The Indian Government amended its law to ensure fair representation to women in the local government. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1992, made it mandatory to conduct elections to local government bodies in rural and urban areas and almost all Indian states have enacted legislation to ensure this. The Panchayats were recognised as the third tier of the government with reasonable substance and contents in terms of powers and authority. These two amendments to the Constitution have empowered many women and changed their lives irrevocably. They generated room for women’s representation in local government institutions — Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) —by introducing a 33% quota for women to be directly elected to these bodies. With nearly a million women now occupying the seats reserved for them in local government institutions, decentralisation has provided an opportunity to correct gender imbalances and promote women’s empowerment. This process has created opportunities for people’s participation, especially women, in decisions affecting their own lives.

Women, however few, have been articulating and trying to sensitise local and national leaders and decision makers of the need for women’s participation in the political process. There is a need to enable women to be more effective members of local government bodies. Two aspects of effectiveness need to be considered, effectiveness in participating in overall operations and their involvement in the development issues. Women’s low self-esteem at the household level and their new role in local politics where they are now expected to function as leaders creates a contradiction between women’s role at home and in local government. We believe that the process of empowerment in the local government institutions will enable women to re-examine their lives, recognise the source and structure of power and of their own subordination and initiate action to challenge the existing ideology as well as structures and institutions.

As per the Rural Development Statistics 2002-03, Government of India, the proportion of women representatives as compared to men in PRIs in the year 2001 was as low as 17.87% in Gujarat , though; it is one of the highest ranking states in terms of per capita income. The highest political participation of women representative at the PRI system has been witnessed in state of Himachal Pradesh, which is 68.35%.

Keeping this in view, CSR has undertaken a research project on the participation of women in PRIs which will focus on two states: Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The study seeks to analyse:

·         Change in the trend of women participation over a period of time in the selected states

·         The levels of participation of the women in decision making

·         The issues on which women representatives take more interest

·         The changes that have taken place at the local level due to increased participation of women in decision making

·         The factors that affect and influence the participation of women

·         Initiatives required to enhance the effectiveness and level of participation of women

The study will basically try to understand and analyse the federalization of power at the local level politics. It will look at the grassroots level democracy and women’s participation in all spheres, including reproductive decisions and political institutions. It will investigate the socio-economic as well as political profile of an elected woman representative of the LSG. The development outcomes will be measured in terms of whether women leaders are actually taking their own decisions or are they influenced by their male family members? Are these women satisfied with their role in the decision making process and whether their leadership has made any difference in their implementation and evaluation.

   The study has used both secondary sources and primary data for collecting information. The data collected will be analysed by using both quantitative and qualitative data analysis tools for assessing the prevailing attitudes of the target groups towards women representatives.