rattanporn, P. The Internal Factors Affecting Maternal Mortality. Thesis submitted to the
Mahidol University, Bangkok, 1980.
19.
Correa, P., ct al. Rapport final de 1’ctudc sur la mortalite maternelle a Dakar, Senegal. Causes
et mcsurcs a prendre pour I’amcliorcr. Unpublished report. Dakar, Senegal, 1987.
20.
Indian Council for Medical Research. Evaluation of Quality of Family Welfare Services at
PHC Level—Report of34 PHCs. New Delhi, 1987.
21.
Songadc, F. Analisc dos casos de mortes matemas ocorridas nosprimciros 7 mcscs de 1984.
Boldin Informative do Service de Ginccologia Obstetrica. Hospital Central, Maputo.
February 1985.
22.
Songadc, F. Maternal Mortality at Maputo Central Hospital, Mozambique. Paper presented at
the FIGO Congress, Berlin, September 1985.
23.
Price, T. G. Preliminary reports on maternal deaths in lhe Southern Highlands of Tanzania in
1984. J. Obstet. Gynaecol. East. CentralAfr. 3: 103-110, 1984.
24.
Berardi, J. C., ct al. Evaluation du benefice de I’installation d’unc structure obstclrico-chiurgicalc dcccntralisee en terme de reduction de la mortalite maternelle ct des transfects en Cote
d’Ivoire. Unpublished paper, CHU de Cocody, Abidjan, Ivory Coast, 1987.
25.
Malla, D. S. Study of Causes of Maternal Mortality in Selected Hospitals in Nepal. Paper
presented at the Interregional Meeting on the Prevention of Maternal Mortality, Geneva,
November 11-15, 1985. Unpublished WHO document no. FHE/PMM/85.9.9.
26.
Ahmed Ali, A. A Review of Maternal Mortality al Abood Maternity Hospital. Aden from
1962-1986. Unpublished paper. Abood Maternity Hospital, Aden, Democratic Yemen, 1987.
27.
Murru, M. Hospital Maternal Mortality in Tanzania. Master’s Dissertation, Royal Tropical
Institute, Amsterdam, 1987.
28.
Greenwood, A., ct al. A prospective study of pregnancy in a rural area of lhe Gambia, West
Africa. Bull. WHO 65: 635-644,1987.
29.
Bullough, C. Analysis of maternal deaths in lhe Central Region of Malawi. East Afr. Med. J.
58: 25-36,1981.
30.
Boes, E. G. M. Maternal mortality in Southern Africa, 1980-82. South Afr. Med. J. 71:
158-161, 1987.
31.
Nlomc-Nze, R., ct al. La mortalite maternelle au Centre Hopitalierc de Libreville, Gabon.
Unpublished paper, Libreville, Gabon, 1987.
32.
Lckc, R. J. Outcome of pregnancy and delivery at the Central Maternity, Central Hospital
Yaounde. Ann. Univ. Sei. Same 4: 322-330, 1987.
33.
Aggarwal, V. P. Obstetric emergency referrals to the Kenyatta National Hospital. East Afr.
Med. J. 57: 144-149, 1980.
34.
Crichton, D., and Knobel, J. The principles of prevention of avoidable maternal death. South
Afr. Med. J. 47: 2205-2210, 1973.
35.
Melrose, S. B. Maternal deaths at King Edward VIII Hospital, Durban. South Afr. Med. J. 65:
161-165, 1984.
36.
Abbo, A. II. Preventable factors in maternal mortality in Khartoum Teaching Hospital. Arab
Med .I. 4(11.12): 23-2S. I’>82.
37.
Aguero, O., cl al. Mortalidad malema en la matemidad Concepcion Palacios, 1939-1974.
Rev. Obstet. Ginecol. Venezuela 37: 361-366. 1977.
38.
Chattopadhyay, S. K., ct al. Maternal mortality in Riyadh. Saudi Arabia. Br. J. Obstet.
Gynaecol. 90:809-814, 1983.
39.
Devi, Y. L., and Singh, J. Maternal morbidity: A ten year study in R.M.C. Hospital, Imphal.
J. Obstet. GynaecoUndia, 37: 90-94, 1987.’

15.

528 I Sundari
40.

41.
42.

Walker, G. J., ct al. Maternal Mortality in Jamaica. Paper presented at the Interregional
Meeting on the Prevention of Maternal Mortality, Geneva, November 11-15, 1985. Unpub­
lished WHO document no. FHE/PMM/85.9.10.
Bohoussou, K. M., ct al. La mortalitc matcmcllc au cours de la parturition ct la post-partum
immediat. Etude hopitalicrc. Afr. Med. 25(239): 125-130, 1986.
Abdullah, S. A., ct al. Maternal Mortality in Upper Egypt. Paper presented at the Interregional
Meeting on the Prevention of Maternal Morbidity, Geneva, November 11-15, 1985. Unpub­

lished WHO document no. FHE/PMM/85.9.18.
43.
Famot, U. C. Maternal Mortality in Cuba. Paper presented at the Interregional Meeting on the
Prevention of Maternal Mortality, Geneva, November 11—15, 1985. Unpublished WHO

FHE/PMM/85.9.13.
44. document
Worldno.
Health
Organization. Essential Obstetric Functions at the First Referral Level. Report
of a Technical Working Group, Geneva, June 23-27,1986. FHE/86.4. Geneva, 1986.
45.
Maroja, L. T. The Role of Medical Auxiliaries in Operative Obstetrics in Rural Zaire.
Master’s Dissertation, Institute of Child Health, University of London, London, 1984.
46.
Knowles, J. K. The Antenatal Waiting Shelter as an Important Factor in Reducing Maternal

Mortality. Unpublished paper. Ekedwani, Malawi, 1986.

