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Good Governance Case Study

Tackling Local Problems Through the Empowerment of Women in India

Women’s Access to Power – A Foundation for Long Term Change

In 1993, constitutional amendments in India Uttar Pradesh State provided women the right to 33 percent of the seats in local governing bodies such as panchayats.

Pancahyats, are one of three levels of administrative units within the state and are local bodies working at the communities level. Recognizing the need to train women elected to these political bodies, a non governmental organization called Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK) has been teaching women some of the skills necessary for their work including how to interact with officials, programme planning, public speaking, and basic knowledge about their rights and responsibilities in their position.

Some Challenges

Many of the women are illiterate and have not typically participated in election processes. In the Dedra Dunn District, of the 119 women Chairpersons, 34 are illiterate and 40 other women haven’t received education beyond the eighth grade.

Solving Problems at the Local Level

The access of women to leadership positions has brought many positive changes in the district villages. Dealing with corruption is one of them. The loss of lands to rich city folks has been reduced because of women’s resistance to striking deals with land seekers.

The more transparent leadership style has also brought more trust in the panchayats. In the Attock Farm panchayat within the Dehra Dun district, Pushpa Rana has devised a new system whereby complaints by villagers are no longer brought to the police but resolved by villagers themselves at panchayat sittings. With the cooperation of the police, this initiative has brought change to the community dynamic by forcing villagers to work out problems together.

With the power to approve programmes up to $15, 000, Nathu Begum, Chairperson of the Enfiled Grant village was able to gather the funds to build concrete roads and drains. These roads spare villagers the problem of having their roads transform into swamps during the rainy season.. Nathu Begum`s next project is finding funds to provide a salary to the teacher of the schooll she began in 1998.

UNDP’s Contribution to Good Governance

UNDP has created a programme called Community-based Pro-Poor Initiatives (CBPPI) in partnership with the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.

In recognition of the good work of Rural Litigation and Entitlement Kendra (RLEK), the CBPPI programme has been providing support of the order of $438, 580 to the NGO for the management and documentation of the women’s programs. Beyond its contribution to women’s empowerment in India, UNDP has set aside approximately $15 million US towards projects aimed at building leadership capacity in women. Empowering women is one of the objectives of the organization that is relevant within all other focus areas.