Parliament Question: Women Representatives in Panchayat

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRYOF PANCHAYATIRAJ LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 1391 ANSWEREDON- 29.07.2025 WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN PANCHAYAT

1391.SMT.POONAMBEN HEMATBHAIMAADAM:

Will the Minister of PANCHAYATIRAJ be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has carried out any assessment on the role of women representativesinPanchayats andif so, the detailsthereof;

(b) whether the Government has taken any steps to make women’s participation effective inPanchayats,if so, the detailsthereof; and

(c) the manner in which the model women-friendly gram panchayats will be selected anddevelopedineachdistrict? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FORPANCHAYATIRAJ (PROF.S.P.SINGH BAGHEL)

(a) & (b) Panchayats are setup and operate through the respective State Panchayati Raj Acts. All Panchayat related work, including assessment of the role of women representatives in Panchayats, comes within the purview of State Government. However, the Ministry reviews performance of Panchayats, from time to time, through studies, review meetings, fieldvisits, videoconferencing, InformationTechnologyapplications etc.

Article 243D of the Constitution of India provides not less than one-third reservation for women out of ‘total number of seats to be filled by direct election in every Panchayat’ and ‘total number of offices of chairpersons in the Panchayats at each level’. However, 21 States and 2 Union Territories have gone even further and have made provisions of 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts/Rules.

The Ministry has implemented the Revamped Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) from 01.04.2022 to 31.03.2026 (co-terminus with XV Finance Commission period). The scheme aims towards capacitating the elected representativesincluding women electedrepresentatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) for leadership roles todevelop effective thirdtier of Government toenable themtodeliver on good governance and localization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Total 125,13,543 Women Elected Representatives have beentrained from Financial Year 2022-23 to FinancialYear 2025-26 (ason24thJuly 2025).

Ministry has issued advisories on mandating to conduct Mahila Sabha prior to Gram Sabha which is a great impetus towards increasing and active participation of women in the decision-making process at the grassroots level for Women LedGovernance. Advisories have also been issued to States for enhancing the presence and participation of women in Gram SabhaandPanchayat meetings, allocationof Panchayat fundsfor women-centric activities.

Further, Ministry has launched comprehensive Training Module for assisting the States/Union Territories for the CapacityBuilding of WomenElected Representatives (WER) of Panchayati Raj Institutions to further strengthen their leadership & managerial skills for effective delivery of good governance. The key objectives of the training module are to build the capacity of the WER on different aspects of rural governance; enhance the knowledge & skills for effective delivery of roles & responsibilities as elected representatives and also to develop the leadership, communication & decision making skills for effective women led governance.

(c) The Ministry hasinitiated the process of assisting the States/UTs intransforming the selected Gram Panchayats by saturating these Gram Panchayats in Theme 9 (Women Friendly Gram Panchayat) of Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs). In this regard, State/UTs have identified and selected one GP in each district for transforming these Gram Panchayats into Model Women Friendly Gram Panchayats (MWFGP).

States/UTs have selected the Model Women Friendly Gram Panchayats in consultation with concerned State Line Departments including Women & Child Development and based on the thematicscores of Theme 9underPanchayatAdvancementIndexversion 1.0 etc.

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