Jaipur, 08 March 2025
In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2025, Gram Panchayats across the country have made a significant stride in promoting women’s leadership in decision-making by organizing Mahila Sabhas. These platforms have laid the foundation for gender-responsive governance, ensuring that women’s voices are not only heard but also actively shape the development agenda at the grassroots level, promoting their safety, education, health, nutrition, and economic, social, and political empowerment.
These Mahila Sabhas are a direct outcome of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj’s efforts, , to advance Theme 9 of the Localization of Sustainable Development Goals (LSDGs), with a specific emphasis on creating Women-Friendly Panchayats. UNFPA is the recognized technical partner for taking this initiative forward through capacity building and knowledge management efforts. The Ministry of Panchayati Raj, with technical support of UNFPA organized a National Workshop on March 4-5, 2025, in New Delhi. This workshop, attended by 1200 elected women representatives, policymakers, and grassroots leaders, marked the launch of the “Sashakt Panchayat-Netri Abhiyan,” an initiative aimed at scaling up the program across more than 770 Gram Panchayats nationwide. This initiative directs each state to develop at least one model Women-Friendly Gram Panchayat per district and provides training to elected representatives and panchayat functionaries to ensure gender-sensitive governance.
Continuing the momentum at the state level, a two-day capacity-building workshop was held on March 5-6, 2025, organized by the Indira Gandhi Panchayati Raj & Gramin Vikas Sansthan (IGPR&GVS) and the Department of Panchayati Raj, with technical support from UNFPA. The workshop, aimed at elected representatives and Village Development Officers, focused on equipping participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to develop their panchayats into Women and Girl-Friendly Panchayats. Approximately 46 participants formulated action plans for their respective panchayats, ensuring sustained efforts towards gender equality at the grassroots level.
The event was graced by Dr. Subodh Agarwal, Director General of IGPR&GVS; Mr. Ramswaroop, Additional Director of IGPR&GVS; Ms. Savitri Sharma, Deputy Director of IGPR&GVS; and Ms. Trisha Pareek, Youth and Gender Specialist at UNFPA Rajasthan.