Role of Elected Women Representatives of Panchayati Raj in Social and Natural Assets Development of Rural Women: An Explanatory Study among the Rural Women of Tiruvannamalai District, Tamil Nadu

In order to strengthen the position of women and to create a legal base for direct democracy at the local-level, both in rural and urban areas the 73^rd and 74^th amendments of the Constitution of India were made by the government. The amendment in Constitution of India has provided representation for women through reservation policies which stimulate the political participation of women in rural areas, shift rural service provision to public goods that reflect gender preferences and improve the access and the quality of public services. However, there is a question that whether the women reservation in Panchayati Raj helps or benefits to the life and livelihood development of women as a group? The studies related to the role of women representatives in general and the studies in particular to whether the women reservation in Panchayati Raj helps or benefits to the life and livelihood development of women was less. Therefore, to fill the gap in existing literature, the present study was conducted among the rural women of Tiruvannamalai district to assess the role of elected women representatives in the social and natural assets of the women in rural areas. Finding revealed, more than fifty per cent of the respondents responded that because of the women representation in their village Panchayati Raj, the Social and Natural Asset of the rural women were increased or developed moderately.