Marking presence, but absence counts

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Hisar, May 1

Three months after Haryana’s only all-women panchayat in Bhiwani Rohilla was unanimously chosen, the reins are back in the hands of men while all talk of women empowerment has been reduced to mere lip service. The men of the village have no qualms admitting that and the women have no problem toeing this line.

“You can ask me whatever you want. Asha can join us later. This panchayat was the outcome of our village wanting to get ‘noticed’ in the crowd. We wanted to do something novel. I suggested and everybody readily agreed. Since six of the 13 seats, including that of the sarpanch, were reserved for women, we decided to let go of the remaining seats as well. That is all the empowerment that they can handle,” emphasises Ram Kumar, sarpanch Asha Rani’s father-in-law.

Dismissing her as a “greenhorn”, he proudly states that he handles the village work since “she has no experience” and that he would have been sarpanch if the ruling BJP had not introduced the condition for educational qualifications and the seat wasn’t reserved for a woman. “My father was the sarpanch for 25 years and my family commands a lot of respect which is why the village accepted my suggestion,” Ram Kumar adds.

The village men agree. So, do the women. “Who will talk to a woman about what the village needs? We don’t even know why we gave it all to the women. To tell you the truth, Ram Kumar lost in the last election by a couple of votes. He pushed his daughter-in-law’s name for the post and we agreed to compensate him for the last election. He is a well-meaning man,” explains Hawa Singh, a former panch.

Dayanand, a village elder, insists that the men will decide every action of the panchayat. “The women can be educated but they are not cut out for decision-making. Our permission is a pre-requisite to their every move. Why do they need independence and from what? They can put their signatures and attend government-supervised meetings. That is empowerment,” he says, inviting laughter.

The women, too, are happy with this arrangement. A graduate, Asha still can’t believe she is a sarpanch. “I will take meetings and hear the women who come with their problems. My father-in-law handles the rest since the village culture doesn’t permit more and he will do no wrong. Besides, every decision has to have my signatures,” she says.

Panches Seema, Santosh and Seema, too, maintain that  ultimately, the men will run the show. “We are panches because they wanted this for us. We will work independently, too, once the grants come in. Our men will allow us that if they have brought us this far,” they claim as they pull down their veils, spotting a man in the courtyard.