Govt. panel recommends exemplary penalties for male relatives usurping panchayat positions

Former sarpanch of Harmada Panchayat in Ajmer district of Rajasthan Naurati Devi. File image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: C.V. Subrahmanyam

To tackle the challenge of proxy leadership by male relatives of women leading Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), a Union government-appointed advisory committee has recommended imposition of “exemplary penalties” in such cases. 

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In September 2023, on the directions of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj had constituted the advisory committee to examine the issue of “women pradhans being represented by the male members of their families”. 

The 73rd Constitutional (Amendment) Act, 1992 mandated one-third reservation of seats for women in PRIs. This quota was further expanded to nearly 50% by 21 States and two Union Territories. Currently, across the country, out of the 32.29 lakh elected panchayat representatives, 46.6% are women. But in several parts of the country, women are reduced to figureheads with their male relatives taking the lead instead, defeating the very purpose of the reservation. 

To discourage this trend, the committee has suggested a multi-pronged strategy involving policy intervention, structural reforms, technological solutions for better monitoring, peer support programmes, positive affirmations, and punitive action. Its recommendations include Kerala-style “gender-exclusive quotas” in some panchayat subject committees, and public swearing-in of “women pradhans” in the Gram Sabha federation of women panchayat leaders. 

The panel has also recommended constructing a robust accountability and oversight mechanism in the form of “helplines” and “Women Watchdog Committees” for confidential complaints and “whistleblower rewards” in verified cases.

“Exemplary penalties should be enforced for proven cases of proxy leadership, deterring male relatives’ interference,” the panel has said, without elaborating on whether this penalty should be pecuniary or physical in form.  

One of the suggestions that the committee secured from its field visits was that minimum school-level education should be made mandatory for contesting elections to the post of “panchayat president”. Though the committee recorded this in its report, it’s not part of the nine-point final recommendations. Education eligibility bar for positions in panchayats has been hotly contested. 

The Haryana government had introduced a law setting a “minimum” education for eligibility to contest a panchayat election. For women, it was the completion of Class 8. The Supreme Court of India in December 2021 upheld the law against legal challenges. The panel has recorded that one of the suggestions it received was “minimum school-level education should be made mandatory for contesting elections for Panchayat President, irrespective of gender”.