Having served as deputy mayors, women representatives are vying for the post of mayors. What are the bases of their claims?
Laxmi Basnet |CIJ, Nepal
Bakaiya Rural Municipality in Makwanpur has started providing Rs1,500 to the men who undergo vasectomy procedures. The rural municipality provides blood to patients for free in coordination with the blood bank. It provides an additional Rs1,500 to women who deliver babies at a hospital, raising the number of women giving birth at a hospital from 52 percent to 75 percent. The rural municipality has ensured that all community schools provide sanitary pads to female students during their periods.
The rural municipality was declared children friendly on 12 February last year. “To make a rural municipality children-friendly, you need to focus on social justice, health, and education,” said Sarala Bolakhe, deputy chairperson of the rural municipality. For Bolakhe, the legal provision of deputy chairperson becoming the coordinator of the budget committee helped her prioritise certain programmes in the budget.
There are many deputy chairpersons and deputy mayors who prioritise programmes that look minuscule but have great impact on social change and development.
Damak Municipality in Jhapa is preparing to declare itself children friendly. The community schools in the municipality are being turned into women and disabled friendly. The city has initiated the establishment of a ‘Provincial Disability Rehabilitation Centre’. Gita Adhikari, who resigned from the position of Assistant Campus Chief at Damak Multiple Campus to become deputy mayor, has taken initiatives to establish women’s groups in every tole. There are ward-level and municipality-level networks of representatives from tole groups formed for social change, and women’s economic and social empowerment. The municipality helps in the marketing of the products. Similarly, there is no fee for registering agricultural and industry firms. Women in the groups are provided with skills development training, and training on producing dhaka clothes and tailoring.
Gita Adhikari, deputy mayor of Damak Municipality, providing tailoring machines to Muslim women..
Devi Chaudhary Dhimal, trainer at the Tailoring and Training Centre in the municipality’s Ward-4 said the work of the deputy mayor had helped turn women self-sufficient. “I see her work for the people all day, and I wish that a person like her becomes the new mayor.”
Adhikari, the deputy chairperson, said that, of the 35 percent budget allocated for targeted groups, 22 percent was spent on the economic upliftment, social empowerment and awareness of women. Madan Kumar Bohara, secretary of the Damak Disabled Support Committee also said the deputy mayor had worked towards finding income-generating work for the persons with disability.
Such changes have become visible in villages after the formation of local governments. However small, these changes could be milestones for sustainable social development.
Gangu Devi Khadayat, deputy chairperson of Thalara Rural Municipality in Bajhang district, has also done substantial work towards women empowerment and social inclusion. Right after being elected, she went around the rural municipality telling women about the services one can receive from the local government and helped form women’s groups in toles. “I attend group meetings and listen to their issues. That has helped me identify real problems and find solutions.”
She said she helped find alternative jobs for some members of the Badi and Gandharva communities involved in begging and prostitution. “Around four hundred men from the Badi community now work as masons and carpenters, and women work as small entrepreneurs and labourers,” she said.
According to her, there is no chhau goth, or menstruation hut, in the rural municipality. “We demolished the huts after we came. Women have now started consuming milk, curd and fruits. I visit the villages and advise the villagers.”
The Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City had passed the “Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Policy, 2077” even before the Federal Affairs Ministry sent the “Rural Municipality/Municipality Social Inclusion Policy, 2078” in the third week of December last year. According to Mishra Bhatta, the deputy mayor, the sub-metropolitan city has been bringing out policies, plans and budgets with an aim to create a just and inclusive society.
The sub-metropolitan city has also prioritised social and legal awareness programmes. “The judicial committee shouldn’t just wait for complaints; it should show the path to those who do not come knocking at the doors of justice. So we are conducting legal awareness programmes,” Mishra Bhatta said.
After the local level elections, several local governments started initiatives to take women out of the four walls of the home and turn them self-sufficient. The work of deputy mayors and chairpersons is significant in involving women in various groups and forming a municipality-level network.
In Dupcheshwar Rural Municipality in Nuwakot, a women’s network initiated by deputy chairperson Anju Acharya has been conducting awareness and skills development training programmes. According to Rama Thapa, secretary of the municipality-level network, the rural municipality has provided training on producing reusable sanitary pads, pickles, and handicraft. As per the commitment made in the second year of the term to make the rural municipality ‘institutional postpartum women friendly’, it has started to provide an additional Rs2,800 to the Rs2,800 allowance to postpartum women.
