PYQ Vault · Paper 1 · Local Government
Enunciate the impediments to women’s participation in local governance in the process of political decentralisation.
How the answer moves
The flow snapshot — the routes in, the body, the counter-view and the routes out.
Flow snapshot — how the answer moves
Intro routes
G29 73rd/74th reserved 1/3 seats + chairperson posts > 10 lakh+ women entered ~ presence achieved | R2 decentralisation widened entry, not participation ~ impediments sit in the gap between presence and power proxy control most visible (“Pati Panchayat”, Sudha Pai; male relatives attend — Susheela Kaushik) – rests on patriarchy (purdah, mobility curbs, male-leadership-as-natural; 2004 Haryana study) ~ capability deficit (low education/training ~ dependence on officials + male kin) ~ double burden (household + family interference + no official cooperation — Bidyut Mohanty) — institutional hostility inside councils (presence
Body flow
unacknowledged, not allowed to speak/seek info, no-confidence misused — James Manor) — security + economic dependence + digital divide
Counter-view
structural flaw: rotation of reserved seats blocks re-election (Rohini Pande) impediments are not a case against reservation ~ same decentralisation shifted local priorities (water/health /education) where women act freely ~ barriers are removable, not inherent RI | door opened by decentralisation; substantive participation needs the second step — capacity, safety, longer tenure, curbing proxy
Conclusion routes
reservation gave the seat; converting seat into voice means breaking patriarchy + institutional resistance
Model answer
Handwritten, in the form it would be written in the examination hall.
