Alleviation: An International Journal of Nutrition, Gender & Social Development, ISSN 2348-9340 Volume 5, Number 5 (2018):
© Arya PG College, Panipat & Business Press India Publication, Delhi
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Innovative Practices by Grassroot Women of Uttarakhand

Nivedita Mishra Thapliyal
Assistant Professor, Department of Law
Law College, Faculty of Uttaranchal University
Dehradun ,Uttarakhand, India
Email: reishinivedita@gmail.com

Introduction

The women in Uttarakhand play an important role in addressing the development issues, be it a reformation of state or protecting environment. The steps taken by them have got a national recognition. The women in Uttarakhand have crossed the reservation from 33 per cent to 40 per cent. Despite the positive facts and figure, the women have faced lots of problem in contesting election and addressing the social issues in the region. They are manipulated by bureaucrats, politicians and dominant power brokers in the villages. Most of the Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) faced the problems of non cooperation from the officials (Lakshi 1993). These problems have slowed the pace of developmental works and also elected representatives to fully participate in the Panchayats. Needless to say that the women are not meant to be elected as the rest of the members, instead they are meant to be co-opted.
In a society with uneven distribution of resources, the access and control of opportunity is in hands of the “haves” but not in the hands of “have-nots” (Monsen 1991). Same picture of deprivation and inequality is true between men and women. Till date the, women are not considered as a social group, rather they are either clubbed with men or are totally ignored. The endeavor to improve the quality of women’s life has produced a series of development strategies which have largely aimed at poverty alleviation measures, welfare and marginal approaches.
The State of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand, the hill state of Indian republic is well known for its rich biotic wealth, high mountainous peaks and diverse cultural and climatic system. The total human population of the state is around 84, 79,562 of which 41, 63,161 are women. The state covers about 12.18 per cent of the total Indian Himalayan region and about 40 per cent of its total area has different forest types. The socio-cultural fabric in this region is characterized by diverse ethnic group, which have developed their own cultures based on available natural resources, giving rise to a cultural diversity. About 75 per cent of the total population of the state is dependent on agriculture. Uttarakhand consists of thirteen districts that are Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Chamoli, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri Garhwal, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri Garhwal, Udam Singh Nagar and Uttarkashi. Linguistically, and geographically, Uttaranchal is distinguished into two prominent regions- Garhwal and Kumaon.
Women in Uttarakhand
Women play a vital part in the mountainous region of Uttaranchal state. Role of women in the hills has undergone many changes in the hills, some of the important reasons being migration of men, poor agriculture, illiteracy, gender based roles, shrinking natural resource base, outside interventions like voluntary agencies. In this region, men in most of the families work outside due to lack of industries or other avenues of employment in this region. Women of this hill state are hard working who toil through the day, starting with the family chores like nurturing children and livestock, going out for fodder, fuel, drinking water and collection for sustaining livelihoods. Women of this region are aware about the biological diversity and rich in indigenous knowledge of natural resources and management on which they depend for livelihood. They have been active participants in some of the very important national movements like the Chipko movement and the anti-alcohol movement. Chipko movement especially needs a mention as it is an internationally acclaimed movement by the women of the State wherein they would embrace the trunk of the tree when the contractors’ axe men would come to cut the tree, thus emerging to be the saviors of this valuable natural resource. Besides this, the women of Uttarakhand have seen to be involved in income generation activities such as organic farming, mushroom cultivation, food processing and cottage industries. The state has crossed the 33 per cent reservation for women and serious discussions are in process for 50 per cent reservation of seats at the level of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI) in the State, thus officially assigning the women a platform to participate more in the development of their area.
