SOCIO ECONOMIC PROFILE OF THE WOMEN PRI REPRESENTATIVES IN ODISHA: A STUDY OF BALASORE AND MAYURBHANJ DISTRICTS.

Panchayati Raj Institutions are considered as a means to good governance and 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act of 1992 became effective in the hope that it would provide better governance and give political space to the hitherto silent sections of the society like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women. The Present study ?Socio Economic Profile of the women PRI Representatives in Odisha: A study of Balasore and Mayurbhanj Districts?.was conducted on the basis of the sample of 300 women PRI respondents from 76 Gram Panchayats of 05 Sample Blocks in the tribal district of Mayurbhanj and non-tribal coastal district of Balasore in the state of Odisha. Interview schedule was used to collect primary data from these women respondents. The study revealed that most of the women representatives in the PRIs are middle aged, literate, married, joint family members, mothers of upto two children Hindus by religion with agricultural family background and drawn from low income groups etc. The patriarchal society, parochial culture, poverty and low level of education of women are largely responsible for their low quality of participation in the PRIs.