With her experience as a homemaker and a farmer, `prime minister' Munni Deviefficiently conducts the session under a banyan tree in Meetou Village, some65 km from Lucknow, the capital of India's most populated state of UttarPradesh.The preliminaries over, she quickly launches into the discussion ofthe day: how to dissuade villagers from withdrawing their daughters from thevillage school. After an initial hesitation, the 50-odd members open up to alively debate.Munni Devi, at first, seems rattled by the barrage ofquestions, but soon she's addressing the problems with flair -- and with helpfrom the `education minister' Mithilesh Kumari and `health minister' SunitaDevi.Ready with helpful tips is Shameem Bano from the adjacent Narayanpurvillage; she is after all Munni Devi's predecessor, the prime minister ofthe last session.

A dusty village in the state's Hardoi district, Meetouand its neighbouring villages elect a `prime minister' whenever an emergencydemands a parliamentary session.Only women, preferably mothers, areeligible. And each prime minister's tenure lasts until the next MahilaSansad session which may be called in some other village, but variablywithin 15-45 days or longer.The parliament is something the rural women inHardoi and at least 22 districts of Uttar Pradesh look forward to. Squattingin the open, their heads modestly covered by their saris, they set agendasfor change here.They discuss issues that earlier wouldn't have been raisedwithin the privacy of their homes: alcoholism among their menfolk, lack ofgood health care, infrastructure and education, particularly for girls.Thewomen's parliament is a vital part of the Maa-Beti Mela or mother-daughterfair, conceived under the $ 132-million District Primary Education Programme(DPEP) for the state, supported by the World Bank.It was started in October1995 for a period of five years, and then extended up to December 2002.

The state has abysmally low social indicators, though it is a politicalpowerhouse having elected all but four of India's prime ministers.Along withthe $230-million UP Basic Education Programme (BEP), the DPEP was evolved toinstitutionalise an ``effective, qualitative and streamlined'' educationsystem where children in rural areas have better access to schools. Theideas was not merely to make children go to school, but to ensure they stayon.With more girls than boys dropping out of schools owing to social,economic and domestic reasons, DPEP incorporated strategies to create anenvironment which enables women to demand education for themselves and theirdaughters.

The Maa-Beti Mela was one of the devices alongside alternative Pathshala,Shiksha Ghar and Working Child Education Centre, targeted at minority andbackward areas where parents shy away from educating their daughters in theconventional school system.Organised by the `panchayat' or village council,the aim of the Maa-Beti Mela is to promote girls' education by empoweringtheir mothers -- a giant step in changing the rigid views on women's role inpatriarchal societies.

The level of female literacy in Uttar Pradesh is among the worst inIndia -- only 25.31 per cent women here are moderately to highly literatecompared to the national average of 33 per cent. Not surprisingly thestate's maternal and infant mortality rates are also high: 118 out of 1,000infant deaths, while the national figure is 91. The state's population isabout 180 million.Finally, the menfolk in Meetou are starting to see justwhy the state is so backward.

Those who earlier would have said it was a matter of pride that their womenremain within the four walls of the home, now welcome the women'sparliament.``None of my four daughters went to school, but I have ensuredthat my grand-daughters are educated,'' says 78-year-old Pyare Lal of SamadKheda Village. Observes UP Education For All Project director Vrinda Sarup:``The increasing role of `panchayats' is the reason behind the attitudinalchange in villages. Whatever success DPEP has recorded is attributable tovillagers' involvement.''It is the village council that appoints a villageeducation committee which plays a significant role in micro-planning, fromteacher control, requirement of students to motivation and infrastructure.

Hari Prasad, the committee president and village head of the Narayanpur GramSabha explains that they ``rely on a lot of feedback and suggestions fromthe womenfolk.''This is where the prime minister comes in -- to relay to thecommittee the recommenda-tions from mothers and daughters in the villages ofUttar Pradesh. Women are making a difference.

--IPS