W HY L OCAL G OVERNMENTS ? Geeta Rathore belongs to Jamonia Talab Gram Panchayat, Sehore district, Madhya Pradesh. She was elected Sarpanch in from a reserved seat; but in , the village people rewarded her for her admirable work by electing her again - this time from a non-reserved seat. From a housewife, Geeta has grown into a leader displaying political farsightedness - she has harnessed the collective energy of her Panchayat to renovate water tanks, build a school building, construct village roads, fight against domestic violence and atrocities against women, create environmental awareness, and encourage afforestation and water management in her village.
— Panchayati Raj Update Vol. XI, No February . There is another story of yet another woman achiever. She was the President ( Sarpanch ) of a Gram Panchayat of Vengaivasal village in Tamil Nadu.
In , the Tamil Nadu government allotted two hectares of land to government employees. This piece of land fell within the vicinity of this Gram Panchayat. On the instructions of higher authorities the District Collector of Kancheepuram directed the President of the Gram Panchayat to pass a resolution endorsing the allotment of the said land for the purpose already decided. The President and the Gram Panchayat refused to pass such an order and the Collector issued an order to acquire the land.
The Gram Panchayat filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court against the Collector’s action. The single judge bench of the High Court upheld the Collector’s order and ruled that there was no need to take the Panchayat’s consent. The Panchayat appealed to the Division bench against the single judge’s order. In its order, the Division Bench reversed the order of the single judge.
The judges held that the government order amounted to not only infringement of the powers of the Panchayats but a gross violation of the constitutional status of the Panchayats. — , Panchayati Raj Update, Vol. : Vol. XII, June Both these stories are not isolated incidents.
They are representative of a larger transformation that is taking place across India especially after constitutional status was accorded to local government institutions in . But aren’t there cases of male members of the village panchayat harassing the woman Sarpanch in some places? Why are men not happy when women assume positions of responsibility?