Women and panchayati raj institutions: a reference to an idu mishimi tribe of arunachal pradesh

“There is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of women is improved. It is not possible for a bird to fly with one wing” quote Swami Vivekananda. The role of women in our tribal society is indispensable and of the outmost importance. In spite of it women are discriminated against and deprived of their rights. The status of tribal women is not at par with their male counterparts. The patriarchal mindset and social structure of the society needs urgent change in the present scenario.
In Arunachal Pradesh, various tribal communities are at different stages of their developments, as such, the status of women differs from community to community. However, in general the position of women in Arunachal Pradesh is respectable but not as much as high. The prevalence of polygamy, bride price has no doubt lowered their position. And some social problems like child marriage, bride price, sexual abuse, rape and torture or related domestic violence are quite common. The women are the back bone of the tribal society as so to say in a pastoral economy, as such they are busy life, helping their men folks in almost every walk of life from cultivation to hard work, and to look after their children and family along with feeding of cattle’s at their home. In fact, women’s duties and rights in nature rooted in their tradition, mythology, heritage and status of women largely depend upon the kind of economic and political rights they enjoy.

Every society creates status to women as per its own perspectives. The status and role of women in Idu Mishmi society is also governed by their own norms and values with respect to interactions within the family and the division of labor between male and female in the traditional family. In fact, the Idu Mishmi women play a pivotal role, as agriculture is the main occupation. The women generally perform the domestic household chores like cooking, cleaning, looking after the young siblings, preparing of yuh (rice beer), pounding of rice (hanji-hala) weaving and knitting and preparation of fodder for their cattle’s and pigs, to maintain guest hospitality in their respective household thereafter, they went for cultivations. Though the nature of job is lighter and less muscles, but it is not an easy and never is looked down upon them.
As per the law of nature, the change is an inevitable as nothing is permanent except change, and every human society is dynamic, it keeps on changing with the change in a space of time. The Idus are also no exception and there are perceptible changes in almost every aspects of Idu mishmi women’s life. The comings of changes are mainly due to the introduction of attributive education system, modernization, urbanization and socio-cultural assimilations with other advance cultures, de-centralization of local self government at the grass root level, and set up of liberal democratic political ideology in a plural society, and responsible parents in the existing of social engineering and multi-facets approaches’ in a large diverse society like India. Now, there is a Gamburies and local leaders are emerging from the female side to represent their village and district as well as policy matter, which were never held by women in traditional society of the Idus. The new trend also emerging from the urban middle class women of Idus who are educated and working in certain fields, like teachers, doctors, nurses, administrators, NGOS, Women Self Help Groups, Entrepreneurial Developments, elite peer groups and other technical service hierarchy in the system. In such changing circumstances, educated and employed wife or women are being considered as an asset in the society, which enhance the status of Idu Mishmi women. As per the constitution of India, the reservation for women in Panchayati Raj is a correct step and it laid a strong foundation for taking their participation at the bottom layer of three tier system. It is crucial for not only the development of women themselves but also the availability of their creative potential is an important and without it the country, state and society cannot hope for any sustainable development. The Act of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment has mandated not less than 2/3rd (33%) reservation for women in Panchayats, at all level. Taking advantage of this, now Idu Mishmi women can also do lots for the upliftment of the status of women and society in larger perspectives. To empower the women in the political field our state should provide 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institution and Urban Local Bodies. There are 20 states namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Ordisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telengana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have made provisions of 50% reservation of women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.