Local self-governments and SDG-16
a case for cross-region marriages in rural Haryana, India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31265/jcsw.v18i1.583Keywords:
cross-region marriages, Haryana, women, SDG 16, violence, gram panchayatAbstract
This paper makes a case for Gram Panchayats (or local self-governments) in rural Haryana to prevent violence and abuse against women in cross-regional marriages, and to promote inclusiveness. By using the notion of decentralization as the framework, the results of this research are based on a qualitative fieldwork conducted over two months in the Mahendragarh district, which included visits to seven villages, and interviews with women and village leaders. This paper attempts to answer the following research question: In what ways can strong local self-governments improve the social conditions for women and their children in cross-regional marriages in rural Haryana? Gram Panchayats are tasked with implementing Goal 16 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which calls for developing inclusive and peaceful communities, ensuring that everyone has access to justice, and creating effective, inclusive institutions at all levels. The findings reveal that women, particularly those in cross-region marriages, are excluded from participating in Gram Panchayats, which have the potential to be the go-to institution for women in need of help. Women’s participation at all levels will increase the transparency and accountability of Gram Panchayats.
References
Ahlawat, N. (2009). Missing Brides in Rural Haryana: A Study of Adverse Sex Ratio, Poverty, and Addiction. Social Change, 39 (1), 46–63. https://doi.org/10.1177/004908570903900103.
Ayyar, V., & Khandare, L. (2013). Mapping color and caste discrimination in Indian society. In R. E. Hall (Ed.), The Melanin Millennium: Skin Color as 21st Century International Discourse (p. 71-95). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4608-4_5
Bélanger, D., Hye-Kyung L., & Hong-Zen, W.. (2010). Ethnic diversity and statistics in East Asia: ‘Foreign brides’ surveys in Taiwan and South Korea. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 33(6), 1108-1130. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870903427507
Bhuyan, D. (2012). Issues of Exclusion and Inclusion in decentralised Local Governance Institutions in India. Odisha Review, 2012 (February-March), 71-78. https://magazines.odisha.gov.in/Orissareview/2012/Feb-March/engpdf/71-78.pdf
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Chaudhry, S. (2016). Lived experiences of marriage: Regional and cross-regional brides in rural North India. [Doctoral thesis, The University of Edinburgh]. https://era.ed.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/1842/22934/Chaudhry2016.pdf?sequence=1&isAllo%20wed=y
Chaudhry, S. (2018). “Now it is difficult to get married”: Contextualising cross-regional marriage and bachelorhood in a North Indian village. In S. Srinavasan, & S. Li (Eds.), Scarce Women and Surplus Men in China and India (p. 85-104). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63275-9_5
Chaudhry, S. (2019a). Flexible caste boundaries: Cross-regional marriage as mixed marriage in rural North India. Contemporary South Asia, 27(2), 214–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2018.1536694.
Chaudhry, S. (2019b). ‘For how long can your pīharwāle intervene?’: Accessing natal kin support in rural North India. Modern Asian Studies, 53(5), 1613–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X17000853.
Chaudhry, S. (2021). Moving for Marriage: Inequalities, Intimacy, and Women's Lives in Rural North India. SUNY Press.
Cheema G. S., & Rondinelli, D. A., (Eds.). (2007). Decentralizing Governance: Emerging Concepts and Practices. Brookings Inst. Press.
Chowdhry, P. (1997). Enforcing cultural codes: Gender and violence in Northern India. Economic and Political Weekly, 32(19), 1019–28. http://www.epw.in/special-articles/enforcing-cultural-codes-gender-and-violence-northern-india.html.
Chowdhry, P. (2005). Crisis of masculinity in Haryana: The unmarried, the unemployed and the aged. Economic and Political Weekly, 40(3), 5189–98.
Chowdhry, P. (2014). Masculine spaces: Rural male culture in North India. Economic and Political Weekly, 49(47), 41–49.
Darling, M. L. (1928). The Punjab Peasant in Prosperity and Debt. Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Devika, J., & Thampi, B. V. (2007). Between ‘Empowerment’ and ‘Liberation’: The Kudumbashree initiative in Kerala. Indian Journal of Gender Studies, 14(1), 33-60. https://doi.org/10.1177/097152150601400103
de Souza, P. R. (2000) ‘Multi-State Study of Panchayati Raj Legislation and Administrative Reform,’ Background Paper No. 1 in World Bank Unpublished Overview of Rural Decentralization in India, Volume 3.
