Usha Sharma, Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan on Tuesday, stressed the need to build the capacity of women panchayat representatives for greater empowerment.
“There is a lot of change at the ground level, though, we still hear names like Sarpanch Pati and Ward Pati. Today we have women who have made changes in society and can be the torch bearers for others. We need to build their capacity to ensure proper coordination between the elected representatives and government officials,” she said as he was addressing a workshop on Women’s Political Participation for Gender Equity.
Isabelle Bardem, Chief, UNICEF Rajasthan office, hailed the state’s performance saying, “In Rajasthan, there are more than 50 per cent women representatives in PRIs, which indicates that women are now winning in wards that were not reserved for them. This offers a significant opportunity to invest in processes and approaches that can support identifying pathways to further expand the circle of active women leaders at all levels of governance, particularly in the Panchayati Raj Institutions”.
“The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution of India in 1992, mandates that resources, responsibility and decision-making power get devolved at the grassroots level to people through their elected Panchayati Raj Institutions,” Bardem added.
Speaking on the occasion, noted activist, Dr. Aruna Roy, said that the government should ensure that women representatives have constitutional, legal and governance literacy for proper functioning.
“They should also be equipped with the knowledge to conduct proper gram sabha meetings that should have proper deliberation and participation of all,” Roy added.
The State Rural Development and Panchayati Raj department, with the support of ARAVALI, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and UNICEF organised a day long workshop on Women’s Political Participation for Gender Equity” and celebrated the women changemakers in Panchayati Raj here.
The workshop aimed at ensuring women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life, as mentioned in Sustainable Development Goals 5 and Target 5.5.
The institutions, government officials, elected representatives and NGO representatives deliberated upon the various pathways that will help strengthen women’s full and active participation in political processes, contributing to the overall goal of gender equality.
The government officials from various departments, NGO representatives and elected women representatives from across the state gave their inputs for larger women’s participation in the political system.