Political Participation of Women in Odisha: A Socio-Cultural Perspective

Name of Author : Dr. Rajshree Dutta

Abstract: With an increasing recognition among international community of women?s historic exclusion from structures of power, a global commitment has been made to redress gender imbalance in politics. Women?s enhanced participation in governance structures is viewed as the key to redress gender inequalities not only in India but across all societies. Political participation is a process by which people take part in political activities. Exercising voting rights during elections is one of the important political activities of the people. Political participation of women is the pre-condition of socio-economic development and enrichment of the equality of life in the society. It is an unavoidable fact that women are struggling hard to attain space in the political arena. Odisha has gradually developed affirmative action policies to reach the goal of inclusive democracy, gender equality and sustainable development. At the state level special measures have been designed to ensure women?s participation, development and empowerment. Attempts have been made to raise the level of awareness, expertise, policies, laws and women?s voices in decision-making thereby breaking the socio-cultural stereotypes of patriarchy. Therefore, drawing on the secondary sources, the paper attempts to analyze the history of political participation of women in Odisha. The paper would also comprehend the challenges responsible for lesser participation and delineate the emerging trends of political participation of women in Odisha and the way forward.

Keywords : Women, Political Participation, Rights, Patriarchy, Socio-Cultural Barriers, Gender Equality

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