Women's exposure to political power and their influence on policies has expanded tremendously in recent decades. However, females are nowhere proportional to males in their impact and practice of political legitimacy although political empowerment research on women's role is continuing. The Indian government national program of ‘Panchayati Raj Institutions' act of 1992 was an outstanding policy mechanism for increasing women's political participation at the national level. This act provides 50 % reservation seats for women in the Local Self Government, and thus women were capable of attaining power in the political realm. Through this policy, there is a greater possibility for women to elected in the political realms and thus process a higher role in welfare mechanisms in their respective administrative locality than before. In this context, this article aims to explore the importance of the Panchayati Raj Institution policy on the political empowerment of women in the panchayat. To find out the impact of policy, this paper conducted an empirical study by collecting the primary data from elected women representatives in one district of Kerala. The results could assess the significance of increasing women's political empowerment and their position in Kerala society.
Women's political participation regarded as an essential element in all forms of development; however, gender equality policies of India remain under scrutiny. After independence in 1947, there have been many initiatives to increase the political representation of women by decentralization of power in various local self-government institutions of India. The act of Panchayati Raj Institutions has increased the engagement of marginalized segments of society, including women, into the decision-making role in political institutions. Hence, this study is trying to explore the political leadership of women in Local Self Government institutions. Through the use of qualitative methods such as document analysis of the Panchayati Raj Institutions amendment act and the expert interviews with elected women representatives in one district of Kerala state, the paper seeks to identify the challenges of women in political leadership positions in India, the largest democratic nation. Findings from the study reveal that there is considerable progress in women’s equality in the leadership role; however, there are certain crucial obstacles still exist for women to be active in the political realm.
The Indian state Kerala is renowned for its overall development in various indexes such as human development, equality and education. However, in terms of combating violence against women and girls, state policies do not fulfil their objectives. The total number of crimes against women in Kerala during 2007 was 9381, by the end of 2019, it had risen to 13925, and by October 2020, it was 10124. To prevent all forms of crimes against women, the state established a vigilant committee in 1997 under Kerala Women’s Commission’s supervision. This vigilant committee is known as Jagratha Samithi (in the Malayalam language) and works in every Local Self Government (Panchayat). Therefore, the object of this research is the Jagratha Samithi (JS). The study aims to identify the JS’s role and activities in a panchayat to prevent violence against women and children. The methodology of the research is based on a qualitative study with primary data collected from 40 elected female and male representatives from 35 panchayats from one district in Kerala. The study shows that Jagratha Samithi in a panchayat has a significant role in addressing crimes against women and girls. However, there is a lack of sufficient support from society on its mission.
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