GENDER, POWER AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE: A STUDY OF WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION AND THE 'SARPANCH PATI' PHENOMENON IN HARYANA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Women’s representation in PRIs, through a reservation system, has brought women’s formal representation to local governance, which does not equate to substantive political agency. Haryana is a key state as it offers 50 per cent reservation for females in PRIs. This paper explores the phenomenon which is popularly termed as ‘Sarpanch Pati’, wherein husbands or other male heads of Sarpanches wield an informal control. The research employs a qualitative approach through a constitutional analysis of provisions, policy analysis and published scholarship to analyse the disparity between women's legal rights and their actual participation in local decision making. It asserts that the patriarchy and traditional family structures, social expectations, caste relations, administrative subordination and unequal political networks can undermine autonomous leadership. The paper concludes that there is a need for direct administrative recognition, ongoing capacity building, participation of Gram Sabhas, and digital access and safeguards against proxy representation. The abstract highlights substantive agency, which dovetails with a consistent theme of the recent research on Haryana: although the number of women has increased significantly, their ability to act independently varies from one district to another and by social group. Field studies conducted in Karnal, Hisar, Bhiwani and Sonipat show a situation where women Sarpanches are formally included but not practically involved, and their files, phones and official correspondence is controlled by male relatives. It is not an everywhere pattern, as some women engage in a negotiation of family conditions, learn the procedures, and slowly gain control over the authority, particularly if training and support is stable. The study, therefore, does not consider the term ‘Sarpanch Pati’ as an indiscriminate phenomenon, but rather as a continuum, from harmless help to prolonged replacement, and the latter as a clear danger to democratic accountability. The paper places the 50 percent reservation of Haryana within the larger discourse on feminist institutionalism to reflect upon the negative impact of informal gendered norms on formal norms and the paradoxical situation of inclusion and exclusion. The policy implications are clear: if no specific protection measures are put in place, the reservation effect may go beyond symbolic change and women's electoral success will not lead to the dismantling of patriarchal power systems. In the past few years, a number of edited books and monographs have been published on gender and local governance in India (2020 – 2026) which further substantiate this argument, indicating that mere quota measures, if implemented, would not yield any results without any institutional changes. Keywords: Panchayati Raj, Women’s Participation, Sarpanch Pati, Proxy Leadership, Patriarchy, Haryana, Political Agency