iiThe second reason is there are still critics who maintain that women leaders act only as proxies for their male relatives.
If they resist, they are labelled ineffective and considered ill equipped to handle leadership. They are dismissed due
to lack of experience in decision making/politics, lack of education, their gender, and the socio-cultural patriarchal
framework of their reality. The women leaders have not been given a chance to prove otherwise – they have been
condemned and hung even before a trial! It is a great pity that we do not recognise and acknowledge the millions of
women leaders who are battling insupportable odds every day to bring about change in their villages.
Profile after profile - from states as diverse as Assam and Tamil Nadu, and Districts as far-flung as Jammu and
Kashmir’s Kargil and Madhya Pradesh’s Satna – makes one aware that women leaders have far more than just their
seats in Panchayati Raj Institutions at stake! The Hardass women’s community of Kargil district in Ladakh, where
Panchayat elections have not been held since 2001, have formed a group and effectively fought and secured water
rights for themselves and their village, even in the absence of a Panchayat. They are now eagerly waiting for the State
government to announce the elections so that they can contest.
Through the Panchayat, women leaders become mobile, their voices are heard in public forums, they interact with
a range of people, and they innovate. To do all this, they take help from whatever quarter they can, be it husbands
or sons, as long as they can continue their work. They realise that this is an opportunity for them, perhaps for the
first time, to openly exert some authority and participate fully in the crucial development of their communities.
The women leaders ensure that, unlike themselves, their children and particularly their girls, have access to
education, healthcare, sanitation, better roads, etc. They are sensitive and inclusive of those who have been left
out of the development agenda. They proudly list all that they have done for their communities and while reading
these profiles; one is not just inspired, but also sometimes brought to tears because of their struggles. The time has
come to acknowledge, honour and support women elected to village Panchayats - this compilation is testimony to
this fact!