Decentralised Governance and Political Empowerment of Women: Gram Panchayats in Koraput District of Odisha, India.

Women's participation in public life is often constrained due to various socio-economic conditions. The 73^rd Constitutional Amendment Act of India provides 33 per cent reservation for women to give them wider representation in the local bodies. In spite of such and other provisions, empowerment of women is not satisfactory because of certain factors like political failure, lack of education and awareness among women. Against this background, a study was conducted in a backward and tribal district of Odisha, which examined the political processes. The study attempted to find out how women perceive their political empowerment as people's representatives. It also examined the perception of elected representatives on political empowerment. The findings of the study are expected to give a better understanding of the relationship between socio-economic backwardness of the region and women's participation and empowerment. In turn, this will help in meeting the challenges of women's empowerment as envisioned in the 73^rd amendment. This empirical study found that the participation of women is adversely influenced by the socio-economic structure of the region. The socio-economic backwardness of the region affected the capabilities of women in their participation as people's representatives. The performance of the women members appears to be more adversely affected than the male members. Thus, capabilities in the public domain are not only gendered, but also socio-economically structured. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]