Women legislators and gender parity

As of now, the Indian government has not moved an inch towards making 33 per cent reservation a reality

Lok Sabha Speaker in the Indian Parliament Sumitra Mahajan touched a chord while speaking about women at the inaugural session of a national conference on “Women legislators: building a resurgent India”.
Using a temple analogy, Mahajan said that when a man gets prashad he consumes an entire helping, wipes his hands on his kurta and moves on.  As against this when a woman is given prashad, she eats part of it and saves the rest for others back home. She said this in the context of hammering the point about men being solo players while women taking along others.
While this was met with a thundering applause, President Mukherjee gave a wake up call to the government on the issue of the long pending women reservation’s Bill.
The conference, the brainchild of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was held in India’s capital city, New Delhi. The timing was the conference coincided with the onset of the International Women’s Day on March 8.
The two-day session was intended to provide a platform to women legislators across the country to interact and learn from their counterparts, women Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, MPs and eminent women in the judiciary and bureaucracy. Inaugurated by India’s President Pranab Mukherjee, the sessions were attended and addressed by eminent women legislators including ministers in the Modi government.
Bangladesh Jatiyo Samshad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, was specially invited for the conference.
While Bangladesh can sit smug on the issue of women representation in Parliament, India still has a long haul.
Therefore when President Mukherjee stressed the need to clear the Constitution (108th) Amend­ment Bill to set aside one-third of seats in Assemblies and Parliament for women it was an indication that the Government needs to pull up its socks. The Modi led government has yet to bring up the Bill for consideration in Parliament.
There were, the President reminded the august gathering, attempts in the past to get the legislation cleared.
The Congress, then in power, had got the Bill cleared in Rajya Sabha but it did not get a passage in the Lok Sabha.  There is resistance from regional parties on the issue. Though BJP’s Sushma Swaraj was then in the forefront advocating the pro women legislation, it remains to be seen whether a similar enthusiasm would be at play with the current dispensation. As of now, the government has not moved an inch towards making 33 percent reservation a reality even though Mukherjee spoke about what he termed as an “attitudinal change”.
Mukherjee seconded Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s suggestion that a start could be made by giving at least 33 per cent of the electoral ticket to women candidates. He, however, cautioned that the success of this formula was dependent on participation by all parties.
India’s record on this count is pretty dismal. Surveys have put women representation in the Lok Sabha to be a dismal 12 percent. The national average for women Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) across all state assemblies in India is below ten percent.  
Statistics substantiate that barely 12 percent of MPs in the lower House of Parliament are women.
The Upper House Rajya Sabha offers no solace where the figure is 12.8 per cent. The proportion of women has increased from 11.4 percent in June 2014 to 12 percent this year, but India has little to show when it is compared to other countries. In world rankings, its figures are very disappointing.
Even within Asia, countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia are doing much better with over 20 percent women represented in legislative bodies.
Worldwide, 13 countries constitute, what can be aptly called the ‘40 percent group’ i.e women constitute 40per cent or more of the total seats in the National Parliament. Topping this group is Rwanda, where women MPs make up for 63.8per cent of the Parliament, outnumbering men. Bolivia at 53per cent and Andorra at 50per cent achieve gender parity with equal number of men and women MPs.
Another interesting aspect is that an overwhelming number of the countries that constitute this group are from Africa, followed by Europe and South America.
The global average for women in parliaments stood at 22.4per cent. While Europe surpasses the global average at 25.2per cent,  Sub-Saharan Africa has an average representation of 22.6per cent, Asia at 19per cent and the Arab states at 18per cent. The Nordic countries alone have 41.5per cent average of women MPs. 42 countries in the world have 30per cent or more women MPs in their Parliament.
Among SAARC countries, India’s position is an ignominious fifth among the eight. Nepal with 29.5per cent women leads the SAARC group, followed by Afghanistan with 27.7per cent MPs.
Pakistan and Bangladesh at 20per cent each, ensure much better representation for women in their parliament.
 Among BRICS countries, the emerging power pack of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, India, stands 4th among these countries, with only Brazil with a mere 9per cent women, that fares worse than India.
 Globally, India ranks 109 of 190 nations in terms of women in the legislative representation.
 It is therefore ironic that Prime Minister Modi while harping on women’s empowerment did not mention the Women’s Reservation Bill. Instead, he sermonized on women virtues of patience and ability to make sacrifices for her husband and children.
Worse still, his observation of women not needing empowerment since they are already empowered gave little hope: "Who are males to empower women? We do not realize our powers till we do not face challenge," the Prime Minister said adding that "women have much more inherent strength than men which they reflect in meeting the odds in family life and social life". But the unkindest cut was when Modi said that empowerment is done for those who are not empowered: “What does the empowerment of those who are already powerful mean?
Cynics saw it as a done it all situation on grounds that women have got whatever is necessary and there is not much else that is required. Reading between the lines, it seems that the women Bill is not priority with the Modi government.   
 On their part, the thin attendance at the inaugural session of the much-publicized conference said it all. The absence of  Modi’s ministers, with a few exceptions ofcourse, was a clear indication that women empowerment is on the backburner with the current dispensation.
That apart, women themselves seemed laid back. The conference was more tokenism than content.  It would be harsh to rubbish the initiative but it would be prudent to instill real stuff that can move mountains.
 Simply put this means that conferences in air-conditioned halls are fine but one needs to change things on the ground: reach out to women and improve the lot of those who are tortured and abused on a daily basis.
 Women legislators must make it a mission to adopt a women first and women last mantra in their work agenda. Ofcourse their point about not being an all woman MP is well taken as is their argument that once elected they have to take care of all voters, men and women alike.
This, however, does not cancel their commitment to make schemes women centric and gender friendly or help women get an extra inch in what is essentially a man’s world.

