- By Shibra Siddiqui
- Sat, 08 Mar 2025 03:04 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Earlier this month, a video from Chhattisgarh’s Paraswara village showed six men taking an oath on behalf of their wives, who had been elected as Panchayat members (Panch). The video sparked controversy, leading the district administration to suspend the village secretary. Officials clarified that there is no legal provision allowing husbands to take an oath in place of their wives. In the three-tier Panchayati Raj System, 50% of the seats are reserved for women.
Watch | In Chattisgarh's Paraswara village, 6 women elected to panchayat, their husbands take oath pic.twitter.com/YXTxdCS20S
— The Indian Express (@IndianExpress) March 7, 2025
According to a report by The Indian Express, four of the six elected women Panchayat members claimed they were away attending funerals, while two said they were too shy to participate in the oath-taking ceremony. A former Zilla Panchayat CEO in Chhattisgarh stated that men fielding their wives as candidates due to the 50% women’s reservation is not uncommon; the only reason this incident gained attention was the viral video.
Four of the six men who participated in the oath-taking stated that they had prepared to contest the elections but had to field their wives as candidates since their wards were reserved for women.
Ratan Lal, the newly elected Sarpanch of the village, which has a population of around 1,700 across 12 wards, said that the first Panchayat meeting was held on March 3, the same day the video went viral. "While four of the women had left the village to attend funerals, two others felt shy because over 100 men were present. It was decided that the six women would take the oath separately on March 8, when we elect our deputy Sarpanch,” Ratan claimed, as reported by The Indian Express.
As per the report, both Village Secretary (Sachiv) Pravin Singh Thakur and Sarpanch Ratan Lal claimed that the husbands of the elected female Panchayat members were present only to collect certificates and participate in celebrations. However, the district administration rejected this explanation and suspended Sachiv Pravin Thakur on March 5.
"We suspended Thakur because he included non-elected men in the first meeting, which was organized only for elected representatives," said Zilla Panchayat CEO Ajay Kumar Tripathi, as quoted by The Indian Express.
Sarita Sahu, an elected Panchayat member who missed the oath-taking ceremony, confirmed that she would attend future meetings. The husband of Vidya Bai Yadav, another absent member, claimed she was unwell that day and that he would assist her in her work since she could not read.
Another elected Panchayat member, Neera Chandravanshi, stated that she was attending a funeral on March 3 when the oath ceremony took place. "I will take the oath on March 8. I do not know what the work of a Panch entails, but I will learn," said another elected member, Santoshi Chandravanshi, as quoted by The Indian Express.
