Empower us politically

Thanks to sheer lack of political will that despite intense and extensive debate in various forums throughout the country for over two decades -- the law for 33 percent reservation of women in Parliament and state legislatures is yet to see the light of day. Ironically, this is despite the fact that there are over a million women representatives in the panchayati raj system in India (some with excellent records) after the introduction of the revolutionary 73^rd and 74^th 1992 Constitutional amendments guaranteeing reservation of seats for women in local bodies.  Most intriguing is the fact that the representation law is still a distant dream despite several women in independent India have held important political and administrative positions like Indira Gandhi who served the country as Prime Minister for several years. Others have served as governors, chief ministers, ministers in union and state governments, presiding officers of legislative bodies, judges of the High Courts and secretaries to the government of India and more recently top positions like President and speaker.

Despite enjoying important positions both at the national and international levels, women’s participation in the political arena and in the decision making bodies is not in proportion to their population, except in the local bodies, where sadly, their effective participation, leaves much to be desired. Undeniably, though education serves to foster all-round development of women which is a vital element for building a just society, the need for political empowerment of women through a policy of reservations is immense.

Reports suggest that in the last few decades, the issue of political empowerment of women gained momentum throughout the world. In 1990, the United Nation’s Economic and Social Council endorsed a target of 30 per cent women in decision-making positions in the world by 1995. This target was far from being met by 1995 as only 10 per cent of the world’s parliamentarians were women. Today, around 16 per cent of the world’s parliamentarians are women, still far from the target of 30 per cent. This figure implies that politics is still predominantly a men’s business, with men making up 84 per cent of parliamentarians, reports indicate.

India’s history states that women enjoyed an exalted position in society during ancient times and thereby were treated at par with men even in political and philosophical spheres. However, down the centuries, their position deteriorated and politically they were literally dumped. History suggests that this state of affairs continued for a considerable period until in the 20^th century, particularly during the freedom movement under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, that involvement of women was accepted as the natural course in India. Gandhi believed that women have to play a much meaningful role in politics, making it more accountable, transparent and corruption free while he said, “As long as women do not take part in public life, there can be no salvation for the country.”

Indian Constitution guarantees equal political rights including the right to vote to women. Almost all the provisions contained in the UN Convention on the ‘Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’ exist in our Constitution. The Constitution guarantee equal political status to women with a scope for ‘positive discrimination’ in their favor as is evident in Article 15(3).

There are many other provisions in the Constitution which lay stress on equality between men and women like the Article 14 which provides for equality before law, Article 39(a) which states that the State shall direct its policy towards securing equally to men and women the right to an adequate means of livelihood, and 39(d) enjoins the State to direct its policy towards securing equal pay for equal work for both men and women. Article 42 provides for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief and Article 51(A) (e) refers to the fundamental duty of citizens to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.