A committee set up by the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj has called for “exemplary penalties” in cases where the husbands of women village chiefs function as proxies in gram panchayats, The Indian Express reported on Thursday.

The panchayati raj ministry had set up the panel in September 2023 to look into the problem of “women pradhans being represented by the male members of their families”, The Hindu reported. This came in response to a Supreme Court order in July that year.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992, required one-third of seats in panchayati raj institutions to be reserved for women. In 21 states and two Union Territories, the reservation was expanded to nearly 50%.

The Union government had said in May that women comprised 46% of the elected representatives in panchayati raj institutions.

In several cases, however, women village heads are reduced to figureheads, with their male relatives holding actual authority and carrying out the functions assigned to them.

To prevent such cases, the committee set up by the Union government has recommended measures such as gender-exclusive quotas in certain panchayat subject committees, as is the practice in Kerala, and the public swearing-in of women pradhans in gram sabhas.

The panel has also called for setting up helplines and “Women Watchdog Committees” to enable complaints to be filed, and for whistleblower rewards in cases where the practice is proven to have been in place, according to The Hindu.

Other recommendations, made by the committee headed by former mines secretary Sushil Kumar, included creating a federation of women panchayat heads and setting up gender resource centres for leadership training and legal guidance.

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