A genuinely historic occasion, Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as India’s 15th president. She is the second woman and the first member of the Scheduled Tribes (ST) community to hold the nation’s top constitutional position. She is also the first person to be born in an independent India and the youngest person to be elected president.
With nearly two-thirds of the Electoral College’s votes, she defeated Yaswanth Sinha in the presidential race.
At the very least symbolically, the rise of an Adivasi woman from a lowly origin to the highest constitutional seat is a historic victory. Ms. Murmu is a member of the Santhal tribe, one of the biggest ST populations in India, and was born in a village in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. She served two terms as a Rairangpur representative in the Odisha Legislative Assembly (MLA) between 2000 and 2009 before becoming the Governor of Jharkhand from 2015 to 2021. This Without the constitutional changes that established representative local governments, it’s probable that the incredible journey from Rairangapur to Raisina Hill would not have been feasible. Ms. Murmu started out in politics as a Rairangapur Nagar panchayat councillor, where she was chosen from a ward that was designated for two men from ST communities.
Reservation at the intersection
Diversifying political representation has been made possible in large part by the democratic decentralisation “quiet revolution” that began 30 years ago. The 73rd and 74th Amendments, which required the establishment of democratically elected panchayats and municipalities, were ratified by the parliament in December 1992. The Amendments aimed to provide rural and urban local governments with roles, resources, and officials so they could operate as “institutions of self-government” and pursue the goals of social justice and economic development.
On one level, these changes represented the realisation of Mahatma Gandhi and his supporters’ long-held goal of making the village the primary unit of government. The major members of the constituted assembly, notably Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, famously objected to this demand at first. What else is the village but a cesspool of nationalism, a slum of ignorance, and a ghetto of prejudice? I’m happy that the proposed constitution has chosen the individual over the community as its basic societal unit.
Therefore, until the 73rd and 74th amendments were passed, India’s centralised federal constitution, which was approved in 1950, had no meaningful provision for local administration. It would be incorrect to interpret these constitutional changes, which replaced ancient panchayats with a modern state structure, as solely Gandhi’s utopian vision of “gramme swaraj.”
Most significantly, these revisions required a minimum of one-third of seats to be reserved for women and to mem castes (SCs and STs) depending on their percentage of the population in the jurisdiction for elected councils of panchayats and municipalities.
The revisions also compel the state to reserve seats for people from disadvantaged groups and require women, SCs, and STs to serve as chairpersons of panchayats and municipalities.
The reservation clause included in these changes stands out most for advancing the representation of those who cross multiple oppressed identities. Therefore, seats in panchayats and municipalities are designated for groups like SC women, ST women, and OBC women in addition to SC, ST, and women. A system with such quotas recognises the worsened discrimination and disadvantages people experience as a result of the junction of multiple ascriptive identities, such as caste and gender. Thus, the modifications give thousands of Dalits and other social groups a chance to run for office in local government and advance in the political world.
Meaningful Representation
Due to problems with the design and implementation of the amendments, local governments have yet to develop into strong “units of self-government” nearly 30 years after the passage of these constitutional modifications. By raising the overall number of elected members and diversifying the state’s population, they have succeeded in extending the representational character of India. In fact, States have increased the OBC reserve above and beyond what was required by the rules. Women’s reservations have climbed from 33% to 50% in as many as 20 states. Out of the 3,87,320 elected officials in panchayats all throughout India as of September 2020. Women make up 14,53,973.
In academic and policy discussions, this fundamental broadening of Indian politics’ social base has received comparatively little attention. The Judiciary has also expressed considerable scepticism about legislative initiatives for increasing diversity in municipal government representation. The state administration’s attempts to establish OBC reservation in local government elections were repeatedly blocked by the Supreme Court, which demanded that it be supported by “empirical findings” of backwardness. For the “better management of the panchayats,” it has maintained revisions that specified educational requirements for candidates in local body elections.
Reservation requirements for local governments are frequently criticised as policies that do not significantly benefit the disadvantaged groups in popular discourse. It’s crucial to remember that the portrayal of normative goals has intrinsic worth. Additionally, while it is true that women occasionally serve as their husbands’ substitutes in reserved constituencies, empirical studies have shown that women-led panchayats prioritise infrastructure more relevant to women, invest more in public goods, and increase women’s involvement in village affairs.
The nomination of President MURMU has also been criticised as nothing more than a token gesture that will do nothing to help the predicament of the Adivasis. Such cynicism is unjustified, especially considering how, during her time as governor of Jharkhand, she exercised her governorial authority to veto changes to the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act that the Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) GOVERNMENT had made in an effort to permit the state to use Adivasi land for commercial purposes.
The MURMU president’s use of her position is yet to be seen, but her appointment serves as a reminder of the profound effects that grassroots efforts to diversify representation may have at the top.
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