On Saturday, the Congress panel on social justice also pushed for a quota within quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill, years after the party resisted such demands when the draft legislation was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010.

Drawing on empirical data from four gram panchayats in Orissa, the paper examines the ‘representation’ of elected representatives—more particularly those of disadvantaged categories—by exploring their participation in the governance process, responsiveness towards the interest o