FROM RESERVATION TO PARTICIPATION

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1 FROM RESERVATION TO PARTICIPATION Dr. Tanushree Srivastava, MA, Ph.D. (University of Lucknow, Lucknow), L.L.B (University of Mumbai, Mumbai) Received: 2/11/2016 Edited: 8/11/2016 Accepted: 14/11/2016 Abstract: Empowerment is a multi-dimensional concept and relates to the social attainment, economical participation and political participation of people. Further, empowerment being ongoing process, there is no final goal. One does not arrive at a stage of being empowered in some absolute sense. The 73rd Amendment to our constitution in 1993 was a major milestone in this direction. The amendment, besides making provision for reservation of seats for scheduled castes and tribes proportionate to their population in the panchayat area, also ensured reservation of not less than one third of these reserved seats for the women. The impact of reserving one third of seats for women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has been fruitful, and has empowered women both politically and socially. At present, there are approximately 260,000 panchayat representatives in India, out of which around 75,000 are women making it the largest number of elected women in the world. Panchayati Raj Institutions have always been considered as a means to good governance and 73 rd Constitutional Amendment was effected in the hope that it would lead to better governance and provide political space to the disadvantaged sections of the society like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women. The present study looks into some of the aspects relating to dalit, women representation and participation in Panchayat Raj Institutions with special focus on active participation in decision making processes and involvement in planning and implementation processes of Government Programmes. Keywords: Empowerment, social attainment, economical participation, political participation, Panchayati Raj Institutions. Panchayat can be the only platform to ascertain the wishes of the villagers. If panchayats are strong, then villages will be strong, from village to district, from district to state and from state to nation will strengthen. 1 -Pt. Nehru. Empowerment is a multi-dimensional concept and relates to the social attainment, economical participation and political participation of people. Further, empowerment being ongoing process, there is no final goal. One does not arrive at a stage of being empowered in some absolute sense. The 73rd Amendment to our constitution in 1993 was a major milestone in this direction. The amendment, besides making provision for reservation of seats for scheduled castes and tribes proportionate to their population in the panchayat area, also ensured reservation of not less than one third of these reserved seats for the women. The impact of reserving one third of seats for women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has been fruitful, and has empowered women both politically 25 and socially. At present, there are approximately 260,000 panchayat representatives in India, out of which around 75,000 are women making it the largest number of elected women in the world. Panchayati Raj Institutions have always been considered as a means to good governance and 73rd Constitutional Amendment was effected in the hope that it would lead to better governance and provide political space to the disadvantaged sections of the society like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women. The present study looks into some of the aspects relating to dalit, women representation and participation in Panchayat Raj Institutions with special focus on active participation in decision making processes and involvement in planning and

2 implementation processes of Government Programmes. Self-governing villages communities have existed in India since time immemorial, at the Panchayats have served as the backbone of Indian civilization for many centuries. Recognizing its importance, the Government of India introduced Article 40 in the Constitution to give constitutional power to the people s institutions. However, owing to inherent weakness, the Panchayats were not very effective. Through Constitutional amendments steps are taken to remove the inherent weakness. The 73rd Amendment of the Constitution envisages that the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) be endowed with adequate power and responsibilities to enable them to function as institution of self governance. Apart from this formal institution of local self governance, the voluntary agencies in India also promoted concept of informal institutions of local self governance in terms of self help groups since mid eighties. India has been a welfare state ever since her Independence and the primary objective of all governmental endeavors has been the welfare of its millions. Elimination of poverty, ignorance, diseases and inequality of opportunities and providing a better and higher quality of life were the basic premises upon which all the plans and blue-prints of development were built. According to Ministry of Rural Development (Govt. of India) Rural Development implies both the economic betterment of people as well as greater social transformation. 7 In order to provide the rural people with better prospects for economic development, increased participation of people in the rural development programmes, decentralization of planning, better enforcement of land reforms and greater access to credit are envisaged. Initially, main thrust for development was laid on agriculture, industry, communication, education, health and allied sectors but later on it was realized that accelerated development can be provided only if governmental efforts are adequately supplemented by direct and indirect involvement of people at the grass root level. Keeping in view the needs and aspirations of the local people, Panchayati Raj Institutions have been involved in the programme implementation and these institutions constitute the core of decentralized development of planning and its implementations. Uttar Pradesh, with a population of crore as per 2001 Census, is the most populous State of the country. UP covers 2,40,928 sq.kms and accounts for 7.3 percent of total area of the country which makes it the fifth largest State in the country. In the words of Ruskin Bond, I had been to other countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East but none of them had provided even half as much variety, or so much to see and experience and remember, as this one State in northern India. You can travel from one end of Australia to the other, but everywhere on that vast continent you will find that people dress in the same way, eat the same kind of food, listen to the same music. This colour less uniformity is apparent in many other countries of the world, both East and West. But Uttar Pradesh is a world in itself. Keeping in view the population and size of the State, it is clear that Uttar Pradesh dominates the Hindi heartland and there cannot be a strong and prosperous India unless Uttar Pradesh and its residents tread on the path of development Uttar Pradesh is the most populous State of India. The State was bifurcated by transferring thirteen (13) districts to form the State of Uttaranchal, and now Uttarakhand, the 27th State of Indian Union on 8th November, The Scheduled Caste (SC) population of Uttar Pradesh is 35,148,377 at 2001 census, constituting 21.1 percent of the total population (166,197,921) of the State. Uttar Pradesh holds 1st rank and 4th rank in terms of absolute number of SC population and its proportion to total population respectively among all the States and UTs. The decennial growth of SC population has been 25.3 per cent, which is comparable with the growth of total population (25.8 per cent) of the State. The State has a total of sixty 26

