WOMEN IN INDIAN POLITICS
WOMEN IN INDIAN POLITICS
“For me, A Better democracy is a democracy where women do
not only have the right to vote and to elect but to be elected.”
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Michelle Bachelet
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(Head of Women, Former President and Defense Minister)
There is abundant evidence that women's political participation
benefits both their individual communities and societies as well as
international peace and stability. We are still a long way from achieving
gender parity, despite the fact that a number of international agreements and
legal frameworks safeguard women's political rights. This must be altered. A
truly inclusive democracy must give women the opportunity to exercise their
political rights and take part in all political decision-making, which is a
critical component of achieving political inclusion.
Despite making up over half of our population, women are
disproportionately underrepresented in our political system. Women are not
allowed to participate in decision-making at any level of society, from the
family to the highest levels of government. Looking at the reasons, it's
interesting to find that education has an impact on politics, but only for
women because their literacy rates are higher than those of their male
counterparts, suggesting that only women need political education. According to
the Election Commission of India's report, women make up 10.5 percent of all
parliamentarians. The situation of women is considerably worse in state
assemblies, where they make up about 9% of the leaders. In the past 75 years of
independence, women's representation in the Lok Sabha has not even increased by
10%. In India's major political parties, there are many women workers, but they
are frequently marginalized and denied a party ticket to run in elections.
India ranks 112th out of 153 nations in terms of educational
attainment, which indicates a clear connection between education and women's
participation in politics, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020. The
level of education of women has an impact on their social mobility. Formal
education, such as that provided at educational institutions, offers the chance
to lead and develops essential leadership skills. Women are unaware of their
fundamental political rights because they lack political understanding.
"Economies are more productive and robust in places where women are more
educated and empowered. This statement by United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-Moon emphasizes the importance of education in attaining gender equality and
making nations more prosperous. "Where women are fully represented, societies
are more peaceful and stable" (UNSC 2013). India has a low rate of
education for girls and is still plagued by patriarchy, which results from
historically assigned roles for women. However, this has led to more serious
problems, such as a lack of representation in policies and inclusion issues, as
women who lack education are unaware of these factors and fall into the same
vicious cycle. The government did make efforts to ensure women's participation
in politics starting at the grassroots level by promoting women's education
("Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao") and also through constitutional
amendments like reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (Article
243D of the Constitution ensures participation by mandating not less than one-third
reservation for women); proposal of the Women Reservation Bill, 2008 which
reserves one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and all the state legislative
assemblies. When compared to men, the percentage of women with graduate or
post-graduate degrees is lower in states like Uttar Pradesh, where only 10% of
women are represented in state legislatures. Similar to this, only 14% of the
women elected to West Bengal's state assembly have literacy rates of
approximately 60%, and the proportion of men in leadership positions is
extremely low. Given that female politicians in India are far more educated
than male politicians but still fall short in terms of representation, this
comparison highlights the stark reality of political education among Indian
politicians. It also illustrates the clear connection between women's political
participation and literacy in India.
Given that India has one of the worst reputations when it
comes to how it treats women, the growth of Indian women in panchayat
leadership is a remarkable accomplishment. Due to frequent female infanticide
in rural regions, even giving birth is difficult. There is a Lakshmi, however,
who is currently serving her second term as the panchayat leader of Kadinamala
village in Kotagiri district, for every Saroja who will get married at the age
of 13 because her mother, a devadasi (prostitute) in Chikanahalli Village,
Karnataka, cannot afford to pay a dowry. In rural Karnataka, there is a
Kenchamma who, during her two stints as council leader, faced life-threatening situations
yet managed to survive. Kenchamma was a Dalit who could not read or write. She
made sure that every child in her hamlet received an education, even a crippled
child, perhaps as a result of her own struggles.
There is an urgent need for policies that can ensure better
representation of women in the country, such as stricter policies and
implementation of girl-child education in the country; initiatives from the
recognized political parties to ensure that women receive a minimum agreed-upon
representation in state assembly and parliamentary elections. Women
participation has suffered for ages, and considering the dire circumstances we
are in, these raw steps are nugatory. Extrapolating from these features, it can
be said that there is still a long way to go for women to participate in
politics in India, especially at higher levels of government. Though we may
anticipate policy improvements that will aid India in strengthening its
political performance when there are more female political leaders and more
women exercising their democratic rights.
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