Empower People (2010). ‘Paro or Molki: An Abusive Word.’ http://cabt.empowerpeople.org.in/2010/03/paro-abusive-word.html
Foote, M. Q., & Gau Bartell, T. (2011). Pathways to equity in mathematics education: How life experiences impact researcher positionality. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 78(1), 45-68. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-011-9309-2
Government of Haryana (2015-16). Economic survey of Haryana. https://esaharyana.gov.in/document/economic-survey-of-haryana-2015-16/
Government of Haryana (2017). Vision 2030. https://esaharyana.gov.in/haryana-vision-2030-document/
Government of Haryana (2020-21). SDG Budget Allocation Report.
Iyer, L., Mani, A., Mishra, P., & Topalova, P. (2012). The power of political voice: Women's political representation and crime in India. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 4(4), 165-193. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.4.4.165
Jeffery, P., & Jeffery, R. (2010). Only when the boat has started sinking: A maternal death in rural north India. Social Science & Medicine, 71(10), 1711-1718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.05.002
John, M. E., Kaur, R., Palriwala, R., & Raju, S. (2009). Dispensing with daughters: Technology, society, economy in North India. Economic and Political Weekly, 44(15), 16-19.
Kanuha, V. K. (2000). “Being” native versus “going native”: Conducting social work research as an insider. Social Work, 45(5), 439-447. https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/45.5.439
Kaur, R. (2004). Poverty, female migration and the sex ratio. Economic and Political Weekly, 39(25), 2595–2603.
Kaur, R. (2008a). Missing women and brides from faraway: Social consequences of the skewed sex ration in India. In AAS working papers in Social Anthropology, ÖAW Arbeitspapier zur Sozial anthropologie. https://epub.oeaw.ac.at/0xc1aa5576%200x001a819c.pdf
Kaur, R. (2008b). Dispensable daughters and bachelor sons: Sex discrimination in north India. Economic and Political Weekly, 43(30), 109-114.
Kaur, R. (2010a). Bengali bridal diaspora: Marriage as a livelihood strategy. Economic and Political Weekly, 45(5), 16-18. https://doi.org/10.1553/wpsa1s2
Kaur, R. (2010b). Khap panchayats, sex ratio and female agency. Economic and Political Weekly, 45(23), 14-16. https://www.epw.in/journal/2010/23/commentary/khap-panchayats-sex-ratio-and-female-agency.html
Kaur, R. (2012). Marriage and migration: Citizenship and marital experience in cross-border marriages between Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Bangladesh. Economic and Political Weekly, 47(43): 78–89. http://www.epw.in/review-womens-studies/marriage-and-migration.html.
Kudumbashree NRO (2021). Experiential study: PRI CBO Convergence project. Government of Kerala.
Kukreja, R. (2018a). An Unwanted Weed: Children of Cross-Region Unions Confront Intergenerational Stigma of Caste, Ethnicity and Religion. Journal of Intercultural Studies 39(4), 382–98. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256868.2018.1484345.
Kukreja, R. (2018b). Caste and cross-region marriages in Haryana, India: Experience of dalit cross-region brides in Jat households. Modern Asian Studies, 52(2), 492–531. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X16000391.
Kukreja, R. (2021). Colorism as marriage capital: Cross-region marriage migration in India and dark-skinned migrant brides. Gender and Society, 35(1), 85–109. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220979633.
Larsen, M., & Kaur, R. (2013). Signs of change? Sex ratio imbalance and shifting social practices in Northern India. Economic and Political Weekly, 48(35), 45-52.
Meenakshisundaram, S. S. (1999). ‘Decentralization in Developing Countries,’ In S. N. Jha, & P. C. Mathur (Eds.), Decentralisation and Local Politics: Readings in Indian Government and Politics (2). Sage, pp. 54–69
Ministry of Finance, Government of India (2020-21). Economic Survey.