Direct reprint requests to:

Dr. T. K. Sundari
Centre for Development Studies
Prasanth Nagar Road, Ulloor
Trivandrum 695 011
Kerala
India

SOWING THE SEEDS OF NEO-1MPERIALISM:
THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION’S
YELLOW FEVER CAMPAIGN IN MEXICO
Armando Soldrzano
The Rockefeller Foundation’s campaign against yellow fever in Mexico sought to
advance the economic and political interests of U.S. capitalism. The campaign was
implemented at a time of strong anti-American sentiments on the part of the Mexican
people. With no diplomatic relationships between Mexico and the United Slates, the
Rockefeller Foundation presented its campaign as an international commitment.
Thus, Foundation doctors became the most salient U.S. diplomats. At the same time
they made sure that the Mexican yellow fever would not spread to the United Slates
through the southern border. The by-products of the campaign went beyond the
political arena. Special techniques to combat the vectors allowed the Rockefeller
Foundation’s brigades to change the anti-American sentiments of the people. When
the campaign ended, the Foundation had already set in place the foundation for the
modern Mexican health care system. Benefits from the campaign also accrued to
President Obregon, who used the campaign to strengthen his position of power.
Mexican doctors adopting a pro-American attitude also allied with the Rockefeller
Foundation to gain reputation and power within the emerging Mexican State.

The Mexican health care system is clearly an extension of the U.S. model of medicine
(1-3). Was this the result of a benevolent flow of medical and technological assistance
from the United Stales, as some authors might claim (4, 5)? Or should the historical
process of the formation of the medical system in Mexico alert us to examine the broadet
influences of foreign medical programs in the social, political, and medical institutions?
The overwhelming ideology of philanthropic institutions and the rhetoric of inter­
national medical cooperation compel the social analyst to question what is behind
altruistic intentions (6). The critical approach represented by the Political Economy of
Health maintains that the introduction of medicine in less-developed societies sets in
motion very complex interactions affecting the productivity of the local labor force
(7-9). Other transformations brought by medicine arc perceived in the political balance
of a country (10, 11), in the institutions of medical education (12), and in the production
of a class-based delivery of health care services (13). The extensive involvement of
medical philanthropy in Central and Latin America makes it necessary to analyze the
consequences of their public health and medical programs. It is not an exaggeration to
'Ilic Rockefeller Foundation funded the archival research for this article.
International Journal of Health Services, Volume 22, Number 3, Pages 529-554, 1992

© 1992, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

529

HIGHER FEMALE THAN MALE MORTALITY IN SOME
COUNTRIES OF SOUTH ASIA: A DIGEST

;'v

M. A. El-Badby
Population Division, United Nations*
■■
' '

■ ’

■ This paper presents Btatistioal :evidence,.-.whiph seems to .be
.‘elusive, that there exists^ a partloularipattern.ofrmdrtalityjnCeylei;-'
India and Pakistan where, contrary to general experience, .female mor-'
> tality is higher than that of the males. The'sex ratios of the enumerated
population in these three countries are among the highest in. the WoHd,*'
and the age pattern of the sex ratios is such that they increase from.
childhood to adulthood to the old ages. Abnormally high sex ratios:and
selective migration cannot account for this particular pattern, but.the^'
is evidence of a higher degree of under-enumeration of females- they
males; The main responsible factor, however, seems to be higher female.
mortality, in the ages of maternity as well as in childhood. This shows?the need for a regional or local approach to some demographic problems;
In this case, for instance, model life tables based on average interna?:?
tional experience are not representative.

1.

THE PHENOMENON

xceedingly high sex ratios among the total population have been observed^

E

in the censuses of Ceylon, India and Pakistan, over a number of decade^/
In addition; the censuses of these countries give a peculiar pattern of sex ratiiiSw
by age, in which the sex ratios by broad age groups increase from childhdp'<®H
adulthood to old age. This paper aims at putting together the. evidence, which ;;
seems to be conclusive, that a main cause of this situation is a particular aud'-/
local pattern of sex differential in mortality, where female chances of survival?are lower than those of the males, throughout most of the age span. This/
phenomenon, which exists at least among the 20 per cent of world populati6n§
who live in these countries, is important and deserves more attention among.'
public health workers and sociologists, as well as demographers who need to
make special allowance for this situation in forecasting mortality trends and /
in preparing demographic projections.
, .
An excess of males over females has been observed in all population censuses
of Ceylon. This excess is shown in Table 1 by ethnic group in 1946 and 1963.
The pattern of increasing sex ratios with age exists among both the indigenous.-^
and the immigrant groups. Naturally, the immigrants1 have higher sex ratios '
in ages 15 and above, but the pattern is distinct among the indigenous popula-. ?
tion which constituted 87 per cent of the total population in 1946 and 89 per '
cent in 1963. In fact, this same pattern of increasing trend existed among each
indigenous ethnic group in the country, except for the small group of the
“Burghers and Eurasians” which amounted to 0.63 per cent of the total population in 1946 and 0.43 per cent, in 1963.2

expressed in this article ore those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opin'>"
ions of’ the vl
United* ThaNativimioens.miwsgrants
aretionthein 1063
Indiawere
n Tami10.ls6,0,Indi0.26anandMoors,
and
othiers.
The percentages of theee throe groups
among’1 The
the
total
popul
a
0.
1
0,
respect
v
el
y
.
group consi
of descendant
s of 064Europeans
the threeThisconsecut
ive agests groups
were 1021,
and 033.who intermarried with Ceylonese. The 1063 sax ratios tnv p.,
1234

TABLE 1. SEX RATIOS (MALES. PER 1000 FEMALES) BY AGE IN CEYLON,
INDIA, PAKISTAN, AND OTHER SELECTED COUNTRIES

Country group and year
.. ■:

CEYLON '

.'

' Total
Sex Ratios by age group
Enumerated
Population
(in thousands) . All Ages .0-14
,1H4 .45 +

'







.

