ABSTRACT
In Kerala, gender inequality exists in the socio-economic and political sphere despite high human development. Women empowerment is therefore an important concern of the decentralisation process in the state. Ten per cent of the total development expenditure of the Local Self Government Institutions is allocated for the Women Component Sub-Plan (WCP) for uplifting of rural women. Against this background, this chapter examines the role of Gram Panchayat (GP) representatives, particularly women, in the execution of the WCP Sub-Plan with the help of primary data. After looking at the nature of projects implemented under the WCP and amounts allocated and utilised on WCP projects, the chapter finds that projects included under the WCP are repetitive and inadequate to empower the rural women. Although the Kerala Panchayat (Amendment) Act 2009 increased the representation of women, the increased space did not translate into equal involvement of women representatives in GP activities. The policy suggestion emerging from the chapter is that WCP projects are to be reoriented to increase the participation of women representatives.
