Empowerment of Women through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in Odisha: A Review of Issues and Evidence
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| Author | Gadadhara Mohapatra |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120160207 |
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
EMPOWERMENTOFWOMENTHROUGH
PANCHAYATI
RAJ
INSTITUTIONS (PRls) IN
ODISHA: A
REVIEW
OF
ISSUES AND EVIDENCE
GADADHARA
MOHAPATRA
The
term 'empowerment'
is
essentially an enabling process
to make people capable
of
taking decisions concerning their
development
and
for
changing their lives
for
better. The
Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRls), through
73rr1
Constitutional
Amendment, have been designed
to
empower the
people
at
three appropriate levels. The
Amendment
provided
institutional mechanism
and
was meant to rekindle the flame
of
self-governance. The basic objective
of
the democratic
decentralisation through reactivation
of
the Panchayati
Raj system was to realise Gandhiji s
concept
of
'Gram
Swaraj'
(Aslam, 2007: 79). The
most
important
aspect
of
the widening democratic decentralisation has been the
reservation
of
seats,
for
the women
and
Dal
its.
Studies show
that by extending reservation
to
women, PRls have certainly
led
to the increased participation
of
women in panchayats as
voters, candidates, as elected members
of
PR/s taking part in
decision making, planning, implementation,
and
evaluation.
However, certain constraints which stem from traditional
village
institutions
and
familial
and
socio-cultural
forces
still
remain (Mathur, 2008:84). In this context, the article
attempts
to
study the emerging patterns
of
women s leadership
and empowerment aspects among the Dalit
and
tribal groups
in
the state
of
Odis ha in eastern India.
INTRODUCTION
THE RURAL development strategy in India has undergone a paradigm shift
from 'philanthropy' to 'welfare' and at present from 'welfare' to 'rights-
based approach' towards poverty alleviation. India is an incipient welfare
state with inclusive growth as planned strategy
of
rural development. The
participation and representation
of
people in planning process is as
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