■■

■:

' 1946 Census
Total population
Indigenous
Sinhalese
Immigrant
1968 Census1
Total population
Indigenous
Sinhalese
Immigrant

6,667
6,784
4,621
873

1130
1100
1100
1363

1041- ■ '
1046
1048
1010

1165
1113
1105
1514

1259
1199
1219
1831

10,690
9,420
7,518
1,170

1082
1075
1071
1138

1035
1037
1038
1021

1063
1058
1049
1096

1275
1234
1231
1663

INDIA
1961 Census
1961 Census

356,768
438,775

1056
1063

1046
1057

1059
1056

1074
1100

PAKISTAN
1951 Census1
1960 Adjustmenl
Total population
West Pakistan
East Pakistan
1961 Census

73,880

1127

1042

1131

1253

101,450
46,200
55,250
90,283

1059
1074
1047
nil

1011
1022
1002
1085

1049
1060
1039
1083

1268
1284
1253
1272

INDONESIA
1961 Census

96,319

973

1019

920

1009

UNITED ARAB REPUBLIC
1927 Census
1937 Census
1947 Census
1960 Census

14,178
15,921
18,967
25,771

991
1002
981
1012

1043
1031
1018
1067

961
990
971
982

960
965
931
950

TURKEY
1945 Census
1955 Census
1965 Census

18,790
24,065
31,391

1011
1034
1032

1120
1094
1078

1031
1050
1031

749
874
929

SYRIA
1960 Census

4,565

1056

1114

1011

999

Ceylosampl
n: Departmaenttions),
of Stvolatis. tI,ics.pp.Census
Ceylon, 1946, vol. II. pp. 1-16-14?.: and Census of Ceylon
IOCSSowas:
(10 per cent
23-21.of1967.
1051sexfigediurestsatribulbwere
dataionssupplDemogr
ied taophithce Year
Unibteook,d Nat1964,ionsTablStaeti5,sticpp.al
Of140-141.
fice.IndiThea: The
1901 ageutionprepared
was takenfromfromunsmoot
the Unihteedd Nat
Paki
s
t
a
n:
The
1951
and
1961
f
i
g
ures
are
cal
c
ul
a
t
e
d
from
census
dat
a
avai
l
a
bl
e
i
n
grnotaephi6.c Yearj books, 1960, Table 5. p. 214 and 1965. table 6. p. 190. The source of th...e 1900thefigUniures,tedisNatcitedionsinDemofoot­­
The
g counte.ries: United Nations Demographic Yearbooks 1948-1967.
1 10 perremaicentninsampl
1 The sex ratios in this line correspond to the age groups 0-9, 10-39, and 40+. respectively.

.11 AllollL.AU AOOUClA'lION JOURNAL,

An excess in enumerated males is also well known to students of Indian”' ;
demography? It will be noticed in Table 1 that in 1951 the sex ratios werejia^^'ycreasing from one age group to the next, and in 1961 the age groups
15-44 had virtually equal sex ratios while the ratio was much higher in aget&gjik.
45 and above. The excess of males is-distinct.among most ethnic groups;
eluding 'Hindus, ^Muslims, and particularly the Sikhs, with the 1961 sex ratio's S" ”,
of the three groups being; respectively, 1062,-1070 and 1177. The only two excaptions are the Christians.and.the Zoroastrians (Parsis) whose sex ratios
1961 were .1011 and 963 respectively. These two latter groups constitu^j^y
about 2.5 per cent of the total population? The excess of males is
high in the northern belt of states where sex ratios ranging between llOOandOi'.
1157 have been observed in 1961. The only two states in which the 196rs^r ---■
ratios were below unity were Kerala (979) and Orissa (999)? Pakistan
maintained a very high sex ratio in the population enumerated in 1951 and 1S)61’<. ■
and the increasing pattern of these ratios with age has prevailed in both West \
and East Pakistan. As Table 1 shows, the same pattern existed in the estimates’% ■
for 1960 derived from adjusted 1961 figures and published in a report by the ^.7-.
Planning Commission?
.
The above-illustrated pattern is virtually unique. First, there are very few- '
recent censuses of countries with negligible international migration whprqT^e&s^F
sex ratios of the enumerated population is as high as the 1082 of Ceylon-u^if^^SHfe
the 1063 of India in 1961 or the 1111 of Pakistan in 1961? Second,-.the.
ing or non-decreasing pattern of sex ratios with age is also almost umdu&jaaaSfc
It will be noticed from Table 1 that neither this level nor the pattern'’
in the 1961 census of neighbouring Indonesia. Nor did they exist in the relatively
long history of censuses of the UAR and Turkey in the Middle East. It is also'
to be noted that all the censuses of the UAR and Turkey given in Table
show the “normal” decreasing pattern of sex ratios by age. Even in some
;
censuses where the sex ratio of the enumerated population was high, as in
Syria in 1960 and in several censuses of Turkey, the decreasing pattern existed,
2.

COULD SEX RATIO AT BIRTH OR MIGRATION BE INFLUENCING FACTORS?

