Women's reservation issue - blow hot, blow cold

It may be time for the women's reservation bill to come alive again, given the needs of aspirational India.

 Women's reservation issue - blow hot, blow cold

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Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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• The story: When Congress's Priyanka Gandhi promised giving 40 per cent of Congress tickets in the next UP assembly polls to women, it shocked all parties and will have ripple effects across the political spectrum. After a long time, it seemed that the Congress party was setting the political agenda instead of reacting to moves made by others.
• Why women reservation: By targeting women as a constituency, the Congress has made a pitch to reclaim its “umbrella” status of yesteryears, cutting across caste and community. This may have an appeal for younger Indians.

1. Political parties have sensed that women are emerging as a major constituency.
2. They are coming out in larger numbers to vote, and also voting differently from their menfolk, and several studies have showcased this trend.
3. Women ensured the victory of a beleaguered Nitish Kumar in Bihar 2020. They stood solidly behind Mamata Banerjee in May 2021. Women have also supported Narendra Modi. So the BJP has gone out of its way to woo them.
4. The PM ensured 11 women ministers in the Union council of ministers. “Toilets for women”, “Ujjwala” and “Beti Padhao Beti Bachao” have helped.

• Only for UP, or ...: The BJP and others will ask Congress whether the formula is going to be followed in Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand, states that are also going to the polls in February-March 2022. There will be pressure on Congress now to accommodate more women in these states. That is not a bad thing at all! There will also be pressure on other parties to do ths same.

1. The nature of competitive politics may lead to "more tickets to women" like the “300 units of power” free to every family. It was promised by Arvind Kejriwal, and has now been picked up by other parties in Punjab.
2. The argument that there are not enough women candidates is not right, as there exists a pool of women out there who have been sarpanches, and members of local bodies, with experience of governance at the local level over a period of three decades.
3. This was thanks to the law to give them one-third representation — in some states it is even 50 per cent — in local bodies. They are waiting to play a larger role in state assemblies and in Parliament.

• Women’s Reservation Bill: This Bill is gathering dust, and will likely become centrestage again. Congress criticised the BJP for not passing the Bill, despite the clear majority it enjoys in the Lok Sabha. The Bill is pending since 1996 when HD Deve Gowda’s government had first introduced it in Parliament. It promised to give 33 per cent representation to women in Parliament and in the state assemblies.

1. It was passed In the Rajya Sabha in 2010, thanks to Sonia Gandhi. But she got cold feet when faced with opposition from the two Yadav chieftains, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad Yadav, who were supporting the UPA. Even Mayawati had told then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that her party would not support the Women’s Reservation Bill “in its present form”. Every party which opposed the Bill used that phraseology.
2. The truth is that the Women’s Reservation Bill did not see the light of day because of a ganging up by the political class across parties. It is not that all male politicians were against women coming into Parliament or the state assemblies. They feared that their constituency might get reserved for women in the rotational arrangement envisaged in the Bill. The axe could fall on any constituency!

• Present status: In the last 75 years of independence, women’s representation in Parliament has gone up from 5 per cent in the first Parliament to an “impressive” 14 per cent in the present Lok Sabha. The numbers are much lower in state assemblies. And the numbers are very low if compared to global trends. Women have broken glass ceilings and made a mark in every profession, including those seen as male domains. It is in politics that their numbers remain abysmally low. Competitive politics has been the bane of our public life; but in this instance it may well become a blessing.
• Summary: Women are emerging as a vote bank, and they cannot be ignored. Young Indian women represent aspirational India possibly more than any other grouping today. Given the right chance, they may bring a new energy into our stagnant politics, and move it towards delivery of basic needs — health, nutrition, education and livelihoods.
• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Why is a women's reservation scheme good for Indian political system? Present your argument. (2) Why would many politicians not support a legal right to women's reservation in political constituencies? Explain. (3) "What is women empowerment without economic empowerment" - argue.

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