Recasting Citizenship for Development - File UPI

SHGs as Change Agents in Enhancing the Political Participation 333
Developing Linkages with Other Government Officials: SHGs from
Naugaon Block, Uttarakhand, interact directly with the block officials at
the Nyaya panchayat. The SHG members from Ghazipur and Faizabad
districts, Uttar Pradesh, periodically discuss various issues of their village
with government officials.
Inter-institutional Membership: Some members of the SHGs in Sehore
block, Madhya Pradesh, were also members of the standing committees
of the gram sabha such as the shiksha samiti for education and swasthya
samiti for health. According to the panchayat secretary, the women members
from the group insisted on knowing why the meetings of the standing
committees were not taking place. Parvati Bai of the Lakshmi group is
the president of the gram sabha standing committee on education. In
one of the meetings of the committee, she complained that the school
did not have a proper roof. Other members in the committee did not pay
heed to her complaint. She reported this to the group in its routine meeting.
The members took up the matter in one of the gram sabha meetings.
Gita Bai, a member of the Asha group, Sehore Block, Madhya Pradesh, is
also a member of the gram panchayat. She attends the meetings regularly.
She signs the documents or the register only after she is apprised of what
is written in the document.
OUTCOMES OF POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
The outcomes of SHGs’ political participation are visible on two planes:
within the group and within the larger community.
Outcomes Within the Group
Increased Self-confidence: Successful implementation of programmes
following the gram sabha meetings has increased the self-confidence of
the group. Their confidence is apparent in their plans for the future, where
they want to undertake a number of community-based activities.
Group Solidarity: All the SHGs in the intervention area of the organisations
under study are members of federations who meet regularly. The
learning and exchange between women’s groups have enhanced the women’s
sense of solidarity.