New Delhi: The Panchayati Raj Ministry on Wednesday organized a national conference of elected women representatives of rural bodies to mark one year of ‘Sashakt Panchayat-Nitri Abhiyan’ and also announced a new initiative aimed at enhancing women’s safety in rural areas, officials said.
The event was attended by Panchayati Raj Union Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Panchayati Raj State Minister SP Singh Baghel, which brought together more than 700 participants, mostly women, from across the country.
At the conference, the ministry launched the ‘Nirbhay Rahu’ initiative under the Nirbhaya Fund to promote women’s safety and empowerment in panchayats.
The ministry said in a statement that the initiative focuses on building the capacity of 14.5 thousand elected representatives on legal rights and leadership, educating about 17.5 thousand male representatives on gender equality and installing surveillance cameras in strategic rural locations to enhance safety infrastructure.
Addressing the conference, Rajiv Ranjan said that the ‘Sashakt Panchayat – Netri Abhiyan’ reflects a national resolve to place women at the heart of grassroots democracy, noting that more than 14.5 lakh elected representatives of women play a key role in governance at the local level.
He said that women account for about 46 per cent of the total elected representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions and urged them to further enhance leadership, financial management and governance capacities through training programs supported by the Center and states.
The minister also mentioned the use of the AI-powered SabhaSaar platform to support the functioning of panchayats and said that financial support to local bodies has increased significantly over the years.
“Recommended by the Sixteenth Finance Commission $4,35,236 crore for rural local bodies for 2026-31, as compared to $65,160 crores recommended by the 13th Finance Commission,” the minister said.
Baghel said training programs under the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan help elected representatives, especially women, develop the skills needed for effective leadership and responsive local governance.
Panchayati Raj Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj said initiatives like ‘Sashakt Panchayat – Netri Abhiyan’ and ‘Model Woman – Friendly Gram Panchayats’ are working to promote women’s leadership at the grassroots level.
More than 7.18 lakh women-elected representatives have been trained during 2025-26, while 744 women-friendly model panchayats have been identified across 32 states and union territories, he said.
During the conference, eminent women panchayat leaders from 24 states and union territories were felicitated for their contributions to rural governance.
Andrea M. said: Wojnar, UNFPA country representative in India, who attended the conference, said the Panchayati Raj system has significantly expanded women’s political participation, with more than 1.4 million elected women contributing to governance at the grassroots level.
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