INDIA.Madhya Pradesh: In Madhya Pradesh, a woman won the three-tier panchayat election and became the new ‘sarpanch’ of Damoh district. But the husband of the woman took oath on her behalf.
According to sources, all husbands of newly-elected members of the gram panchayat take the Oath on behalf of their wives.
This is a clear showcase of patriarchal dominance in society. This incident is heavily criticised by Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, he calls it a “mockery of the Constitution”.
He took to his Twitter and slashed through his writing, “It is both a tragedy and a comedy to witness husbands of elected women representatives take oath as ‘members’ of Panchayats in Madhya Pradesh! Unbelievable that in the 75th year of Independence, there can be such a mockery of the Constitution and the Laws.
The controversial village Panchayat is to be administered by the elected sarpanch, but gender biases take a lead. Reportedly, the elected head of the Panchayat belongs to the scheduled class. The Concerned officials granted permission to the husbands to be present in the oath-taking ceremony. A journalist took to Twitter, to reveal the malpractices where a bunch of people aligned together and took the oath. All the husbands, fathers or brothers-in-law came in front to take a lead.
The Chief Executive Officer of Damoh Panchayat, Ajay Srivastava in an interview made a statement, “We had received information that some men had taken oaths instead of their elected wives. We have ordered a detailed report on the matter, once the report comes out the Panchayat secretary will be punished (if guilty).” This entire incident turned into the shape of controversy.
An advocate of Jabalpur High court, Quazi Fakhruddin, who practices in the court said, “Article 243 of the Constitution talks about the reservation for women and this has been endorsed by Madhya Pradesh in its M.P. Panchayat Raj and Gram Swaraj Act, 1993. A Pradhan Pati culture, however, thrives in the hinterland which defeats the purpose of the exercise that is adequate representation for women and their empowerment.”
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