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Volume 16 Issue 1
2025
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Problem of women leadership in political participation: An analysis (with reference to Gram Panchayat of Rajnandgaon district)
| Author(s) | Dr. (Mrs.) Kirani Tigga |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Abstract | The present research is based on the problem of women leadership in political participation (with special reference to Gram Panchayat of Rajnandgaon district). Its objective is to analyze the challenges related to women's political participation and leadership in the Indian context. Women in India have constitutionally equal rights, yet their participation in the political field is limited. Despite 33% reservation in the Panchayati Raj system and 50% reservation in some states, women are playing a less effective role in the actual decision making process. The main problems of women include social and cultural barriers, male-dominated mentality, lack of education and economic resources. Many times women are leaders only in name, while decisions are taken by male members. Political importance of the subject of study The main result of change in Indian society is the challenges of women leadership in political participation. The reality is that to understand the social and political structure of any community, it is necessary to understand the power structure of the organization. The reason for this is that the position of various individuals and groups is determined according to the power structure in the organization. Whenever the nature of political participation changes, challenges start coming in front of women leadership. 1. Role of women leadership for political development and inclusive governance. 2. Lack of women leadership in political participation and challenges associated with it. Objectives of the study The proposed study is the challenges of women leadership in the political participation of women in the political system at the state level (with special reference to the Gram Panchayat of Rajnandgaon district), in which it is proposed to do a detailed study of the participation and challenges of women leadership after the implementation of Panchayati Raj system with special reference to the Gram Panchayat of Rajnandgaon district. The proposed study has the following objectives – 1. To identify the obstacles faced by women leadership at various levels of political participation. 2. To analyse the socio-economic, cultural and institutional dimensions of the challenges facing political participation. 3. To compare these challenges in different regional and national contexts. Study Area The study area Rajnandgaon district is spread from 20.07°N to 22.29°N latitude and 80.2°M east to 81.24°E longitude. Its average height from the ground level is 330.78 m. Its total area is 9202.36 sq km. To its north is Kawardha, to its east is Durg and to its south is Bastar district. The western border of the district is connected to some border of Gondia district of Maharashtra and Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. It is connected to some border of Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. Along with the richness of mineral and forest wealth, it has its own importance from commercial and political point of view. From administrative point of view, the district has 8 tehsils and 9 development blocks. In which Manpur, Mohla, Ambagarh Chowki are Scheduled Tribe dominated development blocks. There are 3 towns, inhabited villages 952, revenue villages 1001, forest villages 10, deserted villages 59 and 632 gram panchayats and 2 municipal corporations in the district. There are a total of 9 Janpad Panchayats in the district. According to the 2001 census, the total population of the district is 12,81,811. In which 5,39,726 urban density is 159, sex ratio is 1024 and literacy rate is 77.58%. Rajnandgaon district is the most literate district of Chhattisgarh state. Rajnandgaon district is basically a farmer dominated family. But the biggest pilgrimage place of Chhattisgarh state is the temple of Dongargarh Devi. By getting political opportunities to women through the Panchayati Raj system, they will be more capable of fighting against the inequality, injustice and exploitation against them. Also, through political participation in the society, they can play an important role in the development of women at the rural level. Study methods of the proposed research. The methodology of the proposed research will be divided into the following parts: 1. Selection of study area 2. Unit of study In the proposed study, it is proposed to analyze the political participation of women representatives elected in the Gram Panchayat of Rajnandgaon district as a unit of study. For the proposed study, the selection of respondents' representatives from the Gram Panchayat of study area Rajnandgaon is to be done through multi-level guidance. Under this, the women representatives of the same four development blocks are selected through purposeful guidance and from among them, a total of 300 respondents including women representatives are selected for the study through personal guidance. Fact Collection Method, Technique and Tools Facts for the proposed research work are to be collected in two ways. 1. Primary Source 2. Secondary Source Primary Source - Under this, facts will be collected from all the representatives of the development blocks having majority of women representatives in the study area through interview schedule. Secondary Source - Under this, various government forms and documents related to political participation of women and