Despite ban, woman sarpanch proxies continue in rural areas

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, September 3

Even as the state government has banned male proxies of the women panchayat heads and barred them from attending official meetings, the practice is deep-rooted in the rural hinterland.

Most of the women who are at present elected in panchayats act as rubber stamps. They are needed when some official documents have to be signed. In most cases where signatures do not matter and the official stamp is required, male proxies use the same. — A department official

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Even as the government has given reservation to women in the panchayati raj institutions, the women who get elected or even contest are never active in public life and the male family members — husbands, sons or even fathers — conduct political business, official or non-official, on their behalf.

Considering the social set-up, even the bureaucracy allows them to operate without ever posing any questions. “Most of the women who are at present elected in panchayats act as rubber stamps. They are needed when some official documents have to be signed,” said an official from the department. “In most cases where signatures do not matter and the official stamp is required, male proxies use the same,” he said.

Even a section of the political class, including elected MLAs and MPs, recognise the authority of these male proxies and they are consulted for allotting development works at the village level.

While the decision of the government is seen as a bid to empower such women, it has to be seen how the MLAs, especially of the ruling party, respond to the new instructions. “It has to be seen if they would recognise the elected women heads and not their male proxies,” commented Surjit Singh, a former sarpanch.