Parliament Question: Capacity Building Programmes for Women Elected Representatives

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 273 ANSWERED ON 21/07/2026 CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMMES FOR WOMEN ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

273. SMT. SMITA UDAY WAGH:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:

(a) the details and the total number of training, leadership development and governance capacity- building programmes for Women Elected Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions during the last five years, State-wise;

(b) whether the Government has assessed the prevalence of proxy representation in Panchayati Raj Institutions and its impact on the effective participation of women representatives, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government maintains data on Gram Panchayats and Panchayat-level digital governance systems in Maharashtra, including Jalgaon that have adopted Theme-9 (Women Friendly Village) under the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs) and operationalised Mahila Sabhas, if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether the Government proposes to establish Panchayat Leadership and Governance Resource Centres for women representatives in Maharashtra, particularly in Jalgaon, if so, the details thereof? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)

(a) Panchayat, being “Local Self Government”, is a State subject. However, the Ministry has been implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) w.e.f. the financial year 2022-23 with the major objective of Capacity Building & Training (CB&T) of Elected Representatives, Functionaries and other stakeholders of Panchayats across all States/UTs for improving Panchayat Governance. Under the scheme of RGSA, the Ministry provides support for Capacity Building & Training of elected representatives, functionaries, and other stakeholders of Panchayats in different categories, viz.

basic orientation and refresher training, thematic training, specialized training, panchayat development plan training, and leadership training, etc. A total of 34,14,342 Women Elected 1Representatives were trained from FY 2022-23 to FY 2026-27 (as on 10th July 2026) under the scheme, including the State of Maharashtra. The State-wise details is at Annexure-I.

In addition, on 11th March 2025, the Ministry launched a comprehensive specialised training module as part of “Sashakta Panchayat Netri Abhiyan” for building the capacity of Women Elected Representatives (WERs) of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) to develop their leadership, communication, managerial & decision-making skills for effective women-led governance. A total of 1,53,616 WERs have been trained on this module as on 10.07.2026. The state-wise detail is at Annexure-II.

(b) Yes, Sir. On the direction of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj constituted an Advisory Committee in September 2023 to examine the issue of Women Pradhans being represented by the male members of their families and also to examine other issues related to proxy representation. The Committee submitted its Report with recommendations to the Ministry in February 2025, and the same has been accepted by the Ministry.

The Advisory Committee recommended that the State Governments take necessary measures, including legal safeguards, capacity-building, social audits, and penal provisions, to eliminate proxy leadership in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and ensure real empowerment, autonomy and accountability of elected women representatives. Owing to the importance of this matter and its impact on women's leadership in PRIs, this Ministry has also constituted a Task Force on 17th April 2025 to provide an implementation roadmap for the States/UTs to practically execute the recommendations put forth by the Advisory Committee on the issues of Women Pradhans.

(c) Yes, Sir. The Ministry has conceptualized the localization of sustainable development goals

(LSDGs) through a thematic approach to comprehend global goals into local actions through planning. Out of 9 themes of LSDGs, Theme 9: Women-Friendly Panchayat aims to focus on gender equality and women's empowerment. Panchayats are mandated to prepare a plan for economic development and social justice. During the preparation of the Gram Panchayat Development Plan, Panchayats are advised to take a Sankalp on 1-2 Themes of LSDGs to provide targeted interventions in various sectors of the Sankalp theme. As reported by the State of Maharashtra, the number of Gram Panchayats that have adopted the Sankalp on the 'Women Friendly Panchayat' (Theme 9) during the plan period from 2022–23 to 2025–26 in the State of

Maharashtra and Jalgaon District is given below:

Plan Year Maharashtra Jalgaon 2022-23 - - 2023-24 255 2 2024-25 1364 62 2025-26 1557 47 2026-27 (As on 10.07.2026) 222 0 In addition, under special initiatives of the Ministry, 744 Panchayats in the country, tentatively one in each district, have been selected for developing them as Model Women Friendly Gram Panchayats. Out of this, 34 Gram Panchayats have been selected in Maharashtra, including 1 in Jalgaon District.

2Furthermore, the State has also informed that the Gram Panchayat Act of Maharashtra makes a mandatory provision for Gram Panchayats to hold four Gram Sabhas annually and to conduct a Mahila Sabha prior to each of the Gram Sabhas. Accordingly, Mahila Sabhas are conducted before the Gram Sabhas.

(d) No such Panchayat Leadership and Governance Resource Centres for women representatives have been established in the State of Maharashtra, including Jalgaon, till date. However, under “Sashakta Panchayat Netri Abhiyan”, a total of 10,966 Women Elected Representatives (WERs) have been trained in a specialized module in Maharashtra, including 248 Women Elected Representatives (WERs) in Jalgaon District so far.