3 six (66) SCs; all of them have been enumerated at 2001 Census. The Scheduled Castes are predominantly rural as 87.7 per cent of them live in villages. The overall sex ratio of the SC population in Uttar Pradesh is 900 females per 1000 males which is lower than the national average of 936 for all SCs.Uttar Pradesh has 71 districts 820 development Blocks, villages, Gram Panchayats and 8135 Nyaya Panchayats. Panchayati Raj Institutions Panchayats have been the backbone of the Indian villages since the beginning of recorded history. Gandhi ji, the father of the nation, in 1946 had aptly remarked that the Indian independence must begin at the bottom and every village ought to be a Republic or Panchayat having powers. Gandhi ji s dream has been translated into reality with the introduction of the three tier Panchayati Raj system to ensure people s participation in rural reconstruction. Panchayat. literally means assembly (yat) of five (panch) wise and respected elders chosen and accepted by the village community. Panchayat Or Panchayati Raj is a system of governance in which gram panchayats are the basic units of administration. It has 3 levels: village, block and district. The term panchayat raj. is relatively new, having originated during the British Administration, Raj Literally means governance or government. Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj, a decentralized form of Government where each village is responsible for its own affairs, as the foundation of India s political system. His term for such a vision was Gram Swaraj (Village, Selfgovernance). It was adopted by state governments during the 1950s and 60s as laws were passed to establish Panchayats in various states. In the history of Panchayati Raj in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions. This Act was extended to Panchayats in the tribal areas of eight States, namely Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan from 24 December Now Panchayati Raj System exists in all the states except Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram. Also all the UTs except Delhi. The Act aims to provide 3-tier system of Panchayati Raj for all States having population of over 2 million, to hold Panchayat elections regularly every 5 years, to provide reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Women, to appoint State Finance Commission to make recommendations as regards the financial powers of the Panchayats and to constitute District Planning Committee to prepare draft development plan for the district. Uttar Pradesh is a large state, bordered by as many as seven states (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand) and by one country, Nepal, to its north. With an area of 236,286 square kilometers, it is the fourth largest state of the country65. It is the most populated state, accounting for 16.7 percent of India s billion plus population and has a population density of 689 people per square kilometer. Uttar Pradesh has one of the most fertile land masses for agriculture with the Ganges, Yamuna, Ramganga, Gomati and Ghaghra rivers flowing through the state. It is largest producer of food grains (particularly wheat), sugarcane, pulses and potatoes in the country.the state has the largest SC population in the country (there are 66 SC communities) accounting for about 21.1 percent of the population. The five ST communities of the state constitute only 0.1 percent of the population. Women and people belonging to the SC communities are among the most marginalized in the state. The literacy rate for women is only percent and the sex ratio is 898 women for every 1,000 men: reflective of their status in society. Panchayats are India s ancient autonomous democratic institutions. Whose description is found in the ancient Indian text. Rig-Veda. in the form of Sabhas and Samities. At various points of time these 27

