Srinagar, Aug 11 (KNO): The Centre on Tuesday informed the Lok Sabha that 23,83,765 Women Elected Representatives (WERs) were trained under the revamped Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) during the last three financial years from 2023-24 to 2025-26, with Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh also covered under the capacity-building programme.
The information, as reported by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), was given by Union Minister of Panchayati Raj Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh in reply to a starred question raised by Lok Sabha members Khagen Murmu and Dr Rajesh Mishra regarding measures taken to strengthen the participation, leadership capacity and effective functioning of women representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
According to the statement laid before the House, 1,75,168 Women Elected Representatives from Jammu and Kashmir were provided training under the revamped RGSA during 2022-23 and 2023-24, with 1,07,089 trained in 2022-23 and 68,072 in 2023-24. The data shows seven representatives trained in 2024-25, while no training figure has been recorded for J&K for 2025-26 and 2026-27 up to July 10, 2026.
For Ladakh, the government data shows that 27 Women Elected Representatives were trained during 2025-26 under the revamped RGSA. No beneficiaries were recorded for Ladakh during 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 or 2026-27 up to July 10, 2026.
The minister said strengthening Panchayati Raj capacity is primarily the responsibility of States and Union Territories as Panchayats are a State subject. However, the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing the revamped RGSA from 2022-23 to support PRIs and provide training to elected representatives, including women representatives, through induction, refresher and theme-based Panchayat Development Plan training.
On funding, the Centre stated that Rs 65 crore was released to Jammu and Kashmir in each of 2023-24 and 2024-25, while Rs 57 crore was released during 2025-26. The corresponding utilisation was Rs 98.61 crore, Rs 57.89 crore and Rs 78.99 crore respectively.
For Ladakh, Rs 1 crore was released in 2023-24, with utilisation of Rs 0.80 crore; no central share was released in 2024-25, while Rs 0.72 crore was released in 2025-26. The utilisation figures for the three years stood at Rs 0.80 crore, Rs 0.58 crore and Rs 0.92 crore respectively.
The government further informed the House that an external evaluation of the overall revamped RGSA was undertaken through the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). However, no independent review has been conducted specifically on programmes aimed at strengthening the leadership and participation of Women Elected Representatives, as Panchayat is a State subject.
To promote women-led governance, the Ministry launched the Sashakt Panchayat Netri Abhiyan during a national workshop held in New Delhi on March 4-5, 2025. The campaign includes recognition of exemplary women Panchayat leaders and a specialised training module aimed at strengthening leadership skills and empowering women representatives as agents of change in grassroots democracy.
Under the specialised module, titled “Championing of Change-Empowering Women Leaders in Local Governance and Beyond,” a total of 1,53,616 Women Elected Representatives had been trained as on July 10, 2026. Of these, the data records five from Jammu and Kashmir and two from Ladakh.
The Ministry has also undertaken initiatives related to digital empowerment, transparency and accountability, own-source revenue generation and management development for Panchayat representatives. It has developed the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) to assess the performance of Gram Panchayats across nine themes, including the “Women-Friendly Panchayat” theme.
The government said these initiatives are aimed at strengthening women's participation, leadership and decision-making at the grassroots level and improving the functioning of Panchayati Raj Institutions across the country, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh—(KNO)