Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s focus has always been on empowering women and recognizing them as drivers of social change in the state. The Panchayati Raj Department has been instrumental in turning this vision into reality. The department is dedicated to empowering women at the most marginalized levels of society.
Out of the 38 gram panchayats selected to be developed as model women-friendly gram panchayats, 29 are led by women representatives. Panchayati Raj Minister Kedar Prasad Gupta highlighted that the comprehensive development of the state and nation is achievable through the development of gram panchayats. Consequently, female representatives are not only granted rights but also receive continuous training and exposure programs to enhance their leadership skills.
The ‘Sashakt Panchayat-Netri Abhiyan’ was launched in New Delhi on March 4-5, 2025, during International Women’s Day. This initiative saw the participation of women panchayat representatives from Bihar. The goal was to develop one gram panchayat in every district across all states as a model women-friendly gram panchayat. Subsequently, each district in the state selected one gram panchayat as an ideal example.
In 2024, three gram panchayats in Bihar received the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sustainable Development Award (National Panchayat Award-2024) from the President for securing third place in various categories. Two of these panchayats are led by female heads.
During the National Panchayati Raj Day-2025 celebrations held in Uttar Lohana Gram Panchayat, Motipur Gram Panchayat of Samastipur district was awarded the third prize in the ‘Climate Action Special Panchayat Award-2025’ category by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This gram panchayat is led by Prema Devi.