Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: IBNLive.com
Date: December 26, 2011
URL: http://ibnlive.in.com/news/254-villages-of-gujarat-opt-for-100-women-rule/215057-3.html
In what could be described as 'incentive-driven'
empowerment of women, as many as 254 villages in Gujarat have entrusted their
panchayats entirely to women and to college-going girls in one case.
Under the scheme, government gives a reward
of Rs 3 lakh for all-women panchayats in villages having under-5,000 population,
and of Rs 5 lakh for villages with above-5,000 population.
All panchayat members including the sarpanch
in these villages are women, elected unopposed under the state government's
'samras' scheme.
The number of such all-women panchayats has
risen from 20 in the last elections to 254 this time, said Deputy Rural Development
Commissioner, MS Vyas.
Elections to 10,405 village panchayats in
the state will be held on December 29. But in 2,147 villages, which have opted
for samras scheme, panchayat members have been declared elected unopposed,
and 254 of them have all-women panchayats.
The objective of samras is to avoid inter-village
enmities which the election politics creates.
Siswa, in Anand district, has opted for samras,
and handed over administration to educated young girls for the next five years.
All the 12 members of the panchayat are college-going girls.
"Although financial incentive must be
a reason for the villagers to empower women in this way, this is a development
as women will get training in running the administration. In the long run,
they will be ready to handle bigger responsibilities," said rural development
and panchayat minister, Narottam Patel.
