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Training to govern

Preeti Mehra

Haven't you heard, over and over again, the argument against 30 per cent reservation for women in political parties? ``Oh,'' they say, ``the men use the women and operate remote control.'' They also say this of women elected at the panchayat level. I n fact a few studies on panchayats show that this does happen at times and that the elected representatives are often ill-equipped to deal with administration and their new role.

An intervention planned by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) could help improve matters. It recently committed $ 3 million to strengthen the skills and knowledge of three million panchayat representatives, which includes one million wo men.

Such a programme was signed between UNDP, the Department of Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Rural Development for panchayat-level training to be imparted by six State-level training institutions. The institutions are to be developed into regional resource centres. These, in turn, will impart training to principal trainers from State Institutes of Rural Development and some NGOs.

The training-relay will continue with principal trainers grooming training experts drawn from community-based organisations. These will comprise youth clubs, women's organisations, grassroots elected representatives and functionaries.

Quite a programme. Is it not? But one hopes it will help strengthen decentralised democracy and governance, the best bet for the country. But, as in every new development programme, one must wait and watch for its effectiveness.