The writer is a senior Indian
journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])

Women legislators and gender parity

As of now, the Indian government has not moved an inch towards making 33 per cent reservation a reality

Lok Sabha Speaker in the Indian Parliament Sumitra Mahajan touched a chord while speaking about women at the inaugural session of a national conference on Women legislators: building a resurgent India. Using a temple analogy, Mahajan said that when a man gets prashad he consumes an entire helping, wipes his hands on his kurta and moves on. As against this when a woman is given prashad, she eats part of it and saves the rest for others back home. She said this in the context of hammering the point about men being solo players while women taking along others. While this was met with a thundering applause, President Mukherjee gave a wake up call to the government on the issue of the long pending women reservations Bill. The conference, the brainchild of Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was held in Indias capital city, New Delhi. The timing was the conference coincided with the onset of the International Womens Day on March 8. The two-day session was intended to provide a platform to women legislators across the country to interact and learn from their counterparts, women Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, MPs and eminent women in the judiciary and bureaucracy. Inaugurated by Indias President Pranab Mukherjee, the sessions were attended and addressed by eminent women legislators including ministers in the Modi government. Bangladesh Jatiyo Samshad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, was specially invited for the conference. While Bangladesh can sit smug on the issue of women representation in Parliament, India still has a long haul. Therefore when President Mukherjee stressed the need to clear the Constitution (108th) Amendment Bill to set aside one-third of seats in Assemblies and Parliament for women it was an indication that the Government needs to pull up its socks. The Modi led government has yet to bring up the Bill for consideration in Parliament. There were, the President reminded the august gathering, attempts in the past to get the legislation cleared. The Congress, then in power, had got the Bill cleared in Rajya Sabha but it did not get a passage in the Lok Sabha. There is resistance from regional parties on the issue. Though BJPs Sushma Swaraj was then in the forefront advocating the pro women legislation, it remains to be seen whether a similar enthusiasm would be at play with the current dispensation. As of now, the government has not moved an inch towards making 33 percent reservation a reality even though Mukherjee spoke about what he termed as an attitudinal change. Mukherjee seconded Vice-President Hamid Ansaris suggestion that a start could be made by giving at least 33 per cent of the electoral ticket to women candidates. He, however, cautioned that the success of this formula was dependent on participation by all parties. Indias record on this count is pretty dismal. Surveys have put women representation in the Lok Sabha to be a dismal 12 percent. The national average for women Members of Legislative Assemblies (MLAs) across all state assemblies in India is below ten percent. Statistics substantiate that barely 12 percent of MPs in the lower House of Parliament are women. The Upper House Rajya Sabha offers no solace where the figure is 12.8 per cent. The proportion of women has increased from 11.4 percent in June 2014 to 12 percent this year, but India has little to show when it is compared to other countries. In world rankings, its figures are very disappointing. Even within Asia, countries like the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia are doing much better with over 20 