Disparity between men and women is a pressing issue. Many efforts have been made to reduce this disparity in the last 20 years since Independence. Representation of women in Panchayati Raj is a part of such institutional reconstruction. Development of women involves capacity building in fields like heath, nutrition, awareness and employment etc. Many of these, fall under the jurisdiction of the Panchayati Raj and their role is, thus, indispensable.

There is a total of 13,996 Gram Panchayats in Gujarat, in which female Sarpanches hold 4,565 posts. Most of these women Sarpanches, being their first experience, are not fully prepared to meet the requirement. ICECD helps in developing the skills of these Sarpanches.

The specific purposes of this training are:
Equipping the women Sarpanches to become equal partners in socio-economic development of females by imparting proper requirement-oriented training for development To bring the women Sarpanches in to the forefront by increasing credit so that more like them can emerge in this field To develop the special skills and strengths of women Sarpanches so that they can play their role effectively and discharge their duties to perfection