All-women panchayats, which are elected institutions of local government, represent attempts by rural women to carve out a political space that will enable them to place their needs and priorities on the political agenda. This book contains stories which show how some women are used as puppets by stronger (patriarchal) interests.

All-women panchayats, which are elected institutions of local government, represent attempts by rural women to carve out a political space that will enable them to place their needs and priorities on the political agenda. Stories show how some women are used as puppets by stronger (patriarchal) interests; but in the majority women take their own decisions and implement them, often outwitting the establishment. The authors used interview-based research methods, and preserved as far as possible the immediacy of oral communication in their work, as the title, a comment by a man when he heard that a woman wanted to attend a training camp.