Experiencing Contribution Of Women In Panchayati Raj Institution Of Sambhal District

Constitution of India was amended by way of 73rd amendment in 1992, wherein constitution and establishment of Panchayats was made obligatory. It was the resolve of the Parliament to take democracy to the grassroot level, which climaxed in the carrying out of this amendment. A period of twenty three years has passed since 73rd amendment and the present study was commenced with an exertion to study the contribution of women in Panchayats. The study was conducted in two blocks of Sambhal district namely (Sambhal and Asmoli block) of Moradabad Division. A total of 50 women respondents out of 147 women respondents from Sambhal and Asmoli block were randomly selected for the study. The tool used for conquering information was an Interview Schedule. The findings exposed that majority of the women elected as Panchayat members were marital, belonged to joint families and were mostly educated. They were mainly housewives before joining politics. Husbands of majority of the women enthused with them and provided complete morale support and stood by them throughout elections. Economic liberation was the main motive in joining politics as specified by majority of them. The women confronted tremendous administrative problems, and had scanty knowledge about working of panchayats. They could not exercise their right of sovereignty of expression as their husbands or other male members did not support them. A proportion more still needs to be done by the Government in training and empowering the women to exercise their authority at all the levels of Panchayati Raj institutions, local NGO’s and government organizations need to come accelerative to train women for this role. Key words: Women Representation, Political Participation, Rural Leaders, Women Reservation, Panchayat Raj, Leadership