Of the four factors which can possibly account for this phenomenon, namely

dy ofregiseveral
thdurii«* phenomenon
Viaarislai .Bose,
P. M Pat. ’Theses
ofIndiIndia• For1961a anda 6det1Pakia(AlileslditeastdnuPubl
and
onal1967.aspect
variapp.tisonsof344-345.
ng WO 1-61*seein Asbi
terns ofratPopulio ofattihoenpopul
Cht• r7nageivtionn ' y~-~
ishers)
*
Census
of
I
n
di
a
,
1961,
vol
.
I.
Part
II-C(i
)
.
Soci
a
l
und
Cul
t
ural
Tabl
e
s
and
Census
of
I
n
di
a
,
Paper
No. 1 of
1063.» Census
1961 Census:
igion. No. 1 of 1962; 1961 Census: Finn! Population Totals, 1962.
IndiaRel, sPaper
»’• PlInaninnil count
nofg Commi
si
o
n,
Perspect
i
v
e
Pl
a
nni
n
g
Sect
i
o
n,
Popul
a
t
i
o
n
Pr
o
j
e
ct
i
o
ns
f
o
r
Paki
s
t
a
n,
1964.
ries of Asia, Africa and Latin America that had a population over one mil ion in 1965. the censuses
The 1'153 census on China (Mainland) gave an overall sea ratio of 1076, but the increasing pattern of sex ratios with
highly tiinoconsi
stentr forwitJulh tyhe1966.
corresponding valtheuiesncreasi
of 1038ng pattern
observedof sexin thratie o1956s wicensus
popul
th age diandd not1059exisprovi
t i•n ded
> :.
age-s•axaAmong
dinstriregibalutisltoecount
ns ofrieTais ofwan.Asi'aMoreover,
,
Afri
c
a
and
Lati
n
Ameri
c
a
wi
t
h
f
t
popul
a
t
i
o
n
over
one
mi
l
i
o
n
i
n
1965,
i
h
e
recent
or surveyu had
thians ipopul
ncreasiatniogn).patThetern’ofnormal
sex ratios onlynign patthetetrnhreewitcount
ries under
on Iw...■„ .
and SoutItcensus
observed
iinn 16agesdioutscussi
suses.
ihserninteRhodcAi
rest
ideser
ng tov(Afnotes rateicthat
inn49sincount
rieaddi
s (66tiopern tocenttho’ decreasi
) possi
the sexbilrati
o curve
hadesrences
a trough
15-of4744,of can- , .
lita. tter
observat
i
o
n
t
e
nti
o
ce,
i
n
i
t
y
of
eax
di
f
i
n
mL-wt
a
t
e
ment
may h-indicative of relatively high under-enumeration of males in the wnrkingnges in nmny countries-

TABLE 3. A^' PECIFIC DEATH RATES IN CEYLON, INDI.WnD PAKISTAN
Ratio of female rate to male rate (per cent)

Absolute Values (per 1000)

01-4

M

F

M

F

’ 3-G

32-b

8.4

10.4

3.0
5-9
10-14
15-19
1.7
20-24
2.0
25-29
30-34
35-39
3.9
40-44
45-49
7.1
50-54
9.2
55-59
14.6
60-64
21.8
65-69 1
70-74 > 72.4
75 + J
All ages

1958-59*

1963

1953

10.7

3.6

1.9

2.1

2.3
3.6

1.5
2.1

1.5
2.6

5.4

3.5

3.8

6.8
8.6
12.5
18.3

6.8
9.0
13.8
19.3
35.2
56.0
141.0

6.0
7.1
11.9
16.3
33.5
50.5
154.0

77.5

11.1

8.8

8.5 1

1962-65

1956-G0b

M

F

M

F

30.2

30.7

19.2

28.8

M
232
25


F
194
33

4

4

4.5

6.2

1.9

5.2

4

7

32.9

24.3

30.7

31.9

33

32

1953

1963

97

83
124

120
108
135
180
183
155
138
108
96
93
86
84

107

19.3

19.3

14.6

19.1

19

20

|

111
92
100
124
128
132
109
100
88
79
86
84
95
90
109

107

*b ForFor rural
areas
ges uonlinn,lyi1-.e 'l*.•uIdhih moor
ana uDiyhisctriYear
ct, Punj
Sources:16 rprvil aCayl
book,ab.IMO, 'Fabio 19, p, 1-12. For India and Pakistan: See footnotes 28 and 30 in the text.

Pakistan

India

Ceylon

Pakistan

India

Ceylon

Age

97

1958-59

1956-60

102

150

1962-65

84
132

100

138

274

175

74

104

97

97

131

105

HIGHER FEMALE THAN MALE MORTALITY IN SOUTH ASIA

1^0,

an abnormally high sex ratio at birth, larger relative emigration of females or
immigration of males, higher female mortality compared to that of the males,
and relatively larger under-enumeration of females, the first two can perhaps
be discarded despite the inadequacy of data. While sex ratios at birth lower
than 105-106, have been observed in certain population, groups, much.higher
ratios have not'been frequently encountered, except among small groups where
sampling.errorcan account fofthe excess,’In.Ceylopwhere.registrationig known
to be relatively much more complete than in oihericioUntries in the regionjithis
ratio fluctuated annually between 103.2 and 104.0?during 1955-67. Several
Ceylonese demographers have used values of the sex ratio at birth below the
international average. Raja Indra, for instance, adopted the ratio of 104.0
observed in 1940-1944 since during these years the need to obtain rationed
.commodities stimulated registration of births.’ Again there is no evidence of a
■|gher than normal sex ratio at birth in India or Pakistan. Since registration
information in India is not reliable, the Demographic Training and Research
Centre, Bombay, collected data on the sex ratio at birth among the births
which took place during 1949-58 in hospitals and health centres. Among the
total of 1,441,000 such reported births in all lndia, the sex ratio was 106.0.1’
Sizable female emigration from Ceylon can be excluded since the indigenous
Ceylonese migrated little out of the Island.11 Moreover, the fact that the same
pattern exists among the indigenous population excludes immigration as an
important influencing factor. Neither can the observed excess of males in India
be attributed, to any significant extent, to emigration from India. Not only has
emigration from India been insignificant when compared to the total popula­
tion, but also this migration has been highly masculine. Post-partition popula­
tion transfers between India and Pakistan cannot be a significant factor in the
observed excess of males. Visaria estimates the impact of the refugee movement
on the sex ratio of the 1951 enumerated population of both countries to be less
than half of one per cent. Moreover, these movements were apparently “fam­
ily” migrations. From a discussion of sex ratios based on “persons born in the
state,” the author concludes that the high magnitude of the sex ratio in the
northern belt in India is not, in the main, the result of selective migration. Nor
cs migration seem to be a significant factor in the high sex ratio observed
Pakistan, since high ratios existed for many decades prior to independence.
Thus in Sind and Baluchistan the sex ratio has always been above 1200.12

t

3.

