Life Histories of Women Panchayat Sarpanches from Haryana, India

Download or read book Life Histories of Women Panchayat Sarpanches from Haryana, India written by Kavita Chakravarty and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2017-06-23 with total page 175 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume represents a collection of life histories of women who live in rural Haryana. It looks at the impact of the 73rd Amendment to India’s constitution, which introduced reservations in the political arena for women. The Panchayati Raj Act of 1992 reserved one third of all Sarpanch positions for women, and granted constitutional status to the Panchayat system, outlining its specific functions and jurisdiction. This book enhances existing scholarship on the impact of these changes in that it provides the opportunity for women Sarpanches from Haryana to speak for themselves and reflect upon their journey. Ten elected women Sarpanches share their stories about their lives, from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. Their life histories address the following questions: Who are these women who agreed to run for a reserved seat in the elections? What motivated them? Why were they asked to run? What barriers do they face? Do they feel they are making a difference? Indeed, these stories reflect the lived realities of the women impacted by the changes in legislation.