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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF PANCHAYATI RAJ
LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO. *333
ANSWERED ON 11/08/2026
WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS
*333. SHRI KHAGEN MURMU:
DR. RAJESH MISHRA:
Will the Minister of PANCHAYATI RAJ be pleased to state:
(a) the measures taken by the Government to strengthen the participation, leadership capacity
and effective functioning of elected women representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs)
in the country, State and district-wise including Odisha, Telangana, Gujarat, Kachchh and Jagtial
districts and Keonjhar, Jalgaon, Shahdol and Dewas-Shajapur Lok Sabha Constituencies;
(b) whether the Government has reviewed the implementation of programmes aimed at
strengthening the leadership and participation of Women Elected Representatives (WERs) in
PRIs and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the details and total number of women representatives provided training and capacity-
building support along with the total funds allocated and utilised during the last three years,
State, year and district-wise including the said States, districts and constituencies;
(d) the initiatives taken to promote women-led governance, digital empowerment, financial
literacy and effective decision-making at the grassroots level, State, year and district-wise
including Odisha, Gujarat, Keonjhar Lok Sabha constituency;
(e) the steps taken to assess the impact of such initiatives on strengthening women's participation
and leadership in PRIs; and
(f) the steps taken to establish dedicated leadership and governance training programmes for
women representatives, State and district-wise including Maharashtra and particularly in Jalgaon
Lok Sabha Constituency?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF PANCHAYATI RAJ
(SHRI RAJIV RANJAN SINGH ALIAS LALAN SINGH)
1(a) to (f) A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO Part (a) to (f) OF THE LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO.*333 (13TH POSITION) TO BE ANSWERED ON 11/08/2026
REGARDING WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS
(a) Panchayat, being a “Local Self Government”, is a State subject and part of the State List of
the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. Accordingly, strengthening Panchayat
capacity is primarily the responsibility of States/UTs, for which the Ministry also provides funds
to States/UTs. However, the Ministry is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, namely
the Revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA), w.e.f. financial year 2022-23, with the
objective of supporting Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). Under the Scheme, training is
imparted to Elected Representatives (ERs), including Women Elected Representatives (WERs),
and other stakeholders to enhance their leadership capacity and governance capabilities for the
effective functioning of PRIs across the States/UTs through induction, refresher, theme-based
panchayat development plan training, etc. The State/UT-wise details of Women Elected
Representatives provided training under the Revamped RGSA since 2022-23 to 2026-27 (As on
10.07.2026), including the States of Odisha, Telangana, and Gujarat, are placed at Annexure-I.
(b) An external evaluation of the overall revamped RGSA has been undertaken through the
Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), which assessed the effectiveness of capacity-
building programmes and recommended corrective measures to strengthen Panchayati Raj
Institutions, which also includes WERs. However, no independent review has been done on the
implementation of programmes aimed at strengthening the leadership and participation of WERs
in PRIs, as Panchayat is a State subject.
(c) Under the scheme of Revamped RGSA, a total of 23,83,765 Women Elected Representatives
(WERs) were trained during the last three financial years (2023-24 to 2025-26). The State/UT
wise details of Women Elected Representatives (WERs) that provided training during the said
period are placed at Annexure II. The component-wise funds are not allocated to the States/UTs
under this scheme. However, the States/UTs utilise the funds released by the Ministry as per
their priority. The States/UTs-wise details of funds released and utilized during the last three
years, including such States, Districts and Constituencies, are placed at Annexure-III.
(d) to (f) To keep the momentum of Women-Led Governance, the Ministry launched the Sashakt
Panchayat Netri Abhiyan during the National Workshop held on 4–5th March 2025 in New Delhi
to empower Women Panchayat Leaders with knowledge and skills on various aspects of rural
governance. During the campaign, Beacon Women Panchayat Leaders have been felicitated for
their exemplary work in rural governance and provided with a national platform to share their
leadership experiences and showcase best practices.
The campaign also witnessed the launch of a comprehensive Specialized Training Module
“Championing of Change-Empowering Women Leaders in Local Governance and Beyond”
aimed at strengthening the capacities of WERs on enhancing leadership skills and empowering
WERs to serve as effective agents of change in strengthening grassroots democracy.
In addition, several capacity-building initiatives have been taken to strengthen the effective
functioning of Panchayat representatives, including augmentation of own source revenue;
2empowerment on digital platforms for more transparency & accountability in service delivery
and management development programme, etc. to strengthen their capabilities and improve
efficacy in discharging their roles & responsibilities. The State/Year-wise details of WERs
trained in OSR and Digital platforms, including those for Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Keonjhar Lok Sabha Constituency, and Jalgaon Lok Sabha Constituency, are at Annexure-
IV&V respectively.