THE EFFECT OF FEMALE UNDER-ENUMERATION

It seems evident, therefore, that the pattern of sex ratios observed in these
three countries can be accounted for only in terms of relative female under­
enumeration or mortality, or both. Several census reports of Ceylon discard
the possibility of excessive under-enumeration of females and mention higher
female mortality as the main cause of the relative deficiency in enumerated

• RajSeou Indnj
R., SinN.haleKie,Popul
ation Graophywthoj1911-Ceyl1o946,n, 1957,Departpp. m25entandof32.Census and Statistics, Ceylon, 1955,
pp. 7-8.
also ,Sarkar,
Demogr
Demographi
cnce,TraiRajninag Indra,
andTheResearch
Cent
re, Bombay, Newsl—17eand
t er, ISarkar.
ssue No.op.2.ciAugust
1960, p. 17.
11110 See,
f
o
r
i
n
st
a
op.
Appendi
VistyariPress,
a, op. 1951,
cit., pp.p. 344-349.
Kihenproport
gslciet.y, Davi
sofhasthxoseestC.,imlpp.ivatineg40d abroad
in his Popul
ationof Inngdit.,farpp.omandan187-189.
Pakiorisgtainn,inPrithnecetsubon­
Uni
v
ersi
08.
that
t
i
o
n
and
descendi
continent was about one per cent of the total population of India and Pakistan.

■;



AA.MutA* olAllbllUAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL, DECEMBEH?Mj^* ’

females.” The 1921 census report adds that “Further, on the assumption
under-statement of females, one would expect the proportion of males among.the
Mohammedans to have been very high, say higher than the Sinhalese, ambriv
whom the women are allowed more freedom. But this is not the case.””-ThSi>' same type of argument was stressed in the 1911 census of India.” *
Successive censuses of India have repeated the same regional pattern
ratios. The 1951 Census Report estimates, on the-basis of post-enumeration <•'
check, that even though there was more under-enumeration of females-thnn.^<
males, adjustment for relative under-enumeration would lower the sex ratio
for India by only two points per thousand,” and hence would not account in
any significant degree for the excess of males in the enumerated population;Surveys have also given larger numbers of males in the population. For instance/ t
the fourteenth round of the National Sample Survey which dealt with “Fer- ■
tility and Mortality Rates in Rural India” gave larger numbers of males in the
rural areas of all states except Orissa, Madras and Kerala. The sex ratio of all
rural India was 1038.17 Though no information is available on the extent ofsex
difference in degree of under-enumeration as measured by the 1961 postenumeration check, there is some evidence that the sex difference was similar-. .. .
to that of the 1951 check.18 In Pakistan, the above-mentioned Planning Cottf’S&'ij
mission’s report on population projections states that the 1961 census contains'
'
substantial under-enumeration of females and children and gives the following - - '
estimates of under-enumeration: 2.75 million (5.5 per cent) among males-ahd~.i -:
4.70 million (11.0 per cent) among females.1’ Recently published population
projections for Pakistan prepared at the Pakistan Institute of Development I?-i:
Economics again concede the existence of relatively higher under-enumeratioh
of females and make an adjustment equal to 1.84 million (3.7 per cent) amotfg"
males and 3.54 million (7.6 per cent) among females.20 But again the adjusted
age-sex distribution has an overall sex ratio of 1066, with ratios equal to 1031,
1079 and 1144 in the three consecutive age groups, which is the same pattern
shown in Table 1.
There is thus evidence in the three countries to indicate that, although avail­
able censuses suffer from higher under-enumeration of females, this particular
factor apparently cannot account- solely or even perhaps substantially for the
observed level and age pattern of the sex ratio.
One should add that even though several censuses in countries of Asia and
North Africa seem to indicate higher under-enumeration of females, existing
statistical evidence cannot lend full support to the view that this result is to

earlyC.as, 1810,
Pristodrihsm
ation Ceyl
betwoeenn andtheItssexDependenci
ratio and the general1849,livinp.g condi
tions.
Soo: ■■»PriAsCensus
dham,
calvoland.observed
StatisII.titchalp.e correl
Account
of CeylAnofoIn:nHidi1011,
I. .Part
3. 1940.I—AofvolReport
. I. Part, p.I.57.p. 144 and 1053,es,volvol. .I.I..Gener
al Repor451.t. 1957.
14’• Seo:
Census
a
1951,
vol
I,
Indi
a
,
Part
Census
a 1951e ,Survolr.eI,y, Indi14thaHound
, Part 1953I—A 1Report
TheSecretNatofiaorinalInadit,Sampl
959. No., p.76.5S.Fertility and Morality Rates in Rural I,'
ndia. The
Cabi«n’etCensus
a, 1903,
ofItondisay,aGovernment
, Paper
No.eofnt1 oiofIndi1002.
Finalpp.Popul114-115.
antioisnanywhere
Totals-1001
Census.
1062. p.pervl and1000Vienumerat
ssris, spj*.
■, - -p.1951350.andNeedl
e
ss
i
f
t
h
e
ext
under-enumerat
i
o
near
t
h
e
11
persons
7 perof1000maleenumerat
ed in 1961edaspopul
givenatinion,thenocensus
report
s, tthheensexsuchdif efigrence
ures cannot
account forfothneedw
served
excess
s
i
n
t
h
e
enumerat
mat
t
e
r
what
i
n
under-enumerat
like. «•Sec:Op.Census
), General Population Tables. 1964.
cit., p.of1.India, vol. I.atPartion PrII-A(i
»
nomi••cs,Bean.
KarachiA. ,L.,1968.et alpp.., Popul
7-12. ojections for Pakistan 1960-1000, Pakistan Institute of Development too-

HIGHER FEMALE THAN MALE MORTALITY IN buUlll aoia

be expected on cultural grounds. If we take countries around the Indian Penin­
sula we find that censuses taken in 1960-1961 gave sex ratios among the total
population equal to 973 in neighbouring Moslem Indonesia, 970 in neighbour­
ing Hindu Nepal and 1004 in neighbouring Buddhist Thailand. As Table 1
shows, the sex ratio of the enumerated population in the United Arab Republic
has ranged between 991 and 1012.21
4.

