Gender Quota and Women’s Participation in Rural Local Bodies in India: The Context, Constraints and Consequences
| Published date | 01 December 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00195561231166860 |
| Author | Prabhat Kumar Datta |
| Date | 01 December 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Gender Quota and
Women’s Participation
in Rural Local Bodies
in India: The Context,
Constraints and
Consequences
Prabhat Kumar Datta1,2
Abstract
Gender quota in democratic institutions is now widely regarded as a tested
tool to promote gender justice despite limitations. In this article, an attempt
has been made to capture and analyse in the light of secondary source material
including my own small study in one of the Indian States, West Bengal, on the
impact of reservation of seats for women as elected women representatives in
rural local government in India, with special reference to the challenges experi-
enced by them. It has been argued that, despite a number of inherent structural
constraints, women elected leaders have been able to prove their competence
to run the institutions of governance and to bring about positive change in the
agenda of governance and development. It has also been suggested that there is
a need for a much more proactive role of the state which has created space for
women through an amendment of the Constitution.
Keywords
Gender quota, gender justice, empowerment, challenges, patriarchy, governance
and development
Gender holds an important place in the current discourse on governance
and development (UNDP, 2003). The United Nations sensitised the global
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
69(4) 832–844, 2023
© 2023 IIPA
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/00195561231166860
journals.sagepub.com/home/ipa
1 Xavier Law School, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India.
2
Former Centenary Chair of Public Administration, Department of Political Science, University of
Calcutta, India; and Former Adjunct Professor, China Rural Studies Centre , Central China University,
People’s Republic of China.
Corresponding author:
Prabhat Kumar Datta, Xavier Law School, St. Xavier’s University, Kolkata, West Bengal 700160,
India.
E-mail: dattaprabhat@gmail.com
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