New Delhi, June 3 – Girls have outshone boys once again, in CBSE Class 12 results, and that too by a remarkable margin – while 88 per cent girls have passed, only 78 per cent boys have managed to pass. This has been the trend for many years now.
This should suggest that women have pelf, position and power in society. Alas, school results or performance otherwise in various fields, does not seem to impress the old patriarchal guard that latches on to power somehow.
A clear reflection of how men do not want to share power is the situation of the Indian parliament. In the recently concluded elections, only 62 MPs are women amongst 543. This is only 11 per cent of the Lok Sabha.
Duplicity:
One could allege that the electorate does not have faith in women candidates. To debunk this myth, it must be stated that out of the candidates fielded by the political parties, only 8 per cent were women. The 11 per cent victory juxtaposed with just 8 per cent fielding clearly shows that there will be much more representation if only the political parties field more women.
All parties made a beeline for votes of women, but none had the sagacity to make them contestants. It is really a low for the largest democracy that one third of the parliament has criminal record against it, while the representation of the half the population is abysmally low.
To deal a little more with statistics, a study conducted by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) last year revealed that India ranks 108th out of 188 countries analysed by the organisation, in terms of representation of women in parliament. India is far below the global average of 21 per cent women in parliament.
Our netas have been paying lip service to the idea of the Women’s Reservation Bill for several years. Since 1996, the talk of such bills has come and gone, but nothing has happened. Across the party lines, the political class is determined not to let this bill through.
The demand is for 33 per cent, not for 50 per cent. Half the population is demanding, as a right, just one-third of the space. If the parties were serious about the matter as they claim to be, with or without the bill, they would have fielded at least 20 per cent women.
Parties have adopted a voluntary quota system in countries like Canada and Australia. Even the countries not considered progressive in the international arena, like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh have positive discrimination to have more representation of women.
More representation of women will have profound effects on the polity of this country. First, the number of criminals will automatically go down. This is not to say that women do not have criminal charges against them.
The world of crime is even more patriarchal than the rest of the world, and so naturally a women’s quota will bring the number of criminals down. In the current parliament, out of 185 people with criminal cases against them, only 15 are women.
Transformation:
Secondly, there will be more women law makers who will naturally understand the needs of the women of India. Thirdly, the law enforcing agencies like the police and army will become more gender sensitive with women at the helm of affairs. In the matter of gender sensitivity, there of course needs to be a change right at the grassroots level. Unless the police are given specific gender sensitisation training and more women join the service, the situation will remain grim as it is now.
Fourthly, there will be a thrust on empowerment of rural women through education and employment programs. That these changes are immanent and that these will stir and shake the patriarchal status quo, is what makes the old patriarchs sideline this matter time and again.
Security:
Bihar, considered one of the most backwards, is the only one that has taken bold, positive steps in this regard. The state has 50 per cent reservation for women in gram panchayats, and thirty five per cent reservation in police services.
The effects have been almost immediate visible in the state – so much so that that for the first time, women were being talked about as a vote bank prominently. Unfortunately, the parties barely fielded women candidates in the Lok Sabha elections.
It is heartening to see that in the new government, women make up one-fourth of the cabinet. However, among the ministers of state (MoS), there is only one woman. In the wake of the gruesome rapes of two sisters, and their public hanging, there will be big challenges that the government will face.
Will it be able to provide a more secure and safe environment for women? Will it be able to bring down the crimes against women, and the impunity with which they are carried out? Will it be able to provide an environment where women will be able to stand up for their own rights, makes their careers and choices? Only time will tell.
One can hope that the women who have been elected to the parliament will not let their voters down. The writer is Chairperson, Grievances Cell, AICC. Her twitter handle is @Archana Dalmia.
-INDIA TODAY
