WHAT DIFFERENCE DID THE POLITICAL RESERVATION MAKE?: A STUDY ON PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN REPRESENTATIVES IN GRAM PANCHAYATS OF BUXAR DISTRICT, BIHAR

Abstract

Despite three decades of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, women’s participation in rural governments remains an unfulfilled dream. 18 years have passed since the passage of the Bihar Panchayati Raj Act 2006 (BPRA 2006), which mandated reservations of up to 50 percent of seats for women representatives in rural local bodies in Bihar. Even after so many years, women’s participation in panchayats remains on the margins, often dependent on their husbands and other male family members who act as their proxies. Although the mandate of reservation has ensured that women are represented at different levels of panchayats, their participation in governance has remained limited. Female representatives act as rubber stamps for their male family members who are unable to run for elections due to the reservation of seats for women. Women representatives encounter various obstacles that hinder their active involvement in governance. Against this backdrop, the paper attempts to analyse the constitutional provision on the reservation of women, the reservation of seats for women under the BPRA 2006, and explores the participation of women representatives in decision-making in Gram Panchayats of Buxar district in Bihar through empirical research.