Mishra, P., & Kaur, R. (2021). Gender Imbalance, Marriage Squeeze and Multiple Biological Clocks: Exploring Challenges to the Intergenerational Contract in North India. Anthropology and Aging, 42(1), 97–111. https://doi.org/10.5195/aa.2021.251.
Mishra, P. (2013). Sex ratios, cross-region marriages and the challenge to caste endogamy in Haryana. Economic and Political Weekly, 48(35), 70–78.
Mishra, P. (2018). Being ‘bare branches’: Demographic imbalance, marriage exclusion and masculinity in north India. In S. Srinavasan, & S. Li (Eds.), Scarce Women and Surplus Men in China and India (pp. 25-46). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63275-9_2
Mishra, P. (2021). When south meets north: Interrogating agency and marital mobility in Kerala-Haryana marriages. In S. Mani, & C. GIyer (Eds.), India’s Economy and Society (pp. 369-386). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0869-8_14
Mukherjee, S. (2013). Skewed sex ratio and migrant brides in Haryana: Reflections from the field. Social Change 43(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1177/0049085713475725.
Mukherjee, S. (2015). Structural basis of gender violence in cross-regional marriages: Tale from Haryana, India. Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research, 9, 73–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S1530-353520150000009004
Nambiar, M. (2001). Making the gram sabha work. Economic and Political Weekly, 36(33), 3114-3117.
Nandal, V. (2013). Participation of women in Panchayati Raj Institutions: A sociological study of Haryana, India. International Research Journal of Social Sciences, 2(12), 47-50.
Niti Aayog (2017-18). Annual report. https://www.niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2019-04/Annual-Report-English.pdf.
Pal, M. (2004). Caste and patriarchy in panchayats. Economic and Political Weekly, 39(32), 3581-3583.
Pandey, K. K., & Kant, R. (2003). Female foeticide, coerced marriage and bonded labour in Haryana and Punjab. Shakti Vahini, Faridabad, Haryana.
Panwar, M., & Kumar, J. (2012). Self-help groups (SHGs) of women in Haryana: A social work perspective. OIDA International Journal of Sustainable Development, 5(10), 11-24.
Reinharz, S. (1979). Undergraduates as Experiential Learning Facilitators. New Directions for Experiential Learning: Enriching the Liberal Arts Through Experiential Learning, 6, 45-64.
Riessman, C. K. (Ed.). (1994). Qualitative studies in social work research. SAGE.
Savin-Baden, M., & Howell-Major, C. (2013). Qualitative Research: The Essential Guide to Theory and Practice. Oxford: Routledge.
Singh, A. K. (2019). Dynamic de/centralization in India, 1950–2010. Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 49(1), 112-137. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-0869-8_14
Singh, S. (2019, Nov. 30). 1.30 lakh Haryana brides ‘bought’ from other states: survey. The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/1-30-lakh-haryana-brides-bought-from-other-states-survey/articleshow/72301436.cms
Singla, P. (2007). Women's Participation in Panchayati Raj: Nature and Effectiveness, a Northern India Perspective. Rawat Publications.
Sudhakar, G. J. (2018-19), “Conditions of Girl Child with Special Reference To Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme.” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 79(2018- 19): 875-882.
United Nations Development Programme (2015). Sustainable Development Goals https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals
Swaminathan, M. S. (2006). An evergreen revolution. Crop Science, 46(5), 2293-2303. https://doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2006.9999
Theeuwes, N. J. J. (2019). In the end it is for the people, not for the policies. On the political processes for policy coherence in the formation of the Haryana Vision 2030, and consequences for Leaving No One Behind (Master's thesis).
The most surprising demographic crisis (2011, May 5). The Economist. https://www.economist.com/asia/2011/05/05/the-most-surprising-demographic-crisis
UN and Niti Aayog (2018). SDG India Index.
United Nations (2006). The International Forum for Social Development. Social Justice in an Open World. The Role of the United Nations; Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations: New York, USA.
Women can’t progress till ghoonghat exists: Ashok Gehlot. (2019, Nov 6). Hindustan Times. https://www.hindustantimes.com/jaipur/women-can-t-progress-till-ghoonghat-exists-ashok-gehlot/story-ayLFdRerZMIXrT3PCmwJ5H.html
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Ankit
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.