Panchayati Raj system in the study area, facts published from time to time in various research papers, magazines, newspapers and material through internet will be included. Fact Collection Based on the nature of respondents, interview related to Gram Panchayat is to be done through schedule and interview related to women representatives of Panchayat is to be done through schedule. Also, during the research work, facts will also be collected from the people of the study area through group discussion and observation technique. Women's leadership in political participation The British ruled India for about 200 years before independence and made every effort to establish their empire permanently, in which they did not refrain from attacking the social and cultural traditions of India. From administrative and political point of view, they effectively tried to mold their power according to their own wishes. In the diverse cultural tradition of India, they had to face a lot of difficulty in imposing their western culture, in which they failed because it was not in their power to reach the deep roots of the original culture of India. If we analyze the preservation of this culture of India, then more women than men have sacrificed. It is because of the ideological and moral views of women that the culture of India remained indelible, but due to the importance given to the male-dominated society in Indian society, women were not only exploited but they were also kept away from political participation and leadership. In establishing their empire, the British successfully used their most effective weapon, their famous diplomacy of divide and rule, in which most of the Indian princely states became its victims and India, which was called the golden bird, became a slave. During the time when the British imposed their domination on India, thinking about women leadership was a fantasy because women were given a second class status in the society from the beginning, whereas in Indian religious texts, they have been worshipped as mother and goddess since ancient times, but in practice, their leadership was never assimilated. In 1947, when the British left India and India became the world's largest democratic nation as an independent nation, even then the then leadership of India embraced the divide and rule diplomacy established by the British in Indian politics. Since then, this diplomacy has become an integral part of Indian politics in which women leadership has been affected and exploited the most because in India the politics of caste, language, religion, regionalism, communalism never allowed women to come forward, whereas half of the population has been women since the beginning, but the place of women in social and political participation and in national, regional or regional leadership has been negligible. Due to which not only the pace of national development was affected but there was also a great decline in social and cultural quality, the brunt of which is coming out in the form of the problem of values in Indian politics and today the Indian political system has reached such a level where politicization has become criminalized and criminalization has become politicized. To get rid of this, it is possible only by promoting women leadership and encouraging women in political participation. But even today women leadership and political participation remain a challenge for women from Panchayat to Parliament, but education like Brahmast has changed all the equations and has expanded the leadership capacity and political participation of women rapidly. The women who were called weak are not dependent on any level today. Modern society and education have started a new era and a new chapter by giving full support to women leadership and their political participation. In which, in a new state like Chhattisgarh, by giving 50 percent reservation to women in Gram Panchayats, women leadership and political participation have been provided a golden opportunity for the development of the state. Dr. Raman Singh's government has left no stone unturned in encouraging women leadership and their political participation in the Gram Panchayat, Municipal Corporation and other local bodies. Motivational factors of leadership Leadership is a product of socio-cultural environment. Like other forms of social learning, political socialization is a sequence of social, cultural and psychological processes. This process is long and starts from childhood and continues throughout life. Political experiences, relations with leaders, participation in voting, participation in movements etc. motivate participation in politics. Conditions and definition helpful in attaining leadership People do not live alone in society but live together. Society is formed from the network of mutual relations of individuals. Although all people live in society, it is not mandatory for them to have relations with the politics of the society and to actively participate in political life. Unequal distribution of resources has been said to be the reason for unequal influence found in individuals. However, it is also determined by other things. Generally it has also been seen that even when the amount of resources is the same, there is a difference in the amount of influence of individuals. Sometimes, due to less resources being together, the influence of each other can be clearly seen in their relations. In every society some people are more influential, powerful and authoritative than others. Hence, influence, power and authority are related to the nature of human relations. That is, they are related to a majority situation. Allport (1924) found that