4 autonomous bodies of governance have proven their importance in spite of the political disturbances within the country. Brief History Uttar Pradesh brought in Panchayati Raj immediately after independence through the enactment of the UP Panchayat Raj Act, Following the recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee a three-tier system of panchayats was established through the enactment of the U.P. Kshetra Samitis and Zilla Parishads Act, 1961 (now, renamed as UP Kshetra panchayats and Zilla Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961). Following the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 in order to bring about conformity with the provisions of the Constitution, the Government of U.P. amended the two Acts named above, through the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, The first Village Panchayat Act in Uttar Pradesh was enacted in Village level local bodies were set up to assist in the administration of civil and criminal justice, sanitation and other common concerns. However, the Panchs of the Panchayats set up under the Act were to be appointed by the Collector of the district, ruling out any chances of democratic selfgovernment. Immediately after Independence, Uttar Pradesh enacted the United Provinces Panchayat Raj Act 1947 (also known as Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1947), which was signed by the Governor General on 7th December, Under this Act, three bodies were created Gaon Sabha, Gaon Panchayat, and Panchayat Adalat or Nyaay Panchayats. To begin with, around 35,000 Gaon Panchayats and 8,000 Nyaay Panchayats started functioning for nearly 5.4 crore (the then) rural population of Uttar Pradesh. Following the recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee a three-tier system of Panchayats was established through the enactment of the U.P. Kshetra Samitis and Zila Parishads Act, 1961 (later renamed as UP Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961). The three tiers (from lowest to the highest) consisted of Gaon Panchayats, Kshetra Samitis and the Zila Parishad. Ksehtra Samiti was a block level body headed by a Pramukh. It included the Pradhans of constituent Gaon Sabhas and all the MPs and MLAs belonging to the area or whose constituencies fell in the area. The Kshetra Samiti was given functions in the fields of agricultural development, minor irrigation, animal husbandry, health, education and cooperatives. On the other hand, Zila Parishad was a body at the district level. During the year , when the fourth general elections was successfully completed, there were Gaon Panchayats and 8792 Nyaay Panchayats in force in Uttar Pradesh. The Sixth general elections were successfully completed in year 1988 and a 30% reservation for the women representative was given during the same year. Following the 73rd Constitutional Amendment) Act, 1992 by the Government of India, the Government of Uttar Pradesh also amended the UP Kshetra Panchayats and Zila Panchayats Adhiniyam, 1961 to bring about conformity with the provisions of the Constitution through the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat Laws (Amendment) Act, As on March 31st, 2012, there were Gram Panchayats, 821 Kshetra Panchayats, and 72 Zila Panchayats established in Uttar Pradesh. Increasing presence of elected women representatives to the Panchayati Raj Institutions at various levels has certainly raised hope for women empowerment in Uttar Pradesh. The 2010 Panchayat elections have resulted in a phenomenally large number of women elected leaders, much beyond the reserved one-third seats. 73RD Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 The Amendment Bill, giving Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions, was passed by both Houses of Parliament in December It was ratified by 17 State Assemblies in 1993 and came into force as Constitution 73 rd Amendment Act from the 24th April The Act provides Constitutional status to the Panchayats and gives it uniformity by making the three-tier system a permanent feature. The key features of the Act are the following 13 : 28

5 Panchayats shall be constituted in every State at the village, intermediate and district level. However, the States with a population not exceeding 20 lakh have been given the option to not have any intermediate level Panchayat. There shall be a Gram Sabha in each village exercising such powers and performing such functions at the village level as the legislature of a State may provide by law. Members of Panchayats at all levels will be elected through direct elections. The election of the chairperson at the intermediate and district level will be through indirect elections and the mode of election of the chairperson of the village Panchayat has been left to the respective States. Seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) at all level according to their population at each level. Not less than onethird of seats are reserved for women and these may be allotted by rotation. The office of chairperson will also be subject to this provision. A uniform five-year term has been granted to the Panchayats. In case of dissolution or supersession, elections should be held within six months of the date of dissolution. State legislatures have the legislative power to confer on the Panchayats such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self-governance. State government has the power to authorize the Panchayats to levy, collect and appropriate suitable local taxes. The Government can make grant-in-aid to the Panchayats from the consolidated fund of the concerned State. A State Election Commission shall be constituted to ensure free and fair elections to the Panchayats. The 73rd Amendment was inserted in Part IX of the Constitution, containing article 243 to 243-O. Local government is an exclusive State subject under entry 5 of List II of the 7th Schedule. It was binding on the States that the implementing legislation should be undertaken within a year of the commencement of the 73rd Amendment Act. Conclusion In spite of the powerful system maintained by the government this system is facing several challenges. Local self-governance is not a new phenomenon in the country. Its illustration in history goes back to more than 1000 years. Panchayati Raj Institutions have always been considered as a means to good governance and 73 rd Constitutional Amendment was effected in the hope that it would lead to better governance and provide political space to the disadvantaged section of the society like schedule caste, schedule tribes and women. it is not sufficient to only pass the Acts although the Act in itself is a step towards empowerment of Dalits. To bring in sustainable and developmental change in all the spectrums the overall culture that respects and promotes the rights is very important. We can t see the political rights of Dalit, tribals and women in isolation as there is structural subjugation of this section at all level that should be targeted and addressed. Along with policy interventions, organization of people, capacity building of the victims and marginalized, mass movement for the changing the structure and mind set is required. The word empowerment has been given currency by UN agencies during recent years. It is increasing of self that the constitutional goal of equality cannot be ensured as long as women, dalits and tribal population are not empowered with modern education, employment, and ability to assert their self-respect, independence and autonomy to make choices, and opportunities a participate in development activities of the nation In recent years there have been explicit moves to increase the political participation of marginalized section. The 73rd and 74 th constitutional Amendments in Indian constitution have created space for them in political participation and decision making at the grass root level by providing that 1/3 of the seats in local bodies all over the country be reserved for them with this representation of women in rural local bodies 29

