The Impact of Women’s Political Empowerment Policy: A Perspective from the Idukki District of Kerala

Abstract

Women's exposure to political power and their influence on policies has expanded tremendously in recent decades. However, females are nowhere proportional to males in their impact and practice of political legitimacy although political empowerment research on women's role is continuing. The Indian government national program of ‘Panchayati Raj Institutions' act of 1992 was an outstanding policy mechanism for increasing women's political participation at the national level. This act provides 50 % reservation seats for women in the Local Self Government, and thus women were capable of attaining power in the political realm. Through this policy, there is a greater possibility for women to elected in the political realms and thus process a higher role in welfare mechanisms in their respective administrative locality than before. In this context, this article aims to explore the importance of the Panchayati Raj Institution policy on the political empowerment of women in the panchayat. To find out the impact of policy, this paper conducted an empirical study by collecting the primary data from elected women representatives in one district of Kerala. The results could assess the significance of increasing women's political empowerment and their position in Kerala society.