Tribal Women Experiencing Panchayati Raj Institution in India with Special Reference to Arunachal Pradesh

-The role of women in any tribal communities is crucial. A tribal woman occupies an important place in the socio-economic structure of the society. They exercise free and firm hand in all aspects related to their social and economic life. In Agriculture, tribal women play a crucial role in wide range of activities and contributing to sustainable development. Tribal communities are at slow stages of political development. The role of tribal women in politics has been underrepresented. But with the introduction of the 73 rd Constitutional Amendment Act and the reservation of one-third of its seats for STs, SCs and Women in Grass-roots politics, the participation of tribal women in panchayat politics has been noticed among the tribal communities. Panchayati Raj Institution can be assumed as a mechanism for rapid development of the tribal communities and also for greater participation and empowerment of tribal women. In Arunachal Pradesh, the Panchayat system was introduced as far the– North East Panchayati Raj Regulation, 1967. Elections to Panchayats were held seven (7) times between 1968 and 1992, but the result showed that at the Anchal Samiti level in 1987, there was only one (1) and in 1992 there were only three (3) female elected representatives. In higher decision making bodies also i.e., Legislative Assembly the women had never exceed 5 (five) per cent in the state. Hence, an attempt has been carried out in this paper to study the participation of tribal women in panchayat categorically on the basis of election held in April 2003, May 2008 and May 2013 respectively.