MP News: Elected Female Councillors Sit Silent Behind 'Ghunghat While Husbands & Sons Debate Development Projects In Bhind Council Meeting

Bhind (Madhya Pradesh): Just ahead of Women's Day, a striking event unfolded in Madhya Pradesh's Bhind, where, during a council meeting, elected female ward councilors remained silent and veiled as their husbands and sons spoke on their behalf.

According to reports, after a long time, the Alampur Municipal Council held a council meeting in the district's town. Most of the nine ward councilors were present in the meeting.

However, instead of the female councilors speaking in person, their husbands and sons participated in the discussion and expressed their views while officials reportedly did not intervene.

The Alampur Municipal Council meeting lasted for nearly two hours, during which various development projects and technical matters were discussed.

During this time, many female councilors sat silently, veiled, while the male members represented them

This scene drew mixed reactions from the observers; some smiled while some elderly women expressed their opposition. They argued that since the elected women have been given representation, they should express their own views themselves.

Concept of 'Pradhan Pati'

The concept of Pradhan Pati is a widespread phenomenon across the nation. Often shown in popular series like Panchayat, where a husband exercises actual sarpanch power by making their wives elected as the councillor or sarpanch.

The 73rd Constitutional Amendment states that 33-50% of panchayat seats are reserved for women. Husbands often tend to misuse this by making their wives meet these legal reservation requirements and intend to hold the actual power.

Such practices are rather common in the Gwalior-Chambal region, where husbands often handle official responsibilities for women elected as Sarpanch or councilors. Elected representatives' relatives often attend meetings with the officials and get the development work done.

Residents and locals opposed and questioned the effectiveness of women’s political representation.