Panchayati Raj and Women Empowerment
Panchayati Raj and Women Empowerment

Author: Nupur Tiwari

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9788177084283

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Panchayats are local governments mandated in the Constitution of India. As per the Constitution, a three-tier structure of panchayats is in place across the country, excepting areas where Part IX of the Constitution does not apply. Panchayats are to be instituted, through elections every five years, except in States with a population of less than 20 lakh, where panchayats at two tiers may be created. The Constitution recognizes the gram sabha, i.e. all the electors in a village panchayat. The Constitution provides that seats and offices of chairpersons be reserved for scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs) in proportion to their respective population, and not less than one-third seats and offices of the chairpersons be reserved for women, including within the SC and ST reservations. Women's increased political participation has yielded positive results. Issues central to development-including health, nutrition, family income and education-have taken center stage as women participate in panchayati raj institutions (PRIs), village development boards, and other governance structures. India has primarily relied upon this method of reservation to ensure women's presence in decision-making bodies. This has increased de jure, but not necessarily de facto, participation. There is a need to encourage women's participation in other kinds of groups and associations which contribute to an atmosphere of leadership by women. This book discusses the background and future possibilities of women and PRIs. [Subject: Gender Studies, India Studies, Constitutional Studies]

Measuring Empowerment
Measuring Empowerment

Author: Deepa Narayan-Parker

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2005-01-01

Total Pages: 500

ISBN-13: 0821360574

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Large-scale poverty reduction depends on the effective empowerment of poor people themselves. This publication sets out a conceptual framework that can be used to monitor and evaluate empowerment programmes, based on papers written by practitioners and researchers in a wide variety of fields, including economics and political science, sociology and psychology, anthropology and demography. These papers draw on research and practical experience at different levels, from households to communities to nations and in various regions of the world.

Unveiling Women’s Leadership
Unveiling Women’s Leadership

Author: Payal Kumar

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2015-10-01

Total Pages: 222

ISBN-13: 1137547065

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Unveiling Women's Leadership provides a penetrating insight into the world of Indian woman leaders. The book unravels the unique challenges facing the Indian woman leader who has to juggle several challenges including patriarchy, the caste system, harassment, and society's expectation that she ought to fit snugly into stereotypical roles.

Two Decades of Panchayat Raj in India
Two Decades of Panchayat Raj in India

Author: Yatindra Singh Sisodia

Publisher:

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 9788131609279

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Decentralisation is a much-debated issue in India and other countries with a federal system of governance. The enactment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act in 1993 and the subsequent state-wise Panchayat Raj acts in India brought to the front the significance of the grassroots democratic processes. After two decades, Panchayat Raj has been a matter of debate and speculation about its performance and impact. All the major states have completed at least four rounds of Panchayat elections. Almost three million people, including more than one million women, took part in these elections. The experiences of the states provide vital insights into the process of institutionalising Panchayat Raj. This volume strives to encompass all these issues related to Panchayat Raj in India.

Social networks, mobility, and political participation: The potential for women’s self-help groups to improve access and use of public entitlement schemes in India
Social networks, mobility, and political participation: The potential for women’s self-help groups to improve access and use of public entitlement schemes in India

Author: Kumar, Neha

Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst

Published: 2018-08-22

Total Pages: 53

ISBN-13:

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Women’s self-help groups (SHGs) have increasingly been used as a vehicle for social, political, and economic empowerment as well as a platform for service delivery. Although a growing body of literature shows evidence of positive impacts of SHGs on various measures of empowerment, our understanding of ways in which SHGs improve awareness and use of public services is limited. To fill this knowledge gap, this paper first examines how SHG membership is associated with political participation, awareness, and use of government entitlement schemes. It further examines the effect of SHG membership on various measures of social networks and mobility. Using data collected in 2015 across five Indian states and matching methods to correct for endogeneity of SHG membership, we find that SHG members are more politically engaged. We also find that SHG members are not only more likely to know of certain public entitlements than non-members, they are significantly more likely to avail of a greater number of public entitlement schemes. Additionally, SHG members have wider social networks and greater mobility as compared to non-members. Our results suggest that SHGs have the potential to increase their members’ ability to hold public entities accountable and demand what is rightfully theirs. An important insight, however, is that the SHGs themselves cannot be expected to increase knowledge of public entitlement schemes in absence of a deliberate effort to do so by an external agency.