Uttarakhand is a state with strong women movement and it cannot be denied that women along with their men have been active participants in the formation of the State. Their involvement in the State’s Chipko movement and the anti-alcohol movement has been nationally accepted. A reflection on their profile shows that, out of the 50 per cent female population of the State, 76 per cent are rural women. Most of the agriculture work is done by these women who look after the land almost completely along with actual cultivation as men migrate for employment. However they face low female literacy, lack of nutrition and health facilities. Further, the patriarchal nature of the society creates hurdles for them in their active participation in the addressal of social and development issues such as violence against women, income generation activities, infrastructural development, female infanticide and child marriage (Bhatt 2006). This is because their efforts get manipulated by bureaucrats, politicians and dominant power brokers in the villages. Most of the women faced the problem of non-cooperation from the officials (Jain 1992). These problems have slowed the pace of developmental work. In such a scenario which is characterized by hardworking rural women who are single handedly managing their homes, land, social and developmental issues despite various kinds of resistance, it becomes important to study the various aspects of women and development.
The main objective of the present study is to find out the involvement of grassroot women leaders in development of their area (Village, Block and District) with initiative taken for addressal of social and development issues.
Methodology
The scope of the study covered the Kumaon regions of Uttarakhand state. The study included women leaders, both formal and informal from the area .The study also included a sample of the public (Gram Sabha) and the government officials of the regions. Nature of the study was descriptive. The universe for the study comprised of both formal and informal women leaders associated in Self Help Groups from Kumaon region and public of the selected villages inclusive of the government officials.
Multistage purposive sampling was used to select the district, block and the villages. Sample was collected from the Kumaon region. The study was conducted in Nainital District of Okhalanda Block and villages were selected from the mentioned blocks. Convenience sampling was used for selection of the public and the government officials. The major criterion for selection of the geographical units was the Human Development Index of the selected unit- the education status of the women being a major indicator. Sample size was 250-300 respondents.
Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected for the purpose of the study. For this purpose, two different schedules were framed for the primary data collection of the women leaders and the public respectively. The data from the government officials were collected through Interview Guide. The secondary data were collected from Uttarakhand Development report, reports from the Department of Women and Child Development, Department of Rural Development and the annual reports from the NGOs working in the area.
Results and Discussion
Contribution Made By the SHGs’ Family Members and Society
Thirty per cent of the Self Help Groups’ (SHGs’) husbands and 12 per cent of other family members like mother-in-laws, father-in-laws, son etc. were reported as playing an important role in motivating women representatives to contest elections and help was also given during the administrative work. While 58 per cent reported that there was no co-operation with the SHGs if the women contest the election. Social work participatory method of participatory learning and action (PLA) like prioritizing the need and discussion with the SHGs member highlighted that most of the women used to work without the support and feeling it hard to work or implement the development programme.
Contesting of Election
The majority of the SHGs member had contested only one election (87%) and hence the proportion of first timers in politics was also high (86%). Around 14 per cent were re-elected more than once at the Gram Panchayat level. Reservation had played a significant role as four-fifths of all the representatives got elected from reserved seats. Reservation facilitated the first entry into politics for most of the elected representatives (83%). However, it did not help much in continuing for second or third terms, as the proportion that got elected from the reserved seats was 58 per cent and 45 per cent respectively. Ex-women representatives who faced defeat in their attempts to continue their careers, accepted that there was less social interaction and/or no proper campaigning (52%) on their part. The problem of unacceptability/conflict across different social categories was another important reason mentioned by two-fifths of them. Ninety-one per cent did not contest any intermediate/Zilla Parishad election; higher level of political aspiration was generally not present among the Gram Panchayat-level Panchayati Raj functionaries. Thirty per cent even revealed that most of the women did not feel like contesting election due to the ex-women leaders struggle for carrying out their roles. The Social work participatory method of PRA techniques and discussion with the SHGs in group highlighted that the reservation had made the women to contest election but not fully as political strong leaders.
Participation of Male Members with Respect to Women Leadership and Decision-Making Power of SHGs
Forty-two per cent of the women and their families revealed that Elected Women Representatives (EWRS) used to perform their roles but 58 per cent said that women elected were not aware about the duties and responsibilities and male partners were dominated and used to take most of the decisions in the works of the panchayat. As the result reflected from the social work participatory method of PLA highlighted earlier that most of the Women Representatives faced the problems of non cooperation from the officials and due to that fact that they had slowed the pace of developmental works. Needless to say that the women are not meant to be representatives as the rest of the members, instead they are meant to be co-opted.