percent women represented in legislative bodies. Worldwide, 13 countries constitute, what can be aptly called the 40 percent group i.e women constitute 40per cent or more of the total seats in the National Parliament. Topping this group is Rwanda, where women MPs make up for 63.8per cent of the Parliament, outnumbering men. Bolivia at 53per cent and Andorra at 50per cent achieve gender parity with equal number of men and women MPs. Another interesting aspect is that an overwhelming number of the countries that constitute this group are from Africa, followed by Europe and South America. The global average for women in parliaments stood at 22.4per cent. While Europe surpasses the global average at 25.2per cent, Sub-Saharan Africa has an average representation of 22.6per cent, Asia at 19per cent and the Arab states at 18per cent. The Nordic countries alone have 41.5per cent average of women MPs. 42 countries in the world have 30per cent or more women MPs in their Parliament. Among SAARC countries, Indias position is an ignominious fifth among the eight. Nepal with 29.5per cent women leads the SAARC group, followed by Afghanistan with 27.7per cent MPs. Pakistan and Bangladesh at 20per cent each, ensure much better representation for women in their parliament. Among BRICS countries, the emerging power pack of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, India, stands 4th among these countries, with only Brazil with a mere 9per cent women, that fares worse than India. Globally, India ranks 109 of 190 nations in terms of women in the legislative representation. It is therefore ironic that Prime Minister Modi while harping on womens empowerment did not mention the Womens Reservation Bill. Instead, he sermonized on women virtues of patience and ability to make sacrifices for her husband and children. Worse still, his observation of women not needing empowerment since they are already empowered gave little hope: Who are males to empower women? We do not realize our powers till we do not face challenge, the Prime Minister said adding that women have much more inherent strength than men which they reflect in meeting the odds in family life and social life. But the unkindest cut was when Modi said that empowerment is done for those who are not empowered: What does the empowerment of those who are already powerful mean? Cynics saw it as a done it all situation on grounds that women have got whatever is necessary and there is not much else that is required. Reading between the lines, it seems that the women Bill is not priority with the Modi government. On their part, the thin attendance at the inaugural session of the much-publicized conference said it all. The absence of Modis ministers, with a few exceptions ofcourse, was a clear indication that women empowerment is on the backburner with the current dispensation. That apart, women themselves seemed laid back. The conference was more tokenism than content. It would be harsh to rubbish the initiative but it would be prudent to instill real stuff that can move mountains. Simply put this means that conferences in air-conditioned halls are fine but one needs to change things on the ground: reach out to women and improve the lot of those who are tortured and abused on a daily basis. Women legislators must make it a mission to adopt a women first and women last mantra in their work agenda. Ofcourse their point about not being an all woman MP is well taken as is their argument that once elected they have to take care of all voters, men and women alike. This, however, does not cancel their commitment to make schemes women centric and gender friendly or help women get an extra inch in what is essentially a mans world. The writer is a senior Indian journalist, political commentator and columnist of The Independent. She can be reached at: ([email protected])