The Ministry has led the process of the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs)
through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) towards the attainment of the National Agenda of
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The process of localization of SDGs has been
conceptualized through 9-thematic approaches by aggregating 17 Sustainable Development
Goals, which also include Theme 9: Women-Friendly Panchayat. Theme 9 aims to create an
inclusive and gender-sensitive local governance system that ensures women’s participation,
safety, rights, and empowerment at the grassroots level.
To keep the momentum of the LSDGs through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), the Ministry
has developed the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI), formerly known as the Panchayat
Development Index (PDI). It is a composite assessment framework to measure the incremental
performance of Gram Panchayats/Equivalent to Gram Panchayats (GPs) across 9 themes of
LSDGs, including Theme-9.
The PAI provides theme-wise and overall scores through scorecards and dashboards of the Gram
Panchayat. This enables identification of performance gaps, relative strengths, and areas
requiring focused attention at the Panchayat level.
Further, the Ministry confers National Panchayat Awards (NPA) annually to the best-performing
Panchayats and Institutions across the country on Themes of LSDGs & special categories, which
also include Theme-9 Women-Friendly Panchayat. Now the awards are linked to the Panchayat
Advancement Index (PAI), which measures the performance of Gram Panchayats on around 150
thematic indicators aligned with SDGs. This has emerged as a strong source of motivation for
Elected Representatives (ERs) in improving development efforts at the local level and
encouraged healthy competition among rural local bodies.
A total of 1,53,616 WERs (as on 10th July 2026) were trained on this module, including in the
Jalgaon district of Maharashtra. The State/UT-wise details of Women Elected Representatives
Trained on this Specialized Module is placed at Annexure-VI.
***
3Annexure-I
Annex refer to in reply to Part (a) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *333 to be
answered on 11/08/2026 regarding Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
The State/UT-wise details of Women Elected Representatives Trained under Revamped
RGSA during FY 2022-23 to 2026-27 (As on 10.07.2026)
S. 2026-27
States 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
No (till 10.07.2026)
1 Andaman And Nicobar Islands 217 9 270 721 0
2 Andhra Pradesh 1060 15303 30947 76806 782
3 Arunachal Pradesh 1002 507 975 3668 0
4 Assam 25277 7932 997 47189 752
5 Bihar 191234 32751 125252 37728 4166
6 Chhattisgarh 53423 36934 13025 90762 7673
7 Goa 600 1173 1448 525 118
8 Gujarat 86 4 8133 1943 541
9 Haryana 1691 2324 84 39649 351
10 Himachal Pradesh 718 14376 17544 1148 0
11 Jammu And Kashmir 107089 68072 7 0 0
12 Jharkhand 1700 23802 19786 43325 0
13 Karnataka 58233 50894 31857 30156 0
14 Kerala 33749 13437 11467 14160 0
15 Ladakh 0 0 0 27 0
16 Lakshadweep - - - - -
17 Madhya Pradesh 27684 13478 39489 111555 5048
18 Maharashtra 181689 180760 71831 39291 11313
19 Manipur 1 233 12 844 18
20 Meghalaya 2727 25820 25359 46241 0
21 Mizoram 335 2146 1749 4268 2169
22 Nagaland 38 275 1064 610 86
23 Odisha 39865 29072 53501 15274 3945
24 Puducherry 0 0 0 0 0
25 Punjab 11492 3543 19914 51370 4370
26 Rajasthan 113 26009 5015 7414 0
27 Sikkim 1324 1542 1445 1344 300
28 Tamil Nadu 42160 64765 27737 12298 2440
29 Telangana 564 12 7 42629 6206
30 The Dadra And Nagar Haveli
215 357 225 1454 306
And Daman And Diu
31 Tripura 1840 22146 18373 28768 5159
32 Uttar Pradesh 12459 29952 17626 86982 0
33 Uttarakhand 133173 41182 8333 38021 0
434 West Bengal 39483 98104 80630 66004 3080
Centre level 453 74 206 295 60
TOTAL
971694 806988 634308 942469 58883
Source: As per Training Management Portal
5Annexure II
