Meghalaya reserves 50% seats for women in Village Employment Councils

"Exemplary performance" by women leaders in the implementation of MGNREGA at the grassroots level has prompted the Meghalaya government to reserve 50% seats for women in Village Employment Councils (VEC).

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the Policy on Reservation of seats for Women in Village Employment Councils was approved by the state Cabinet on Friday.

As per the policy, the post of the secretary of VEC will be reserved for women members on a rotational basis and the position of Chairperson will be reserved for women in VECs where the post is not held by the traditional heads. This will also be on a rotation basis.

The VECs were constituted under MGNREGA in 2006 in every village. VECs comprised of all male and female heads of each household with the traditional headman generally heading the Council.

Sangma said that data available with the government states that in few VECs where female members hold the position of Chairperson (112) and Secretaries (260), the execution and maintenance of works and record-keeping was found to be exemplary.

The policy aims to address different grassroots problems related to gender equality and developmental issues and ensure the active participation of women. “Women leadership implies the creation of an agency for women that will enable them to make decisions and participate in the developmental process as well as decisions that impact their lives,” said a statement quoting Sangma.

VECs are apolitical organisations formed for implementation of MGNREGA works. “Most of the time, the focus is laid on improving the well-being of women but not on the creation of an agency for women to exercise her freedom and leadership, and through this policy, we want to ensure empowerment of women”, the Chief Minister stated.

The policy will also press for women's active participation in public health projects to reduce maternal mortality and infant mortality rate, which was still more than the national average. "The government aims to improve all its performance in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (especially the SDG goal 5 on Gender Equality)by 2030. Currently, the SDG-5 ranking of Meghalaya is 25 among all states.