SEX DIFFERENTIALS IN MORTALITY

The main question is then whether a higher female than male mortality exists
(or existed) in Ceylon, India and Pakistan and whether this sex difference can
account, in addition to under-enumeration, for the observed high sex ratios.22
The existence of this sex differential has been indicated by several demog­
raphers.22 This situation was also frequent in the West and non-Western Europe
brAjp World War I.“

« In addi
tion to the readi
ngsCeylinoTabl
e 1, the sexPakiratstiaons were
iynth1907ree count
nnd 1003
Indi
are th1008
engonlIran,
ries siinntht1917.
he worldhesiwheres thatfemalthee
mortal« Thiicensus
ty sisdoes
hitgaherkennottihmean
an1066thatthat
ofbetter
the maln,coverage
es. aInandfact,
itnheneifirgsthbouri
ifthonee 1966accept
second
n
had
than
census
of
1956,
sextherati1966eo ofhypot
1070 may
iBhari
ndicatier,veJ.of, inhi:g"AherNotfemale one tthehanPopul
male amortal
i
t
y
i
n
that
country.
The
hi
g
her
rel
i
a
bi
l
i
t
y
of
aweltedl bybep.
tioopin nofioIran,
1900-1966,
" Population Studies, vol. XXII, No.census
2, Julisyst1968,
277. ’The
author
bases
thi
s
vi
e
w
on
t
h
e
ns
of
several
sources.
* Seein Stparti
y Sarkar,aphyop.ojciPaki
l., Visstarian,a,Pakiop. scital.n, andInstiRukanuddi
n, A.opment
R., “AEconomi
study ofcs,theKarachi
sex rat,io1967,
Ln Pakipp.­
stan,"
udiecsulinarlDemogr
tute of Devel
139-225.
.
cent
u
ry
of
i
n
t
e
rnat
i
o
nal
mort
ality

<
For
a
det
a
i
l
e
d
present
a
t
i
o
n
and
di
s
cussi
o
n,
see
Stol
n
i
t
z
,
George
.
trends: II," Population Studies, Vol. X, No. 1, July 1956, pp. 17-42.
TABLE 2. LIFE EXPECTANCIES AT BIRTH IN CEYLON,
INDIA AND PAKISTAN

CEYLON

Males
Females
Females-Males

A

Males
Females
Females-Males

Males
Females
Females-Males

1921

1946

1950

1955

1960-62

32.7
30.7
-2.0

46.8
-2.1

56.4
54.8
-1.6

58.1
57.1
-1.0

61.9
61.4
-0.5

1901-11

1921-31

1931-41

1941-50

1951-60

22.6
23.3
+0.7

26.9
26.6
-0.3

32.1
31.4
-0.7

32.5
31.7
-0.8

41.9
40.6
-1.3

INDIA

49.6
46.9
-2.7

—11:aUni, K.,teop.d Natcil.i,op.ns02.Demo^aphi
book,,1967,
e 29.lifp.e
70-1. Source.
1031.- Fors—t11anCeyl
valuoesn torandInIndidinces,
aaare, except
quoteford f' riomn1031IUDavi
For PakiesConl
taYear
n; Yuaet
F.. ‘AbriTabldged
sThetorhPaki
ConthriExperi
buted mPapera,
Tltablieedeat
rates areandthoseits provi
provided by1002-61.
the PopulatioSSP
n Growt
ent duriSydney
ng 1002-04.cr.nc., 1067, pp. 533-541.

..............

......... '

.'OOMCIA > IMA JUUllAAU, DECBMUBB

Available values of life expectancies at birth in the three countries indicate - the existence of the sex differential, as may well be seen in Table 2. Becausebf
the varying degrees of accuracy of original data, with regard to both country^:
and time, the levels and trends of the results in this table should be interpreted^
cautiously. The main weight of the figures lies perhaps in their consistency^nSjO..,
in the fact that the excess female mortality, has been accepted by the attQ&MHre '
and the users. For instance, the 1951 census report of India makes the foUi^ME:
ing comment in this connection: “there is a traditional fondness for male issu^Sv
in most parts of the country and a corresponding dislike for female chitSiOBy
All the affection and care is bestowed on male children but female children
not much cared for.”26

It should be pointed out that in one instance a life table for India whichjwisSS
derived by the stable age distribution method applied to the 1951 census sex-^'"
age distribution gave a higher female in, namely 34.7 years, as against 33.gr
for males. The authors make the following important comment: “Thus there
is a choice between explaining the recorded masculinity of the Indian popula­
tion by assuming that the subordinate position of women caused their omission,i1
from the census, or by assuming that it caused their death in chUdhobd)?WfflfiE
have chosen the former explanation; the official census publication data and life.: . ?*
tables in effect accept the latter. Quite probably the truth lies somewherei’i^^^ between; females are doubtless undercounted somewhat more than males,
their risks of death exceed the male in childhood somewhat more than ourTifd-®$
table shows.”26 This latter conclusion by the authors, which is substantiated;®?
by subsequent statistical evidence, seems to summarize the situation, at leastS??-1
in India and Pakistan. It is to be noted also that a recent study which allowed.'
for the influence of mortality decline on the age distribution of India, has given?*=as “quasi-stable” estimates of life expectation at birth during 1951-61, 37.80
years for males and 36.98 years for females.2’
Female mortality in the maternity ages 15 to 45 has been, and still is, par­
ticularly high relative to that of the males in the same ages. This can well be
seen from Table 3, where the 1953 female death rate in Ceylon was over 80 per
cent higher than that of the males in the most reproductive ages 20-29. In
1963, the excess in the same ages was still over 25 per cent; and in the age group
30-34 the excess was still almost one third of the male rate. In India, the female
death rate in the reproductive ages 15-44 was 38 per cent higher than that of
the males in the fourteenth round of the National Sample Survey (rural India, ;
1958-59),28 and as much as 174 per cent higher in the Khanna Survey (Punjab,
1956-60).22 Again in Pakistan the Population Growth Estimate (PGE) expertmen! which was conducted during 1962-65 on a national probability sample, 5

