The participation of Indian women in the political process, especially at the hyperlocal level, has been on the rise since reservation of 33% of seats in the village councils came into force. In the tribal belt of Bastar, women actually have 50% seats reserved for them. But, with the Government Vs Maoist conflict raging, how is that reservation helping? How does a woman village head work?
To find the answer, I have met 23 women Sarpanch (head of the the village council) in Bastar, 15 of them are in forest areas where the Maoist activists are very active. Let me share the story of Kalavati Salam - the sarpanch of one such village panchayat.
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| Kalavati and I: It would be easy to criticize this Sarpanch for not doing enough, but it would be wiser to try to understand the reasons that force this under-performance |