The rural municipality has also signed a contract with two commercial banks within the rural municipality to provide subsidised loans. A total of 53 persons (individually and in groups both) have taken the loans. Similarly, 263 farmers’ groups have taken subsidized loans for agricultural activities.
Having been known as a district of human trafficking, the rural municipality has started keeping data on the whereabouts of of each family member in the past 20 years. The rural municipality has also started an “identification of alternative employment areas” programme.
According to Acharya, such programmes aimed at income generation and self-reliance, although not too big, help bring awareness among people.
Tila Rural Municipality in Jumla has started keeping data on women who are pregnant and have had children in the past two years. Deputy chairperson Bishnu Budha had earlier run a programme on nutritious food and warm clothes for children. Nowadays, she runs a program named “Poshan Sandesh” (Nutrition Awareness) to create awareness among householders. The programme teaches people to use local products.
The rural municipality felicitates the couple who undergo family planning procedures after having daughters. According to Jayakala Rawat, the nutrition coordinator of the rural municipality, the number of malnourished children has come down after this programme. Two of the five centres that treated malnourished children have closed as of now. Three other centres have only seven children at the moment.
In Budha’s initiative, the rural municipality declared all wards free of menstruation huts under the programme that called for menstruating women to stay in their homes or rooms.
According to Bimala Rai Paudyal, National Assembly member and an expert in gender issues, “Had the constitution not made the wide representation of women mandatory, important initiatives like these would have remained only perfunctory.
Judicial Committee to solve disputes
Article 17 of the constitution has a provision of setting up three-member judicial committees under the coordination of deputy mayor or deputy chairperson to solve disputes within the jurisdiction of the municipality/rural municipality. As per the Local Government Operation Act 2074, the judicial committee is mandated to solve 13 kinds of civil cases and 11 kinds of disputes through reconciliation.
Using this provision, deputy mayors or deputy chairpersons have been solving disputes that have little standing before the law. Gulab Devi Chaudhary, deputy chairperson of Naraha Rural Municipality in Siraha district, has been using the mandate of the committee to solve disputes between family members. She has also solved disputes in cases of financial transactions.
Gulab Devi Chaudhary, deputy chairperson of Naraha Rural Municipality in Siraha, has many anecdotes to share about the fruitful engagement of the local level in personal disputes that range from domestic quarrels to bad loans. Even in cases where the victim is sure to lose the case should the dispute go to the courts, the local level has tried to provide justice to the victims.
Chaudhary, a ward member of the then Devipur Village Development Committee in the 2054 elections, said, “I used to hold village meetings earlier. Nowadays, I am a kind of a judge, working under the law and the constitution.”
Like Gulab Devi, there are many deputy mayors and deputy chiefs who have solved disputes locally. One of them is Anju Dahit, the deputy chairperson of Barbardiya Municipality in Bardiya. Gulab Devi has solved seven cases of familial conflicts.
Urmila Pradhan, deputy chairperson of Phidim Municipality in Panchthar, has also solved family disputes through the judicial committee.
The judicial committees under the local governments have done several good practices. These include solving disputes between husband and wife who have been separated for over two decades, making children accountable to take care of their parents, arranging payment for employees betrayed by their employers, solving land disputes, and solving disputes related to discrimination and cheating.
Jamuna Bohara, deputy chairperson of Jorayal Rural Municipality, said, “We don’t have a fixed work schedule. I received a message from a woman last night complaining about domestic violence. I haven’t been able to sleep.” The call she received at midnight was not the first instance. She keeps receiving such calls, with complaints about domestic violence, frequently.
She said she had worked in the field of women’s rights and social inclusion. So she prioritises the empowerment of women, Dalits and marginalised groups.
Dhangadhi Sub-metropolitan City deputy mayor Bhatta also listed out the kinds of work she has done, ranging from the disputes solved through the judicial committee, the monitoring of hundreds of projects, meetings of dozens of committees and sub-committees, and various programmes organised within the sub-metropolitan city, apart from listening to the woes of women facing domestic violence.
Prabha Baral, mayor of Rapti Municipality in Chitwan, said more than 80 percent of the deputy mayors and deputy chairpersons have done an excellent job at the local levels. “Whatever they have done being elected for the first time in the federal setup, they have done pretty well.”
Vying for major positions
The general tendency to think of women as the weaker sex, the conflict arising because of the mayor and the deputy mayor being from different political parties, and the lack of political experience and education have remained a challenge for women. However, they have been taking up those challenges and moving forward.