Annex refer to in reply to Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *333 to be
answered on 11/08/2026 regarding Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
The State/UT-wise details of Women Elected Representatives Trained under Revamped
RGSA during FY 2023-24 to 2025-26
S.No. States/UT 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
1 Andaman And Nicobar Islands 9 270 721
2 Andhra Pradesh 15,303 30,947 76,806
3 Arunachal Pradesh 507 975 3,668
4 Assam 7,932 997 47,189
5 Bihar 32,751 1,25,252 37,728
6 Chhattisgarh 36,934 13,025 90,762
7 Goa 1,173 1,448 525
8 Gujarat 4 8,133 1,943
9 Haryana 2,324 84 39,649
10 Himachal Pradesh 14,376 17,544 1,148
11 Jammu And Kashmir 68,072 7 -
12 Jharkhand 23,802 19,786 43,325
13 Karnataka 50,894 31,857 30,156
14 Kerala 13,437 11,467 14,160
15 Ladakh - - 27
16 Lakshadweep - - -
17 Madhya Pradesh 13,478 39,489 1,11,555
18 Maharashtra 1,80,760 71,831 39,291
19 Manipur 233 12 844
20 Meghalaya 25,820 25,359 46,241
21 Mizoram 2,146 1,749 4,268
22 Nagaland 275 1,064 610
23 Odisha 29,072 53,501 15,274
24 Puducherry - - -
25 Punjab 3,543 19,914 51,370
26 Rajasthan 26,009 5,015 7,414
27 Sikkim 1,542 1,445 1,344
28 Tamil Nadu 64,765 27,737 12,298
29 Telangana 12 7 42,629
30 The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 357 225 1,454
31 Tripura 22,146 18,373 28,768
32 Uttar Pradesh 29,952 17,626 86,982
33 Uttarakhand 41,182 8,333 38,021
34 West Bengal 98,104 80,630 66,004
Centre level 74 206 295
Total 8,06,988 6,34,308 9,42,469
Source: As per Training Management Portal
6Annexure III
Annex refer to in reply to Part (c) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *333 to be
answered on 11/08/2026 regarding Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
States/UT-wise status of funds released and utilized under revamped RGSA during
the last three years
(Rs. in Cr.)
2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
S.
States/ UTs
No. Funds Fund Funds Fund Funds Fund
Released utilized Released utilized Released* utilized
Andaman & Nicobar
1 0.79 1.28 2.12 1.18 1.00 2.12
Islands
2 Andhra Pradesh 0.00 21.35 2.52 59.64 35.00 77.29
3 Arunachal Pradesh 72.09 89.97 70.00 77.94 57.00 62.51
4 Assam 77.70 91.41 60.00 71.87 64.00 72.09
5 Bihar 25.00 51.81 0.00 75.08 26.00 40.00
6 Chhattisgarh 17.57 22.25 16.50 34.12 29.00 42.77
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
7 1.00 0.38 1.00 0.24 1.25 1.99
and Daman & Diu
8 Goa 0.89 1.00 1.35 1.29 1.00 2.39
9 Gujarat 0.00 1.28 0.00 15.48 8.00 15.57
10 Haryana 0.00 8.84 5.00 8.22 17.91 37.82
11 Himachal Pradesh 19.31 69.30 27.21 42.94 14.00 21.63
12 Jammu & Kashmir 65.00 98.61 65.00 57.89 57.00 78.99
13 Jharkhand 31.00 25.95 0.00 26.47 15.20 33.51
14 Karnataka 20.00 39.02 16.25 49.53 11.03 24.53
15 Kerala 10.00 37.04 10.00 32.65 18.00 28.97
16 Ladakh 1.00 0.80 0.00 0.58 0.72 0.92
17 Lakshadweep 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
18 Madhya Pradesh 32.17 74.16 40.00 96.82 49.95 86.19
19 Maharashtra 116.12 194.26 80.00 134.79 54.49 91.33
20 Manipur 9.56 8.34 0.00 3.91 1.48 9.79
21 Meghalaya 6.00 6.26 8.00 7.60 5.02 6.72
22 Mizoram 10.00 15.64 12.00 19.63 16.50 21.03
23 Nagaland 10.00 5.46 10.00 15.32 10.70 13.16
24 Odisha 27.33 44.22 20.00 60.15 62.24 109.62
25 Puducherry 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
26 Punjab 10.00 23.06 5.00 23.89 30.30 56.93
27 Rajasthan 21.72 40.12 15.00 30.88 13.00 42.13
28 Sikkim 6.00 7.90 7.00 7.19 3.21 6.79
29 Tamil Nadu 0.00 25.98 45.00 63.69 20.00 59.03
30 Telangana 20.00 20.47 0.00 8.99 3.00 29.31
31 Tripura 7.43 10.96 10.00 20.24 29.99 32.40
732 Uttar Pradesh 84.13 158.95 38.77 180.84 28.05 80.67
33 Uttarakhand 64.67 66.29 50.00 63.72 44.09 49.45
34 West Bengal 33.69 57.32 52.68 82.56 40.00 77.49
Other Implementing
14.69 - 23.77 23.63
Agency
Total 814.86 1319.68 694.17 1375.34 791.76 1338.77
Note: Fund utilization includes the Central Share, the State Share, and the unspent balance of
the previous year. Funds released represent the Central Share only.
