Vajpayee

The Hunger Project Online Briefing Program  THP in India - Empowering Women Panchayat Leaders  Page 14 of 23

Basic Facts

 

As investors in The Hunger Project, we are witnessing an extraordinary opportunity for the end of hunger in India. India has undertaken a historic process, which calls forth the full participation of women and men in the decisions that affect their lives.

The highest national priority must be the unleashing of woman power in governance. That is the single most important source of societal energy that we have kept corked for half a century. --Mani Shankar Aiyar, journalist, India Today

• In 1992, the Indian parliament passed the 73^rd Constitutional Amendment, a revolutionary step in creating true governance at the local level.

• This amendment mandates the transfer of decision-making power and resources in the rural areas to local democratic councils known as panchayats. 

• The panchayats echo Gandhi’s vision of village self-government as "a complete republic independent of its neighbors for its own vital wants… Here there is perfect democracy based upon individual freedom."

• Most revolutionary of all – the 73rd amendment requires that at least one-third of all panchayat seats be reserved for women.

• This means that 1 million grassroots women leaders have the chance to play a key role in determining the future of their communities.

• As Joan Holmes has said, the transfer of power to one million women elected local representatives - many of whom are malnourished and illiterate - is the greatest social experiment of our time.  

• These women are struggling against enormous odds to improve the lives of their families, their villages and their nation.

• Yet they will be the key change agents for a new future for India.

Vajpayee

The Hunger Project Online Briefing Program  THP in India - Empowering Women Panchayat Leaders  Page 14 of 23

Basic Facts