UN Women and the Government of Madhya Pradesh announce special mahila sabhas for women to monitor local development in Sagar district
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Elected women representatives from Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh to get priority attention by UN Women & the Government of Madhya Pradesh
28 July 2012, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh): The Government of Madhya Pradesh and the United Nations Women announced today that they will give priority attention to leadership development of elected women representatives in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh. Besides special mahila sabhas, almost 100 gram sabhas will be conducted to monitor schemes for women along with special training for elected representatives and district officials. The addition of the district is part of an ongoing national programme to empower elected women representatives.
Speaking at the launch event in Sagar, the Minister of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development, Government of Madhya Pradesh, Mr Gopal Bhargav said: “Women are the key stakeholder in the development of the panchayats and have a critical role to play in strengthening the gram sabhas.”
Special mahila sabhas to help monitor local development and schemes
Sagar has 760 gram panchayats and has 5703 elected women representatives. Special mahila sabhas will also be conducted in the district for women to monitor the performance of village ration shops and programmes to protect girl child and decline of child sex ratio. Women functionaries in the village such as health workers and ASHA workers will work within Mahila Sabhas and implement gender equality proposals passed in the gram sabhas.
At least 100 gram sabhas will be conducted in the district, with the participation of women citizens and women panchayat leaders to strengthen local planning and development. In her remarks, Mrs Aruna Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary, Panchayati Raj and Rural Developement, Government of Madhya Pradesh said: “Women have to play a leadership role not only within the household and decision-making but also for the panchayat.”
She announced that in each district, mahila sabhas must be held prior to the gram sabha meetings so women can highlight their concerns. “This would enable us to take up issues such as safe drinking water, sanitation, education, violence against women, early child hood care and timely payments of widow pension,” she added. Elected women representatives in Sagar will also receive training to increase their knowledge and skills.
Based on the programme’s notable achievements in Jhabua, the Government decided to extend the programme to Sagar. “UN Women is delighted to expand its partnership with the Government of Madhya Pradesh. This will give a major boost to the programme. Already the programme is showing results in Sehore and Jhabua. In both the districts, we have trained government officials and elected women representatives and have been strengthening the process of conducting gram sabhas,” said Ms Sushma Kapoor, Regional Programme Director a.i., UN Women South Asia.
Madhya Pradesh : A pioneer state
Madhya Pradesh was the second state in the country to implement the 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution that brought the Panchayati Raj system to India. The State currently has 54 percent representation of elected women representatives at the local level. “Madhya Pradesh is amongst the leading state in India where women representatives are being empowered to lead and monitor the implementation of flagship schemes,” said Shri Raghav, Minister for Finance, Government of Madhya Pradesh.
Joint programme in 5 states
The Indian Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India and UN Women are jointly implementing the programme, “Promoting Women’s Political Leadership and Governance in India and South Asia”. An estimated 57,000 elected women representatives are being reached across 16 districts in five states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka.
While representation by women leaders is low across South Asia, at the Panchayat or local council level, India continues to blaze a trail. Thanks to reservation, the number of elected women representatives has risen to over 42 percent. This has them intricately involved with matters ranging from road building to welfare programmes.
UN Women and its partners are helping them to mobilize, train and win both reserved and non-reserved seats. Through a vast network of partnerships with the Government of India, State Governments and district authorities, as well as training institutions, research agencies and NGOs, UN Women’s flagship programme is both unique and daring in its ambition.
“We want women to step out of the confines of their homes to vote, campaign and contest in local elections,” says Ms Kapoor.
The programme, which is funded by the Norway, has three main strategies:
· Strengthen the capacity of elected women representatives at the gram sabha
· Use research and policy advocacy to counter legal and political barriers to local self-governance
· Develop a Centre of Excellence to provide valuable knowledge and resources to elected women representatives, media, policy makers and training institutions.