Monday, July 8 2002
Dalit Women Handling The Raj
- Tarannum ManjulTarannum Manjul is a 23 year old journalist, working for a English national daily, based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. An English Hons graduate from Delhi University, she is quite passionate about her job, with a keen interest in writing on women, children and issues of the downtrodden. An avid traveler, her job keeps her on toes and when not writing, Tarannum prefers reading, listening to music and painting. Writing on rural women and their achievements is her forte, and when it comes to talking about their rights, this Gemini, with guts to match, is all for it. Her motto in life is "I live for the moment, let every moment be mine."
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When it comes to exercising their newly found powers in the panchayats, the dalit women pradhans have definitely scored over their upper caste women counterparts in the state of Uttar Pradesh, where the women are still battling for their rights.
Sample this - Asha devi is the women pradhan of Haniya village in Basti. Before Asha Devi, no one ever thought about having a dalit gram pradhan, leave alone a woman pradhan. Since Asha devi became the pradhan, things have changed positively for the village. Similarly, 45 year old Jagrani Devi, the dalit gram pradhan of Hamirpur in Kasmanda too has turned the look of her village. One of the most underdeveloped gram panchayats of the block, today Jagrani has made Hamirpur an ideal panchayat with her efforts.
Like Asha and Jagrani, several others too have managed to achieve similar feats. While the upper caste may have managed to win the elections, still they have not been able to achieve such heights. The concept of pradhan patis is still overshadowing many of them.
These facts have been revealed by the various case studies conducted by the Sehbhagi Shikshan Kendra, Lucknow, which is actively involved in several studies and experiments on Panchayat Raj or Local Self governance system in Uttar Pradesh with several partner NGOs.
According to Rajesh Jamuar of SSK who conducted the study, "It is really nice to see such good work being done by women panchayat members, specially the dalit ones who do not have much facilities and have to face opposition not only from the menfolk, but also the upper caste members of their villages. Their performance is really laudable."
Incidentally, most of the dalit women who have been selected as panchayat pradhans have been elected in villages, which are mainly dominated by the upper caste. The dalit women, who have managed to win their seats, are mainly illiterate and have faced severe opposition from their fellow family members and villagers alike. Attacks have been constantly made on their life because of their belonging to lower castes.
Still, according to the study, they have managed to overcome all hurdles and initiated development in their villages, which includes construction of school building, installation of hand pumps, implementation of Indira Awas Yojanas and widow pension in their villages.
But it's not that the upper caste women have not fared well. They have just one hindrance, of being a woman. Yet, their feats too are worth praise. As for the dalits, they have a three-dimensional fight, with the upper caste, the other women folk and their own families creating hurdles for them. But still, women know how to rule and this is what they are trying to prove at all levels.
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