physical strength, sharp intelligence, motivation, broad understanding, sweet speech, firmness and forthrightness are the helpful conditions for a person to be influential. Coffin (1944) found that sociality, motivation and determination, social sensitivity and restraint are helpful in attaining leadership. Bernard (1926) found in his research that physical strength, sharp intelligence, humanitarianism, more courage, ability to implement, seriousness, ability to influence emotions, self-confidence, courage, foresight, sympathy, honesty and trustworthiness are helpful in attaining leadership. Terman (1904) found emotionality and more courage as important helpful conditions for becoming influential. Generally, physical strength, sharp intelligence, inspiration, efficiency, broad understanding and friendliness are found in those conditions. These psychological conditions are considered essential for attaining leadership, but in today's changing environment, not only personality related qualities are essential for leadership, rather socio-cultural conditions play a much more important role than that. Panchayati Raj Women Leadership In Chhattisgarh, by giving 50 percent reservation to women in Gram Panchayats, they have been given the opportunity of leadership so that women understand the problems of women in rural society at the local level and also try to solve them through their leadership. Women are playing their role with their ability in the Panchayati Raj system, but still women have to be empowered further, so that women can establish themselves strongly in the political field and provide new direction and energy to the society. But direct politics is a new aspect of the life of rural women. Therefore, it is necessary that they strengthen their hold with the women working in this field. For this, it is very important that a network of women representatives is formed so that by taking inspiration from each other's successes and efforts, they can empower themselves and provide energy to the society. Several questions were asked to the selected respondents of the study area through interview regarding the problem of women leadership in political participation. Based on the opinion given by them, analysis was done through various tables, the details of which are as follows. - Support by family members to women in participating in political activities Table No. 01 S. No. Opinion freuency percentage 1. yes 123 41 2. No 150 50 3. Can’t say anything 18 6 4. Did not undeastand the question 9 3 total 300 100 From the above table, it can be seen that 41% of the respondents believe that women get full support from their family members to participate in political activities. Whereas 50% of women do not get support from their family. Their argument was that even today most of the male members of the family do not allow the women of their family to sit or stand with other men in public. 6% of the respondents showed neutrality in relation to this question. Along with this, 3% of the respondents did not give any information in this regard because they did not understand the meaning of the question. Recognition of women leadership in Gram Panchayats as compared to men Table No. 02 S. No. Opinion freuency percentage 1. Yes 110 36.67 2. No 154 51.33 3. Can’t say anything 20 6.67 4. Did not undeastand the question 16 5.33 Total 300 100 From the analysis of the above table, it is clear that 36.67 percent of the respondents believe that women's leadership is accepted more than that of men in the Gram Panchayats. Whereas 51.33 percent of the respondents expressed their disagreement and said that men mostly want to lead themselves. 6.67 percent of the respondents remained completely neutral in this regard. And the remaining 5.33 percent of the respondents did not understand the meaning of this question. Women Sarpanchs have to face the Naxal problem in performing their duties Table No. 03 S. No. Opinion freuency percentage 1. Yes 185 61.67 2. No 60 30 3. Can’t say anything 17 5.67 4. Did not undeastand the question 8 2.66 Total 300 100 From the analysis of the above table, it is known that 61.67 percent of the respondents believe that since Rajnandgaon district is Naxal-affected, women Sarpanchs have to face Naxal problems while working. Whereas 30 percent of the respondents expressed their disagreement in this regard. Because their argument was that if there was a male Sarpanch, he would have more capability to deal with the problem of Naxals. 5.67 percent of the respondents did not say anything keeping in mind the seriousness of the topic. 2.66 percent of the respondents did not understand the question. Obstacles arising in implementing government schemes in Naxal-affected areas Table No. 04 S. No. Opinion Frequency percentage 1. Yes 197 65.7 2. No 78 26 3. Can’t say anything 17 5.7 4. Did not undeastand the question 8 2.7 Total 300 100 From the analysis of the above table, it is known that 65.67 percent of the respondents believe that there is a hindrance in implementing government schemes in Naxal-affected areas. Because Naxalites never want development of the area. If development takes place then Naxalites will have to find another place to hide, so they are against development. Whereas 26 percent of the respondents expressed their disagreement in this regard. 5. 67 percent of the respondents remained completely neutral in this regard. 