6 has become an area to be explored largely. Women representation in local bodies is an important criterion for assessing their role in politics. The significance of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 is that it not only institutionalized the Panchayati Raj System, but also initiated India s largest exercise in democratic decentralization. It unleashed the power of the grassroots to give representation to hitherto voiceless and disadvantaged sections. More than 3 million who are elected include a significant proportion of women, SCs, STs and other marginalized communities. The Institute of Social Sciences organized a national conference to commemorate the 20th anniversary of this historic constitutional enactment on 22 December 2012 at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi. It was sponsored by the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, UNICEF, UNDP and the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR).The proceedings began with the resounding voice of Jawaharlal Nehru from his speech at Nagar, which he delivered while inaugurating the first New Panchayat in Independent India in Charter of Demands, We the members of the Panchayat Raj institutions and Municipalities present at this national meet to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lok Sabha passing the 73rd Amendment Bill, place before the Government of India and State Governments the following Charter of Demands: 1. All the 29 subjects along with funds and functionaries must be transferred to the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs); similar transfer of 18 subjects should be made for the Municipalities. For demarcating powers distributed between different tiers of PRIs the State Governments should take necessary administrative steps including activity mapping. 2. District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) should be merged with Zilla Perished. There is a provision for full time Chief Executive Officer for the Zilla Paris had Panchayat, but today this is not taken seriously in many states. Therefore, we demand that each Zilla Panchayat should have a full time Chief Executive Officer It has to be considered that the inclusion of well qualified women in village Panchayat at the initial state of the interlocution of Panchayati Raj Institution in rural areas would be an important instrumental measure in planning for improving social status and empowering women. This group of women, if provided representation at village Panchayat level can strongly rise in the issues related to the betterment of women, can play dominant role in decision making process and make suitable recommendation for improving the status of women in the meeting. Its creates opportunities for women to exercise more control over design and provisions of services and the management of resources it may benefit. Good number of women competing with men in local politics, forwarding gender related agendas is looked as a way towards gender equity.some successful instances of people s enthusiastic participation are as follows- - In Rajasthan, the 15 minute radio broadcasts encouraged people to share their experiences and provide feed back through telephone helplines and postcard responses. - In Jharkhand and Orissa, Nukkad nataks were organized to clarify a number of technical points regarding the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and other government policies. - In Chattisgarh, a series of model gram sabhas were organized to build awareness about the gram sabha and encourage more participation. These mock sabhas demonstrated the methods and procedures of conducting a gram sabha meeting and helped to mobilize villagers to identify an issue which could be placed before the gram sabha. - In Bihar, kishore and kishori groups (groups of young boys and girls respectively) comprising of adolescents in the age group of 14 to19 years, were formed and these were used to motivate 30

7 villagers to participate in the gram sabha meetings. - Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials were prepared in Uttar Pradesh, in the local dialect with large fonts and pictures. These were very effective in meeting the information needs of neo-literate and semiliterate audiences. 20 Empowering the community to enable people to participate proactively in the governance process is an important aspect of the role undertaken by the PRI s across states. Unless regular PRI s are convened, with the active participation of the villagers, the objective of decentralized governance cannot be achieved. A special effort must be made to ensure that women and people belonging to the disadvantaged sections feel empowered and motivated, so that they can voice their concerns and ensure that these are placed on the agenda and discussed. Awareness generation programmes, community mobilization activities and perspectivebuilding programmes, substantive educational programmes should be organized to effectively increase the participation and awareness of the citizens. References Dharam pal, 1962 Panchayati Raj and India's Polity, Vol. IV, (Combined Edition of I & II) p-16. Sushila Kaushik, Women's & Panchyati Raj, Har Anand Pulication, New Delhi, Shakuntala Sharma, Grassroot Politics & Panchyat Raj, Deep n Deep pub. New Delhi, K.S. Khanna (1994), Panchayat Risien India, Deep N Deep Pub. New Delhi, George Mathew, Panchyat Rajfrom Legislation true Movement, Concept Publication New Delhi, T.S. Umman and Abhijit Dutta, Panchyat Raj & Their Finance, CPH, New Delhi,1997. Sushila Kaushik, Women's & Panchyati Raj, Har Anand Pulication, New Delhi, Ashok Vajpayee, Panchyat raj and Rural Development, SP, ND, Rai, Shirin, 2000, looking to the future: Panchayat, women s Representation and Deliberation politics, Mohanty bidyut, 2002, women and political empowerment, ISS, New Delhi. Alok VN. 55th Members Annual Conference Role of Panchayati Bodies in Rural Development since 1959, Theme paper- Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi Saturday, October 22,