Sthree Shakti comes to fore in panchayat polls

Vikarabad: The new Telangana Panchayat Raj Act has become a boon for women folk as it enabled more women to contest for panchayats. Recent gram panchayat elections witnessed more women sarpanches, ward members being elected in the villages. Besides, they also keenly contested from general quota panchayts and many succeeded.There are total 565 panchayats in the district, in which 282 were reserved for women. 

Besides bagging the reserved slots, they also won 23 panchayats. There are a total 4,850 wards in all the panchayats, of which 2,427 wards were reserved for women. Women bagged 2,698 wards across the district.The results have demonstrated that women do not want to be confined to their homes any longer and are firm on taking part in development of their villages.They outnumber men as sarpanches across the district and their growing eminence and numbers will not only pave for their brighter political careers but also ensure better development than their male counterparts. 

Women also bagged more vice-sarpanch posts than men, a new phenomenon in the district politics.As many as 305 women have been elected as sarpanches, in which 44 women were elected unanimously and 261 members were won in the contest. Most of them are educated and some of them even pursued PGs.

Earlier, instead of women sarpanches, their husbands and sons used to represent them in meetings and most of the time women resort to home only. But people hoping that situation will this time and women sarpanches will work independently and work for the welfare of the village.