Parliament Question: Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions

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 *** 14