» 0/ Indianda, Paper
No.B.2. M.,1054.Popul
Life Tables—1051 Cons.,., p. 20c Development in Low-Income Countries
Hoover,
Oxfo:•rdCo.1*Uni. nM.lov,ersiV-.A. t-J.yai.Press,
1950.
p. 351./‘-rtihlvti; afntidmon GrH-o’wt.l-hClandfMEconomi
i
.
M.

■!

>!
.
:
!
»n»-iXF.v|No.». I:.I76>!.•fe10.rt.lt>it.y2Sand Mortality RoM —
National Samplof InediSura, Calrey,cfutourtat.e1003.
enth fTablounde 5.Jul2, p.y 1968iholn Idns>•diandaThe, Government
17. TheJuneSampl1969,e covered
2,500 vil ages. 234,000 feW.1
wM* • \
1.
2
mi
l
i
o
n
persons.
waThe
survey
wasilarundert
akenshownin 10byvitlhaeges195!ofandthe Ludhi
ana distfroicrttlimn tsthuedyPunjvil aab.ges.ItThe
gaveresul
sox tratingiomort
s or tout
popul
t
i
o
n
very
si
m
to
t
h
ose
1901
censuses
rates given in Table 3, which are quoted from Viaaria, op. nL, p. 302, resulted Irorn permanent observationalbyity

AMERICAN STATISTICAL ASSOCIATION JOURNAL, DECEMBER

has shown that in ages 15-44 the female rate was 75 per cent higher than that1-’
of the males.”
There is thus ample evidence in Table 3 to show that high maternal mortality.?
is a major reason for the observed excess in female mortality. In addition^jfiOtrA
table clearly indicates the existence of higher female mortality among youn» ' l
children above the first year of life. Thus, in Ceylon the excess in the
I
death rate in ages 1-4 was 24 per cent both in 1955 and 1963, while in
this excess was 19 per cent in 1955 and 11 per cent in 1963.” In
1
excess in the 1-4 age group was 32 per cent, while the male and female rates’m^-S- 1
ages 5-14 were equal. In India, the specific female death rate in ages 0-14 given
by the Khanna study was 50 per cent higher than that of the males. The National Sample Survey indicates very little excess female mortality in ages 0-14 as a whole, but since the same survey gives a much lower infant mortality rate
among females than among males (138 as against 153),32 the results clearly
imply a higher female mortality rate in ages 1-14.
It is very puzzling to note, however, that available data do not indicate ex­
cessive female infant mortality relative to that of the males. Clearly the ratios:
of 82-84 per cent of the female to the male infant death rate in Ceylon in 1955pi .
and 1963 and in the PGE results for Pakistan, and perhaps even the 90 per "
!
cent ratio of the female to the male infant mortality rates given by the Indian" ■
National Sample Survey, are so low that they raise suspicion. However, it is.& i ;
perhaps very doubtful that the degree of registering or reporting female infant
deaths would be so seriously different from the corresponding degree among
female deaths in the rest of the age span. Actually, other factors affecting .the
accuracy of the data being of equal influence, one has to assume that in Ceylon
in 1963 and in the PGE in Pakistan there were, respectively, a 50 per cent and a
58 per cent under registration or under reporting of female infant deaths if one
is to obtain a female to male ratio of death rates in infancy equal to that ob­
served in ages 1-4. This assumption seems highly unlikely at least in Ceylon,
which does not show evidence of serious relative neglect of registering female
deaths in ages one and above and where the registered sex ratio at birth docs
not indicate more reluctance to report female births. In any case, if the figures
on infant mortality presented here are not so erroneous as to reverse the
truth, the result clearly poses a challenge to the view that female infants are
given less attention, at present, than males on cultural grounds. Actually, if the
sex differential is due to “attention” or “neglect,” then available evidence
seems to indicate that this factor operates after the baby is on her own feet.
The evidence thus seems to be conclusive that female mortality is higher, not
only in the maternity ages, but also among young children. There seems to be
little difference between the rates of mortality of the two sexes in ages 45 and
above. The question then arises as to what extent this pattern of mortality
could account for the observed sex ratio in the total population. This exercise

Sober,imentW„, Benchmar
Demogrtuteaphiol cDevelDataopment
for PakiEconomi
stan: Aes,Rm'Resear
eia ofch Report tj
EstNo.im22,"atTheeKarachi
s Desidatrae,dwore190S.fromtaTabltkenhe ePOEhorn7, p.Exper
stan, kInsti
39.e 3, the ratPaki
■'
In
addi
t
i
o
n
t
o
t
h
e
rat
e
s
i
n
Tabl
e
s
f
o
r
1955
wore
t
a
ken
f
r
om
t
h
e
Uni
t
e
d
Nat
i
o
ns
Demoor
aphrc rw
hook.«toNatne.ioTablnal Sampl
e 10, p.e Survey,
112. op. cit. Table 5.3, p. 17.