Development Programmes Initiated by the Women
Participation of women in development sector like heath, education, micro planning and politics is not a new phenomenon. The women in Kumaon (70%) followed the age old practices for the development of their villages. They had been involved even in the government programmes but most of the women were not the beneficiaries (50%) but facilitator in the work of development i.e. educating the children, health awareness, environment protection. Participation of women (70%) in joint forest management activities was mostly as partners and supporters through attending general meetings, patrolling and formation of SHGs in the regions. There was high level of awareness among the women population (80%) on climate change but they had little options left. Measures were taken by some women to conserve their surroundings, but they were far from sufficient. Lesser economic incentives and hardships faced by the women compelled them to think more economically than ecologically. Some of the women in Kumaon region did not rely on traditional practices for making their livelihoods, few women (20%) were aware of the modern practices. Women groups also fought against all odds to become economically sound. The women of the same village constituted a Mahila Group by themselves and motivated other women to be a part of the group in the panchayat. These initiatives by the grassroot women resulted in strong community institutions especially of the women, for women and by the women. The members of this group used to meet religiously on the decided date each month, they had their own code of conduct and fines were levied on those who were not regular or who didn’t contribute to the monthly savings of the group. The advent of the Self Help Groups and micro- financing had taught them the art of managing their own funds and got linked with the SGSY schemes. They started participating in gram Sabha meeting and solved various village level conflicts. Got educated with the help of Mahila Samakha and this group formed federation and helped other households in neighboring village.
Problems Faced and Suggestions by the Women Leaders
Some of them faced the problems of lack of cooperation from other villagers (20%), lack of fund and infrastructure (45%), lack of cooperation from the official (20%), lack of transportation (45%). Migration from the villages to town along with their husbands also created problems for the other women who stayed back in villages. Some of the women revealed that due to the change in the livelihood pattern, most of the villages had gone out from the villages for earning. Most of the women no doubt gained benefit from the development programme run by the government and NGOs. In order to solve problems, women suggested timely training to update knowledge based practices, field visits, proper coordination among the three tier system and timely disbursal of funds.
Conclusions
The present study revealed that most of the women (60%) had difficulty in performing their role and following the procedure for moving the file for speedy working environment to the government officials for approval. It was also noted that role of elected women could be enhanced and made effective with the knowledge of participatory method of PLA which can even help them to work on priority base along with the deserving beneficiaries. The Gram Sabha could be made aware and effective to work with the SHGs and to create pressure groups for effective development work in their villages. The pressure groups members can be made from the members of community based organizations (CBOs) present in the villages. There are a large number of success stories in different Commonwealth countries that show how women have been getting empowered through collective decision-making and collective action. There are also a large number of success stories about how women have worked at the local level to promote peace in the family and in the community. Documentation of such success stories, however, is still weak and needs to be undertaken urgently. Women’s use of traditional knowledge whether in agriculture, health, medicinal herbs is an important area for documentation. Networking, building alliances and linkages at all levels is essential for documenting the women’s contribution programs who have achieved any degree of success. Workshops, exchange programs, study visits can be organized to facilitate and strengthen the women and to provide platform to learn from each other experiences.
References
Bhatt ER (2006) We are Poor but So Many: the Story of Self Employed Women in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Jain D (1992) Women- New Vision of Leadership. A Presentation at Global Forum, Dublin.
Lakshi (1993) Women and Politics-A Study in Political Participation. Hyderabad: Book link Corporation.
Mishra TN (1992) A Case Study of Uttarakhand State-Grassroots Women Leaders and Development, Thesis Submitted, University of Delhi, New Delhi.
Monsen JH (1991) Women and Development in the Third World. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.