*** 3Annexure-I Annex refer to in reply to Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 273 to be answered on 21/07/2026 regarding Capacity Building Programmes for Women Elected Representatives The State-wise details of Women Elected Representatives Trained under Revamped RGSA from 2022-23 to 2026-27(As on 10.07.2026) 2026-27 Total WER s.no States/UT 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 (As on Trained in the

10.07.2026) last 5 Years Andaman And 1 217 9 270 721 - 1,217 Nicobar Islands 2Andhra Pradesh 1,060 15,303 30,947 76,806 782 1,24,898 3Arunachal Pradesh 1,002 507 975 3,668 - 6,152 4Assam 25,277 7,932 997 47,189 752 82,147 5Bihar 1,91,234 32,751 1,25,252 37,728 4,166 3,91,131 6Chhattisgarh 53,423 36,934 13,025 90,762 7,673 2,01,817 7Goa 600 1,173 1,448 525 118 3,864 8Gujarat 86 4 8,133 1,943 541 10,707 9Haryana 1,691 2,324 84 39,649 351 44,099 10Himachal Pradesh 718 14,376 17,544 1,148 - 33,786 11Jammu And Kashmir 1,07,089 68,072 7 - - 1,75,168 12Jharkhand 1,700 23,802 19,786 43,325 - 88,613 13Karnataka 58,233 50,894 31,857 30,156 - 1,71,140 14Kerala 33,749 13,437 11,467 14,160 - 72,813 15Ladakh - - - 27 - 27 16Madhya Pradesh 27,684 13,478 39,489 1,11,555 5,048 1,97,254 17Maharashtra 1,81,689 1,80,760 71,831 39,291 11,313 4,84,884 18Manipur 1 233 12 844 18 1,108 19Meghalaya 2,727 25,820 25,359 46,241 - 1,00,147 20Mizoram 335 2,146 1,749 4,268 2,169 10,667 21Nagaland 38 275 1,064 610 86 2,073 22Odisha 39,865 29,072 53,501 15,274 3,945 1,41,657 23Puducherry - - - - - - 24Punjab 11,492 3,543 19,914 51,370 4,370 90,689 25Rajasthan 113 26,009 5,015 7,414 - 38,551 26Sikkim 1,324 1,542 1,445 1,344 300 5,955 27Tamil Nadu 42,160 64,765 27,737 12,298 2,440 1,49,400 28Telangana 564 12 7 42,629 6,206 49,418 The Dadra and Nagar 29Haveli and Daman 215 357 225 1,454 306 2,557 and Diu 30Tripura 1,840 22,146 18,373 28,768 5,159 76,286 431Uttar Pradesh 12,459 29,952 17,626 86,982 - 1,47,019 32Uttarakhand 1,33,173 41,182 8,333 38,021 - 2,20,709 33West Bengal 39,483 98,104 80,630 66,004 3,080 2,87,301 Center 453 74 206 295 60 1,088 TOTAL 9,71,694 8,06,988 6,34,308 9,42,469 58,883 34,14,342

Source: Training Management Portal 5Annexure-II Annex refer to in reply to Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 273 to be answered on 21/07/2026 regarding Capacity Building Programmes for Women Elected Representatives The State-wise details of the Women Elected Representatives Trained under the Specialised module since 2025-26-2026-27(As on 10.07.2026) FY 2025-26 & 2026-27 (as of 10 July 26) Total Participants Trained Total SLMT WER S.No.State/UT Name in ToT of the Master Participants Trained Trained Trainer Trained Andaman And 1 1 67 218 286 Nicobar Islands 2 Andhra Pradesh 9 4,927 587 5,523 3 Arunachal Pradesh 9 - 79 88 4 Assam 17 - 3,329 3,346 5 Bihar 13 143 2,907 3,063 6 Chhattisgarh 7 70 2,163 2,240 7 Goa 2 - 29 31 8 Gujarat 5 71 - 76 9 Haryana 7 65 3,622 3,694 10 Himachal Pradesh 5 78 - 83 Jammu And 11 5 - - 5 Kashmir 12 Jharkhand 7 141 25,783 25,931 13 Karnataka 10 - 21,281 21,291 14 Kerala 6 552 404 962 15 Ladakh 2 - - 2 16 Madhya Pradesh 14 622 28,054 28,690 17 Maharashtra 12 46 10,908 10,966 18 Manipur 4 66 783 853 19 Meghalaya 4 65 4,622 4,691 20 Mizoram 3 22 122 147 21 Nagaland 6 39 36 81 22 Odisha 5 163 3,662 3,830 23 Puducherry - - - - 24 Punjab 8 65 4,981 5,054 25 Rajasthan 10 11,718 871 12,599 26 Sikkim - 36 303 339 27 Tamil Nadu 21 623 9,035 9,679 28 Telangana 11 - - 11 29 DNHDD - - - - 30 Tripura 4 98 634 736 31 Uttar Pradesh 26 1,038 5,058 6,122 632 Uttarakhand 4 244 - 248 33 West Bengal 11 47 2,887 2,945 Center 4 - - 4 Total 252 21,006 132,358 153,616

Source: Training Management Portal **** 7