Women Panchayat leaders can be real agents of change: Govt

Highlighting the importance of investing in women leadership, Government today said that elected women Panchayats leaders can become real agents of change if they are familiarised with their roles and given necessary training.
"Perspective of men and women leaders is different. While men focus on areas such as infrastructure, roads and water bodies, women focus on education and health facilities. That is why it is important to invest in women leadership," Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Ministry, Manoj Jhalani said.
Speaking at a national meet on 'Strengthening Women's Leadership in Panchayats for Community Action in Bihar', Jhalani said that training of women leaders in Panchayats is important for scaling up community health.

"Community action and health can be really scaled-up if we leverage the power of elected representatives of the Panchayats, especially women," he said.
The meet was organised by Centre for catalysing change to discuss the impact of its initiative 'Pahel' that empowers women Panchayat leaders by educating and training them to monitor public welfare programmes on health and education.