| Abstract: :: The year 2009-10 marked the Golden Jubilee celebration of Panchayati Raj – the scheme was inaugurated by Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru at Nagore in Rajasthan on October 2, 1959. The celebrations were marked with the observance of year 2009-10 as Year of the Gram Sabha. The number of Pancahyati Raj Institutions is about 2.52 lakh. Government has already decided to provide gender equality to enhance the empowerment of women at the grassroots, – from existing 33 percent to 50 percent. This is the greatest initiative in the democratic world ever undertaken at any time in the history to ensure women participation. The social system in India is based on class, caste and gender and the pre-Independence scenario of deprivation and inequality was appalling. Women were not recognised as a social group in their own right for a long time; they were either working as subordinates of men or totally ignored. 73rd Constitutional amendment provided for 33% reservation for women in all three tiers of Panchayats, and it is as a result of this power that women were able to become an integral part of the decision making process. The UPA government is setting the goal to equalize the representation of women in Panchayats with 50% reservation constitutionally. It has greater impact in good governance, true, but the process is riddled with obstacles like corruption, rigging, illiteracy etc. | |
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