Governance at the Grassroots: Innovative Leadership of a Woman Panchayat President in Kerala

Abstract

This paper is based on a study of women governance choosing a Gramapanchayat president in thestate of Kerala. The objective of the study is to find out the contributions of women in governance byidentifying the best woman pradhans/sarpanches who has shown remarkable improvement in localgovernance. The best Panchayat president was selected on the basis of specific parameters ofassessment adopted for the study. The data were collected from the primary sources throughinterviews and informal discussions with the Panchayat president/officials/public and from thesecondary sources of relevant documents. The paper deals with the innovative practices adopted andimplemented by the Gramapanchayat president of Chemancheri in Kozhikkode district, in some of
the important but neglected aspects of development such as education, health and sanitation, ruralinfrastructure, and gainful employment in the rural areas. The study shows that the woman leader hascontributed towards qualitative differences in governance at the grassroot level by using the tangible
and intangible technologies of blueprints, models, consultancy and problems solving methods. Theconstraints and hindrances faced by the Panchayat president in implementing these innovativepractices are highlighted.