Gita Adhikari, deputy mayor of Damak Municipality, is also a central committee member of CPN-UML. She had resigned from the post of assistant campus chief and fought the elections because of the party’s decision. She said, “The party had earlier decided to field me for the mayor’s post, but at the last moment, it fielded me for deputy mayor. This time, I have decided to fight for the mayoral post.”
Uma Thapamagar, deputy mayor of Nepalgunj Sub-metropolitan city. Said she was planning to fight for the mayoral post this time. Although she faced some difficulty working as a deputy mayor initially, she initiated the creation of a club including deputy mayors and deputy chairpersons of all local levels in the district. The club conducted meetings with mayors, chairpersons, administrative officers and staff, after which it became easier to coordinate and cooperate with other representatives and staff members.
Since she had fulfilled her responsibility in the past five years, she said, she was vying for the post of mayor. “I claim the post of the mayor because of my experience as a deputy mayor. The party will win the elections easily if I am made the candidate.”
Ekmaya Biswakarma, deputy chairperson of Khajura Rural Municipality in Banke, said the people at the local level are willing to hand over the leadership to her. “I am sure that the people who have seen me work for the past five years will elect me to the leadership position.” She claimed that she had successfully connected social issues with development in order to change the lives of the people.
Khadayat, the deputy chairperson of Thalara Rural Municipality, is confident of winning the post of a chairperson. “I have the experience of running a local government as a deputy chairperson. If the party allows me to run for the position of a mayor, I will certainly win,” she said.
Sarala Bolakhe, deputy chairperson of Bakaiya Rural Municipality, also wants to finish the development and social work she started in the past five years. “I was elected to the position of deputy chairperson even when the candidate from my party who was competing for the post of the chairperson lost the elections. So I am sure I will win the elections. I will work with a wider scope this time,” she said.
Acharya of Dupcheshwar Rural Municipality also said she met all the qualifications to become the chairperson and would lobby for the same within the party.
Parvati Sunuwar, deputy chairperson of Fikkal Rural Municipality in Sindhuli district, said she was a claimant for the position of chairperson during the last elections. She was committed to becoming one this time. “I can turn the residents of the rural municipality financially self-sufficient through agriculture, tourism and small industries,” said Sunuwar.
Claiming that she focused on public health, women and social issues during her tenure, she said, “Before we were elected, only 10 percent of women visited health centres for delivery. Nowadays, 75 percent visit health centres.” Since women have to be involved in groups, they have started stepping out of the home, discussing in groups, and doing income-generating work. Since uterus tests are free, women have become more aware of their health conditions.
The Women’s Rights Training Centre (Tarangini Foundation), in its survey of over 200 deputy mayors and deputy chairpersons, has said 80 percent of the women who are in deputy positions are now vying for chief positions.
Experts looking at the works of local levels have said the performance of women deputies is good.
Rights activist Renu Adhikari said only 10-15 percent women deputies have had difficulty doing their work. However, those with a patriarchal mindset complain about women deputies not performing well due to their bias.
Bimal Pokharel, chief of the Bagmati Pradesh Good Governance Centre, said the number of ‘weak’ women deputies is very small, and that most have done their jobs well.
Pokharel, who has served as executive director at Rural Municipalities National Confederation, said, “Some of them were already capable, while others learnt to deal with things politically. Now, most of the women deputies have readied themselves to take up the responsibility of chiefs.”
Lack of education creates issues
For Janmakanya Khatri, deputy chairperson of Sinja Rural Municipality in Jumla district, her illiteracy became a burden. She had to work according to what others had read and told her. She thinks she would have a different experience if she had been literate.
“Many policies and laws have been formed at the local level, but I could not read them,” Khatri, who is over 50, said. “What could I do? There was no tradition of educating daughters when I was growing up. I must be the eldest among deputy chiefs in the district. I think I would have earned more respect if I was educated.”
Khatri said she becomes suspicious while signing on minutes or monitoring projects, thinking if anything wrong happens. She believes it is necessary to provide opportunities to educated women in the upcoming elections. So she calls on political parties to provide opportunities to learned women.
Among the eight local levels, four have deputy chairpersons in rural municipalities who have not received formal education. While the delivery of deputy chairpersons in Karnali and Madhes provinces has been hampered, some people are taking advantage of their illiteracy while pretending to help them.
According to Indu Tuladhar, who has been working to enhance the skills of women deputy chairpersons, illiteracy is one of the causes for women facing difficulty in their work. She said the debate about the requirement of educational qualification goes on, but it makes a difference if someone is educated or not, and political parties should be mindful about this.
Contributed by Nunuta Rai and Krishna Maya Upadhyay
