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INTRODUCTION
Background
The 73rd
amendment to the Indian Constitution was a conceptual leap in the direction of
decentralization of power and it actually aimed at handing over pow0er directly
to people. Since then the Panchayati
Raj (PR) in India has progressed and has now entered a transition
wherein an increasing numbers of functions are being addressed as Panchayati
Raj functions. One such issue is health with an emphasis on women’s health,
reproductive health and gender issues. This becomes more relevant as more and
more women have come forward to bear responsibilities of Panchayati Raj
functions in the recent years. Their presence is being increasingly felt not
only as participants but as decision makers and implementers. But since the
entire process is still new, the women who have come to power themselves feel
the need of good orientation towards the Panchayati Raj and its functioning in
order to participate more meaningfully. The men in the Panchayati Raj at many
places however, tend to maintain status-quo and somehow try to keep power in
their hands. They need much more orientation towards women’s issues. They need
to be sensitized towards women’s health.
With this background in mind YASHADA organized a 5 days Training of Trainers Program for a group of about 40 persons representing the state government, the NGO sector of Chandrapur and Nandurbar districts of Maharashtra. They in turn were expected to conduct training of elected representatives of the Panchayati Raj, mainly at the vi