Two bodies-Panchayati Rule and Gender Awareness Training Institute(PRAGATI) and Dr. Tanya Jakimow (University of New South Wales, Australia) on Thursday organised a workshop in Ranchi.

The workshop was attended among others by as many as 29 Ward Members of the Ranchi Municipal Corporation.They were accompanied by 29 other women from their respective wards.

The underlying aim was to impart skills required by the women ward members.The workshop was based on the research findings of the 13 month long research project showing the experiences of the women ward members in Dehradun.

“A lot of information was shared with the women ward members using innovative tools.Subject experts and trainers answered the queries of participant women and gave them the required response. Dr. Tanya Jakimow (University of New South Wales) spoke on the research findings of the project.

As per Dr. Tanya Jakimow, “The research shows the importance of proper implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment in Dehradun. Most critically, this requires proper devolving of funds for Ward Members(Parshads) to carry out works in their wards.”

Further, Parshads bear many personal costs, such as transport, phone, and stationery and so on. An honorarium is critical and long overdue. These issues are particularly important for women.

“Local governance is the only level at which women have significant representation in Uttarakhand. Inadequate support of Parshads therefore means that the objectives of reservation are not fully realised, and fails to take advantage of Dehradun’s greatest assets for urban development,”said Dr. Tanya Jakimow

In fact,the workshop comprised of 3 sessions. In the first session information was shared on the Gender Equality in Urban Governance. It led to a presentation, group discussion and role plays.The second session was conducted by Harry Sethi from Toastmasters International on Public Speaking with confidence. The third session was conducted by Dr. Tanya Jakimow who talked about the research findings.

The ward members appeared participative and appreciative of the workshop. The ward members who are doing exceptionally good work in their respective wards were conferred with awards.