Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has consistently emphasized empowering women and making them agents of social change in the state. The Panchayati Raj Department plays a crucial role in realizing this vision. The state government is working to empower the last woman in the last section of society. Out of 38 gram panchayats selected to be developed as model women-friendly gram panchayats, 29 are headed by female representatives.
At a workshop held on June 16, 2025, Panchayati Raj Minister Kedar Prasad Gupta stated that the overall development of the state and the country is possible only through the development of gram panchayats. With this in mind, female representatives are not only given rights but also provided with continuous training and exposure programs to make them capable leaders.
The ‘Sashakt Panchayat-Netri Abhiyan’ was launched on March 4-5, 2025, in New Delhi on the occasion of International Women’s Day, in which women panchayat representatives from Bihar participated. The initiative aimed to develop one gram panchayat in every district of all states as a model women-friendly gram panchayat. Subsequently, one gram panchayat from each district was selected as an ideal women-friendly gram panchayat at the state level on March 5.
In 2024, three gram panchayats of Bihar were awarded the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Panchayat Sustainable Development Award (National Panchayat Award-2024) by the President for securing the third position in various categories. Two of these three gram panchayats (Jajuar Middle, Punhara, and Parthu) are led by female heads (Nibha Kumari, Punhara, Jehanabad, and Tripti Kumari, Parthu, Nalanda).
On the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day-2025, at a program held in Uttar Lohana Gram Panchayat of Jhanjharpur block of Madhubani district, Motipur Gram Panchayat of Rosera block of Samastipur district was awarded the third position in the ‘Climate Action Special Panchayat Award-2025’ in the special panchayat award category by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This gram panchayat is headed by Prema Devi.
