Political Identity of Rural Women in the Panchayath Board: A Sociological Study in the Region of Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir

Even though women make up half of the population in the world, indeed, theirs always been discrimination towards them. Many studies prove this fact. The same is true in the case of India. In the field of education, economic empowerment, etc their percentage is way below the men. Even though many programs were initiated by the government of India to reduce these situations the progress achieved was not up to the mark. Especially when it comes to the political empowerment of women the circumstances are substandard. Jammu and Kashmir is the union territory of India which is known for its fluster as well as for its nature’s beauty. This region was run through its own rules for a certain period but, recently after the removal of Article 370, the Government of India is trying to implement the rules and regulations that are applicable in the rest of the states of India.

To bring the developmental fruits to a grassroots level and for decentralization, local governmental bodies such as Panchayath boards at the village level were established through constitutional amendment Acts and are serving the development of the rural areas. This brings in the necessity to study the rural local bodies and the participation of women in the region of Jammu and Kashmir. This paper focuses on the participation of women in the rural local governing bodies present in the region of Jammu. The methodology includes qualitative research methods which include the techniques of Ethnography, Focus Group Discussions, etc.