Reservation to women

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Delhi,,

Efforts are made towards capacity building of the Elected Women Representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions by imparting qualitative training and knowledge. For this purpose, around 11 % of the provisions available under BRGF programme are utilized for capacity building and training of Elected Representatives (including women) of the PRIs. Besides, under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Yojana, assistance is provided to States / UTs for imparting training to Elected Representatives and functionaries of Panchayati Raj Institutions particularly in the non-BRGF districts. Besides, assistance to States / UTs is also provided under the Scheme of Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Shakti Abhiyan (PMEYSA) to increase the knowledge, capability and responsiveness of Elected Women Representatives and Elected Youth Representatives to the demands of their constituents. The total allocation for the 2010-11 for these programmes is as follows:-

(i) BRGF Rs. 5050.00 crore (only the Capacity building component)

(ii) RGSY Rs. 50.00 crore

(iii) PMEYSA Rs. 3.00 crore

the Union Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Dr. C. P. Joshi said A Constitutional Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to increase the reservation for women from existing one third to fifty per cent in Panchayati Raj Institutions. The information about the number of Elected Representatives of Panchayats as on date and the percentage of elected women representatives has been called for from the States / UTs.

At present the Panchayat Mahila Evam Yuva Shakti Abhiyan is being implemented in the country to encourage political participation by women in Panchayati Raj Institutions, Dr. Joshi added.