The passing of the Women?s Reservation Bill by the Rajya Sabha is a once in a long time event. In itself not conclusive, since constitutional amendments are not easy, not the whole solution to the problem since the upper caste Hindu male like me doesn?t change that easily. But a land mark all the same. The process started with the 72nd and 73rd Amendments so close to the heart of late Rajiv Gandhi and s ome reflections on that will show the long road ahead.
Representation is only the first, necessary but by no means a sufficient, condition for effective participation. I think the Women?s Bill is great but we must know that while it is somewhat easier to legislate for representation, it is an infinitely more complex task to create the conditions to obtain effective participation. At least part of the unfulfilled project of the movement to enhance women?s as well as other disadvantaged sections? representation has been the mistaken assumption that the translation of representation into participation would be fluid and almost automatic. Given this distinction, it becomes important to examine the institutional mechanisms by which representation is enhanced or inhibited; and explore the conditions, both institutional and social, under which historically disadvantaged groups are able to participate effectively in local government. This means ensuring not only that such groups have access to these institutions, but also that they are able to effectively participate in them, and are in a position to influence decision-making in a way that can be assessed through the policy outcomes that ensue from these processes.
The research literature on international experiences with decentralisation, federalism local governance and gender participation shows that decentralisation structures are varied, and dependent on the historical-cultural milieu where they are located. There will still be efforts required in building capacity of such institutions, attending to myriad substantive and procedural challenges associated with participatory, bottom-up planning before the vision can be realised.
If panchayats continued to remain in a state of unclear functional domain, without sufficient human and financial resources to enact their independent/ autonomous will, then mere linking of rural development programmes to them would make very little difference in delivery of programmes and outcomes. This argument had two implications; that powerful official agencies must go beyond the cosmetic steps of linking their programmes with Panchayats. panchayats must be seen as partners in determining the entire rural development programme/ scheme cycle and not as mere supplicants. Second, so long as this approach is not adopted, panchayats will continue to be ?subverted?, thereby jeopardising the objectives and outcomes of rural development initiatives themselves.
Capacity building will enhance quality of participation of women representatives. Many states carry out training and capacity building activity pertaining mostly to the chairpersons of the Panchayats rather than to all the elected representatives. In spite of the obstacles, both institutional and social, the participation of elected women representatives has resulted in both developmental and empowerment outcomes. Women have initiated work on plans of bringing piped water into the villages and also building schools as against infrastructural development favoured by men. Results from a nationwide survey of women?s participation in panchayats suggest that a majority of the EWRs report an enhancement in their personal effectiveness and image after being elected. They also report a reduction in household responsibilities. But the politics of caste remains centre-stage in discussions of governance reform.
With the rapid changes taking place in the country and the world , governance systems will have to assiduously protect the poor, the oppressed, the vulnerable and the underprivileged. The democratic aspirations of India, enshrined in its Constitution and laws, will have to be met in a fair and transparent manner. Safety nets will need to be developed and implemented as the market economy expands and claims its victims. Poor women, the girl child, the minorities, the tribal and the dalit, the handicapped and the destitute, will need special attention.
Some of these have been said before. Yet, all such prescriptions in the past met with limited success as the key precondition, i.e., the appropriate institutional framework, within which these could play themselves out was not available. This week we took another step forward. Jai Ho.
?The author is a former Union minister