HIGHER FEMALE THAIS MALE MUlilALii i i.\ ovuoo

has actually been carried out for India and Pakistan. Visaria has found that
the excess of female mortality observed in the Khanna study villages can ex­
plain the deficit of females in the Punjab where such deficit is the highest among
all states. Even the lower limit of the 95 per cent confidence interval around the
sex ratio expected from the Khanna mortality pattern can explain about or
over half of the imbalance of the sexes in the Punjab in various censuses.
The author also finds that excess female mortality with an average lervel equal
to that observed in the Ramnagaram Health Centre area during 1950-52,
which gave io equal to 53.42 among males and 52.60 among females, would be
sufficient to account for the sex ratio of the total population of India.” Like­
wise, for Pakistan, Rukanuddin has shown that by taking a growth rate equal
to 3 per cent and life expectancies at birth equal to 46.85 among males and 45.00
among females, this level of mortality can account for most of the observed
rrMhve deficiency in the enumerated females in 1961. The balance of the de­
ficiency, which would then be ascribed to higher relative female under-cnumeration, would be of the order of 2 per cent above an assumed level of under­
enumeration of males. More of the female deficiency would naturally be ac­
counted for by mortality if the female level is below that mentioned above.”
5.

TRENDS IN THE GAP BETWEEN FEMALE AND MALE MORTALITY

Ceylon is the only one among the three countries for which the age-sex
specific mortality data presented in Table 3 can show recent trends. The data
in Table 3 show that a main contributor to the gain in the relative level of fe­
male mortality in Ceylon has been the considerable improvement in maternal
mortality, which reduced by 22 per cent the ratio of the female mortality rate
to that of the males in ages 15-44 during the decade 1953-63. In ages 1-9,
where the gap has also been serious, the ratio in ages 5-9 fell by 8 per cent dur­
ing the same period, but there is no evidence of relative improvement in ages
1—4, since data for 1955 indicate that in this age group the ratio of the death
rates of the two sexes was the same in 1963 as it was in 1955. As Table 2 shows,
the decline has brought about a considerable narrowing of the longevity gap
b^Kcen the two sexes, from 2.1 years at the onset of the more rapid mortality
dWme in 1946 to 0.5 in 1963. Life expectancies for India presented in Table 2
show no evidence of a narrowing of this gap, but it must be remembered that
even in 1951-60, the mortality level was still considerably higher than it was
in Ceylon in 1946 and that the 1951-60 values of io arc the only readings yet
available since the onset of the recent, mortality decline.
If we try to visualize future trends in the sox differential by studying the
assumptions made in recent population projections, we find that, no narrowing
of the gap is assumed in the projections up to 1980 prepared by the Registrar
General of India. For lack of information, these projections maintain constant
the deficiency of 1.3 years in i0 shown by the 1951-61 life tables.” On the

350-300.
»< Op.Op. coisittl.r.,,arpp.pp.General
210 and 218.a, Revised Population Projections (mimeographed), preliminary draft. 1067. These
proje«ctRegi
ions were prepared, Iinndi1064.


Males
Females
Females-Males

1900-65

1980-85

Average Annual Gain’r+i

East

West

East

West

East

West'

49.2
46.9

51.1
48.7

60.8
63.8

61.3
63.8

.58
.84

50"

+2.5

.26 '

— 2.3

— 2.4

;

+3.0

other hand, projections for Pakistan prepared recently at the Institute'oK '
Development Economics make the assumptions shown below concerning future
trends in life expectancy of males and females in East and West Pakistan’.** ..4 .
Thus, the projections assume not only a bridging of the gap but a continuation
of female gain over the males. In view of the higher mortality level in the East,
a faster average annual gain than that in the West is assumed for both sexes,
but it is not clear why the females in the East, who had a lower c’« than their
counterparts in the West, should end up in 1980-85 with a larger gain overthe.
males than in the West. On the average, the figures imply an annual gain injfjequal to a quarter of a year of females over males.
If we consider the effect of a possible improvement in registration in Ceylon j ‘
to have a negligible effect on the study of difference in between the two sexes,.
the results in Table 2 indicate an almost constant pace of female gain in life^ j
expectancy over males equal to 0.1 of a year every calendar year since 1946. :
In view of the complexity of factors involved and differences in level as well
as in sex differential, it is difficult to say whether such a pace of improvement •
as observed in Ceylon can be used in predicting future trends in India and
Pakistan where the present mortality level is similar to that of Ceylon in the
late 1940’s. Though this pace may be acceptable a priori in India where the
gap is small, the question that cannot be answered here is whether a faster
pace, similar to that adopted in the Pakistan projections referred to above,
would be more plausible. This question is important mainly in social develop­
ment; demographic projections for the next twenty years will not- be seriously
influenced by the difference between the alternatives.
0. CONCLUDING REMARKS

The above observations indicate the need for a regional or local approach
to the analysis of some demographic problems. “Borrowing” experience from
developed countries or from countries that have data, though useful for many
purposes, may not in some cases be logical or even plausible. For instance, in
the countries studied here, it- is clear from the above results that neither the
present situation nor the trends in the near future arc reflected in the model life
tables derived from average international experience, which automatically pro­
vide a relationship between the levels of mortality among males and
once the level in the whole population is given. Even within the same region,
generalizations attributed to “culture” may be over-simplifications.

w

■■■■■
pou- S’-

THE HUNGER PROJECT
Announces the
2003 SAROJINI NAIDU PRIZE
•for best repo?
gon
WOMEN IN PANCHAYATI RAJ

DEADLINE

15TH JULY 2003
For further information and submission of
published entries please contact
The Hunger Project
B 3/18, Vasant Vihar,
New Delhi 1 10 057
Phone ~ 011 261 54181- 84
Fax ~ 01 1 261 54186
Email ~ thp@vsnl.net
website ~www.thp.org/snp

The Award will honour
one journalist in each of the
: foliov
codes
for their published work:
•Hindi
English
Other Indian Languages

The Award includes a prize of
Rupees Two Lakhs
•to enable the journalist
to continue work on this issue.

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