The Practice of ‘Sarpanch-pati’ Makes Thousands of Women Powerless
Will Independent India give Independence to the village women to do their job?
The triumph series Panchayat (2020) on Amazon Prime pointed out the still ongoing practice of ‘Sarpanch-pati’ around the rural areas of India. The series showcases a semi-remote village called Phulera in Uttar Pradesh, India, where the power of panchayat pradhan is in hands of the husband of the elected candidate. He also accompanied by his assistant panchayat pradhan. The committee body is representing the husbands of the chosen candidates.
While in 2015 Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised his voice against the sarpanch-pati in India. However, semi-remote and remote areas of India are still experiencing this patriarchal practice where the male counterparts do not believe that their elected wives can do any job. Back in 2017, a 23-years-old woman Priyanka made history by becoming the youngest Mahila Pradhan in her village from Uttar Pradesh.
So, what exactly is the practice of ‘Sarpanch-pati’?
The Indian government has increased the reservation for Mahila Pradhan among the rural to empower the women. The people from those areas elect their favourable female candidates, but they can’t step foot into the panchayat office. In most cases, the representatives are the husbands or sons of the elected panchayat pradhan in those villages. The women are kept at their home to maintain the household chores. The representatives are enjoying their ‘unauthorised’ power among the village and take advantages.
A gram pradhan has several responsibilities. How can a woman be expected to handle it? — A representative of Mahila Pradhan from UP
70% of the population in India belongs to the villages and the number of gram panchayats is 239,000. The government has reserved 50% of the Grameen pradhan’s seat for women. On the contrary, Uttar Pradesh is still not under the current panchayat policy yet. Hence, the encouragement behind making the women as Mahila Pradhan in villages are extremely low.
The founder of Teesri Sarkar, one of the foundations in India that work closely with panchayats revealed that women in Uttaranchal, North-East and South India are taking leadership role in most areas for both panchayat and farming. But the scenario in many villages at UP and Madhya Pradehs are quite shocking. A Mahila Pradhan named Jaydevi from Kerora Gram Panchayat at Madhya Pradesh said that most of the official works of pradhan have been seen by her husband. According to her, the seat was not reserved and her husband could not stand for the seat because he has a government job. Hence, she fought the election ‘behalf’ of him!
The official work of the block office is done by him (the husband). Where all can I go alone?He looks more after the work of the prandhan, I a little less. — Jaydevi, Mahila Pradhan, Kerora Gram Panchayat
The similar situation happened in another village from Madhya Pradesh, where the villagers were agitated for not seeing their elected Mahila Pradhan after the election. In most cases, males from these families dominated the women to stay at home for being uneducated and unqualified for the official jobs. The elected women are also terrified with lack of understanding official processes and uneasiness while getting out of their house. It discourage them to take active position at the gram panchayat. Moreover, husbands, sons, fathers and even father-in-laws are taking advantage of this situation and holds the power of pradhan.
Forums like change.org started petition against the Sarpanch-pati practice to let the Mahila Pradhans to take their dues. They have pointed out the fact that the 73rd Amendment of Constitution in India supports women to take visible roles at the governance of rural areas. However, many villages are still practicing the patriarchal practice called ‘pradhan-pati’ in representing their wife’s role by sitting in their chair.
UNICEF has published a report that found 7 out of 10 Mahila Pradhans are not aware of their constitutional rights around 10 districts in Uttar Pradesh. While only 2 out of 10 women knew their position as a Pradhan. It revealed that there are only 3% women representatives are engaging in their duties directly at the rural areas. Most of the cases are coming from states like UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, where even the police are allowing the rampant practice.
The government is arguing against the Sarpanch-pati practice by stating that the women are now empowered with the given law and they should come forth to take their responsibilities as a Pradhan. They should work on ending the patriarchal culture and others should also promote the same.
The women should utilize their constitutional power as being a Pradhan of their village. They can seek help from their families on understanding the official works if they are incapable. The government can also work on providing a short-term training session to the elected Mahila Pradhans or rural areas in UP and Madhya Pradesh. It will make the governance process more official and efficient.
