Drive to empower tribal women on cards

Jamshedpur: To empower tribal women across the state, Campaign for Right to Education in Jharkhand (CREJ) has identified 1,000 villages. The move aims at social activists, educationists and senior members of CREJ would hold a series of mass meetings with women, including senior citizens, to advocate their role in the effective functioning of gram sabhas at the grassroots level.  They would also conduct seminars at the village level to advocate the role of women in the civil society. So far, the state government has failed to conduct the panchayati poll in Jharkhand. The traditional form of system- gram sabha- is functional in the tribal-dominated scheduled areas of the state, including Singhbhum-Kolhan. The government provides fund to the gram sabhas for undertaking development work in the villages. The CREJ, a social outfit, has also engaged various NGOs, which are working in the tribal areas to empower the women. The resource persons would start visiting these villages from the first week of September.

Pravin Kumar, a core member of CREJ, said a month-long campaign is designed to empower the women by making them aware of their role in the function of gram sabhas. "The women are not aware about their role guaranteed by the Constitution. They do not participate in various meetings to discuss various developmental projects for the welfare of villages," Kumar told The Telegraph.  He added that the resource persons would inform women about their constitutional rights. "We recently celebrated the 60th Independence Day across the country. But the fruits of independence are yet to reach the rural women. If these women are empowered about their role at the lowest-level of governing body, then the fruits of development could reach the villages," Kumar said. The state convener of CREJ, K.C. Mardy, said the gram sabha is functional in the tribal-dominated East Singhbhum, adjoining West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan. "But the women have no rule to play in the traditional system as it is dominated by the males. Now we want to empower them and enable them to take an active role in the development of villages," he said. Many villages of Patamda, Musabani and Potka block have been identified for the campaign.

(Source: Telegraph India, September 2, 2007)