Explanation:

In a progressive decision, the state government has announced that husbands or relatives of elected women will not be allowed to be part of any meeting of Panchayati Raj institutions in Punjab.

The decision is aimed at stopping the practice of meetings being attended by husbands, sons or other relatives on behalf of women representatives of Panchayati raj institutions (PRIs). IN this regard, Punjab cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal asserted that a long overdue decision was taken to genuinely empower women instead of paying lip service to the cause.

As part of the practice that has gone unabated over the years, in full public view as well as knowledge, instructions had been issued several times in the past not to allow any woman representative’s husband, son or any other family member to participate on their behalf in the meetings of PRIs. But despite this, it has been observed that whenever there is a meeting of the elected zila parishads, panchayat committees and gram panchayats, instead of the elected women, their husbands or other family members attend the meetings. What’s worse is that the even such elected women do not seem to have any issues with the arrangement. During PRI election campaigns in the state, it has been a regular affair to see the photos of the contesting women candidates as well as their husbands/brothers etc. together on the campaigning material, pamphlets etc.

It is pertinent to note here that there is a 50 per cent reservation for women in Panchayati raj institutions in the state. The Punjab Assembly in 2017 passed The Punjab Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Bill and the Punjab Municipal (Amendment) Bill amending provisions to clear way for 50 percent reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) and municipal bodies respectively.