Women Participation in Panchayati raj (with special reference to Anantnag Dist. of Jammu & Kashmir)

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - International Politics - General and Theories, grade: 1, , course: Political Science, language: English, abstract: This study is carried out in district Anantnag, South Province, of Kashmir during 2015. The basic purpose of the study is to analyze the role of women in Panchayati Raj system in the research area. The hypothesis is that, despite radical policy, participation of women in local governance is still constrained by social and religious structure.

The data was collected from 399 respondents selected through systematic random sampling method from nine polling stations of Anantnag district. A majority of women take part in political activities only during elections. They think that casting vote is the ultimate exercise in political power. They are not aware of the reality that the elections are just an initiation of real powers. The higher level of participation is "taking part in decision making process" which they generally tend to ignore. Actually it is because of election campaigns run by contesting parties, which drives women to participate in voting and feel that their demands will be fulfilled, but after the election is over, it all books befooling activities.