8Annexure IV
Annex refer to in reply to Part (d) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *333 to be
answered on 11/08/2026 regarding Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
The State-wise details of Women Elected Representatives (WERs) trained in Own Source
Revenue Module
2026-27
S.No State/UT Name 2025-26
(till 10 July)
1 Andaman And Nicobar Islands 6 -
2 Andhra Pradesh 483 -
3 Arunachal Pradesh 23 -
4 Assam 736 44
5 Bihar 859 -
6 Chhattisgarh - -
7 Goa - -
8 Gujarat - -
9 Haryana 1,428 -
10 Himachal Pradesh 64 -
11 Jammu And Kashmir - -
12 Jharkhand 156 -
13 Karnataka 2,236 -
14 Kerala 5 -
15 Ladakh - -
16 Lakshadweep - -
17 Madhya Pradesh 513 1,881
18 Maharashtra 2,299 217
19 Manipur - -
20 Meghalaya - -
21 Mizoram 331 -
22 Nagaland - -
23 Odisha 718 169
24 Puducherry - -
25 Punjab - -
26 Rajasthan 95 -
27 Sikkim 85 -
28 Tamil Nadu 1,489 -
29 Telangana - 3,375
30 The Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 24 -
31 Tripura 547 -
32 Uttar Pradesh 6,631 -
33 Uttarakhand - -
934 West Bengal 1,676 1,808
Centre level - -
TOTAL 20,404 7,494
Source: As per Training Management Portal
10Annexure V
Annex refer to in reply to Part (d) to (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *333 to be
answered on 11/08/2026 regarding Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
The details of Women Elected Representatives (WERs) trained in Digital
Governance/Literacy
2026-27
S.No State/UT Name 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26
(till 10 July)
Andaman And Nicobar
- - 91 - -
1 Islands
2 Andhra Pradesh - - 1 7 -
3 Arunachal Pradesh - 6 - 2 -
4 Assam - 29 - 2,306 -
5 Bihar 234 1,425 5,853 2,145 -
6 Chhattisgarh - 314 1 - -
7 Goa - 14 130 - -
8 Gujarat - - - - -
9 Haryana - - 80 2,048 -
10 Himachal Pradesh 7 116 124 3 -
11 Jammu And Kashmir - 399 - - -
12 Jharkhand - - 184 573 -
13 Karnataka 61 2,379 - - -
14 Kerala 646 - 9 51 -
15 Ladakh - - - - -
16 Lakshadweep - - - - -
17 Madhya Pradesh - 1,275 482 1,817 -
18 Maharashtra - 9 - - -
19 Manipur - 2 - - -
20 Meghalaya - - 169 - -
21 Mizoram - - - 383 220
22 Nagaland - - - - -
23 Odisha - - 77 178 34
24 Puducherry - - - - -
25 Punjab - 1 - - -
26 Rajasthan - 18 49 55 -
27 Sikkim - - - 46 -
28 Tamil Nadu - - 239 - -
29 Telangana - - - - -
The Dadra and Nagar
Haveli and Daman and - - 27 27 -
30 Diu
31 Tripura 5 - - - -
32 Uttar Pradesh - - 877 7,529 -
1133 Uttarakhand 38,935 5,526 20 - -
34 West Bengal 3,212 3,144 212 16,669 -
Centre level 2 2 - - -
TOTAL 43,102 14,659 8,625 33,839 254
Source: As per Training Management Portal
12Annexure-VI
Annex refer to in reply to Part (d) and (f) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No. *333 to be
answered on 11/08/2026 regarding Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions
State/UT-wise details of trained WERs on Specialized Module as on 10th July 2026
S.No. States/UTs Total Participants
1 Andaman And Nicobar Islands 286
2 Andhra Pradesh 5523
3 Arunachal Pradesh 88
4 Assam 3346
5 Bihar 3063
6 Chhattisgarh 2240
7 Goa 31
8 Gujarat 76
9 Haryana 3694
10 Himachal Pradesh 83
11 Jammu And Kashmir 5
12 Jharkhand 25931
13 Karnataka 21291
14 Kerala 962
15 Ladakh 2
16 Lakshadweep 0
17 Madhya Pradesh 28690
18 Maharashtra 10966
19 Manipur 853
20 Meghalaya 4691
21 Mizoram 147
22 Nagaland 81
23 Odisha 3830
24 Puducherry 0
25 Punjab 5054
26 Rajasthan 12599
27 Sikkim 339
28 Tamil Nadu 9679
29 Telangana 11
30 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 0
31 Tripura 736
32 Uttar Pradesh 6122
33 Uttarakhand 248
1334 West Bengal 2945
Centre level 4
TOTAL 153616
Source: As per Training Management Portal
***
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