2.66 percent of the respondents did not give any information because they did not understand the question. To study the problems faced by women in rural areas Table No. 05 S. No. Opinion freuency percentage 1. Yes 140 46.67 2. No 116 38.67 3. Can’t say anything 31 10.33 4. Did not undeastand the question 13 4.33 Total 300 100 From the above analysis it is clear that 46.67 percent of the respondents say that women face leadership problems at the rural level. Because most of the women Sarpanchs are still uneducated, they depend on the Panchayat Secretary for paperwork, due to which there is a fear of corruption. Whereas 38.67 percent of the respondents expressed their disagreement in this context. 10.337 percent of the respondents remained completely neutral in this context. 4.33 percent of the respondents did not understand the question at all. Decisions taken by women sarpanches under the control and pressure of their families Table No. 06 S. No. Opinion freuency percentage 1. Yes 185 61.67 2. No 94 31.33 3. Can’t say anything 16 5.33 4. Did not undeastand the question 5 1.67 Total 300 100 From the analysis of the above table, it is clear that 61.67 percent of the respondents are of the opinion that women Sarpanchs have to take decisions under the pressure or control of their husbands. Whereas 31.33 percent of the respondents expressed their disagreement in this regard. Because they believe that now educated women Sarpanchs take decisions on their own discretion and not under the pressure of their husbands. 5.33 percent of the respondents remained completely neutral in relation to this question. 1.67 percent of the respondents did not give any information because they did not understand this question. Interference by higher officials in the work of women Sarpanch Table No. 07 S. No. Opinion freuency percentage 1. Yes 156 52 2. No 99 33 3. Can’t say anything 33 11 4. Did not undeastand the question 12 4 Total 300 100 From the above analysis it is clear that 52 percent of the respondents agreed that women Sarpanchs face interference from higher officials during their work. Most of the officials ask women Sarpanchs to work according to their wishes. Whereas 33 percent of the respondents expressed their disagreement in this regard. 11 percent of the respondents maintained complete neutrality in the context of this question. 4 percent of the respondents did not understand the question itself, so they did not give any information. Conclusion So, it is clear from the above study that women are not getting proper representation in parliaments and assemblies. According to the Inter Parliamentary Union, only 17.5 percent of parliaments across the world are women. There is not a single woman in the parliaments of eleven countries and 16 to 10 percent in 60 countries. Women representation in Arab countries is only 9.6 percent. In terms of representation of women, Rwanda ranks first among 183 countries. There are 48.8 percent women in the parliament. India ranks 134th in the world in terms of representation of women in parliament. Most of the male MPs sing the tune of "Yatra naryastu pujyante ramante tatra devata". They do talk about women empowerment. But they are not ready to sacrifice for half the population of the society. There is a difference between the words and actions of political parties on this issue. Even if there is no reservation, if political parties start giving more tickets to women, then the number of women will increase. The sixteenth Lok Sabha is an example of this today. The study area Rajnandgaon district is the constituency of the present Chief Minister of the state Dr. Singh and his son Abhishek Singh is the Parliamentarian of Rajnandgaon. It is always the center of attraction for developments in the political scenario of the state. Therefore, political activities and activities are most visible here. Their influence can also be seen on officers and employees. Women leadership and their political participation are getting stronger day by day here. Whether in urban areas or rural areas, women sarpanches and other women public representatives and women social workers have been awarded many times. This is inspiring women of other districts and an increase in women leadership and political participation is being seen in those areas as well, which is considered a positive change for the development of the state. Reference Books 1. Apte Prabha: Nari Classic Publishing House, Raipur 1996, p. 38 2. Jain Manju: Mahilayan Evam Samaj Parivartan, Printwell Jaipur, 1994, p. 25 3. Same page 28 4. Motilal, Sushila: Women and Panchayati Raj, Har Anand Publication, New Delhi, 1993, p. 110 5. Singh, J. P. The Indian Woman, Myth and Reality Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi, 1996, p. 58 6. Bhatt, Jayshree: Samaj Kalyan Nari Diksha Sanskriti, Aditya Publishers, Bina, 1996, p. 98 7. Asthana, Pomitha: Women's Movement in India Publishing House, New Delhi, 1994, p. 35. 8. Baghel D. A., Kurchali, T. P.: Political Sociology, Vivek Prakashan, New Delhi, 2010, p. 225 8. Ibid. p. 230 9. Singh Lokendra: Rural Development and Women's Participation, Navbharat 2008 (Editorial) 10. Dr. Rajkumar: Nari Jagran and Gandhiji Nari Ke Badalta Aayam, Arjun Publishing House, New Delhi, 2008, p. 80 11. Sharma, Hariom: Role of Women in Political Participation in Rural Areas, Emerging Patterns of Rural Leadership, Arjun Publishing House, New Delhi, 2004, p. 78 12. Ibid. p. 80. 13. Morch S.: Women's Political Leadership and Women's Development, Poran Publishers, Jaipur, 2005, p. 25 |
| Keywords | . |
| Field | Arts |
| Published In | Volume 16, Issue 1, January-June 2025 |
| Published On | 2025-05-26 |
| Cite This | Problem of women leadership in political participation: An analysis (with reference to Gram Panchayat of Rajnandgaon district) - Dr. (Mrs.) Kirani Tigga - IJAIDR Volume 16, Issue 1, January-June 2025. |
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