In the recent years, more young women are looking at politics as a viable career
Date : 18/05/2024
Abstract
Women are at the centre of life itself. And in accordance with the current trend, she would soon share the role and responsibilities at the political and decision-making platforms in the coming years. Women participation at the apex level of mainstream politics is not new but their increased participation in terms of numbers in Indian politics is much appreciated in the last few years. Recent examples have triggered young women to take up politics as one of the career options.
Representation trend and impact of second generation women leaders
The 17th Lok Sabha witnesses the highest number of women MPs in the history of Indian Parliament. The outcome of 2019 Lok Sabha elections made 78 women (out of 545) MPs reach the Parliament. It does not stop here! The elections also witnessed one of the highest women voters turnout i.e., 68% which was at par with men voters i.e., 68.3%.
There can be various reasons for this. Some of them could be: Increased awareness about women political participation, improved women literacy rates, civil society activism, economic independence, easy information access through mobile phones and internet, confidence in women leadership, increased women voter turnout, women-centric manifestos by political parties, increased women voters registration by Election Commission and contribution of second generation women leaders.
Most importantly, the second generation women leaders made their impact by holding various key positions in the previous Cabinet such as Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Defence, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Minister of Human Resource and Development among others and the presiding officer i.e., Speaker of Lok Sabha. The 16th Lok Sabha had 9 female ministers in the Council of Ministers, of whom 6 held the rank of a Cabinet minister. This is the highest number of female Cabinet ministers in the Indian government’s history. In terms of party wise representation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the forerunner with the highest number of women parliamentarians followed by the All India Trinamool Congress, Congress, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress and Biju Janata Dal.
Implications of women being in mainstream politics
Women’s political awareness and opportunities in decision-making are crucial aspects in political participation instead of mere voting on the day of elections. Women have equal rights as men guaranteed by the Constitution of India. The role of women in the Indian Independence movement was crucial and made a great impact in breaking the barrier.
Women in legislation, judiciary, bureaucracy, press, civil society, taking part in political processes, decision-making systems influence not just her personality but also her surroundings. India is witnessing a positive shift in recognizing women’s rights and their potential in mainstream politics resulting in increased women representation in various domains in administration and the society.
According to IPU (2019), achieving gender equality, recognizing the link between democracy and the equal participation of men and women in parliaments is crucial. Women’s increasing presence in political spheres influence behaviour, practices, culture and laws. It is necessary to involve more women in the decision-making making process to strengthen agencies meant for women and society at large to ensure progressive society with equal opportunities (Economic Survey, 2019). The women representatives are capable enough in articulating the demands effectively and to address the bureaucratic and political hurdles. It is believed that women in administration and decision-making roles bring in greater efficiency and transparency.
Political inclusion of all irrespective of gender is one of the ten Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Increased women political participation at the grass root level has resulted in the improvement of supplying public goods, including water, sanitation, primary education, public health and roads. Women representatives are more vocal on fundamental and welfare issues such as drinking water, road improvements, childcare, maternal health and violence against women.
Positive developments in bridging the gap
Gender equality and inadequate development led to the feminism wave in India during the 1970s. The committee on the status of Women in India report, 1974 significantly influenced the activism towards gender equality. This activism had the support of Indian women from the grass root level and gender inequality issues on focus of the activism includes Uniform Civil Code, Women’s reservation bill, equal pay for equal work and sexual violence against women among others. Further, the national objectives are in line with the United Nations commitment to the agenda of ‘Leaving No One Behind’.
Through the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment in 1994, India witnessed one of the major developments in women political participation and representation at the grass roots level by reserving 33% of seats at Panchayat and Local urban bodies for women. Panchayat Raj system of India is considered as third tier government and grass root level democratic system. There are around 2,53,400 gram panchayats as rural local bodies, 6,613 intermediary panchayats and 630 district level panchayats.
Around 13.45 lakh of total elected representatives are women constituting 46.14% and 43% of gram panchayats have women sarpanchs standing as an example for women political leadership. Further, states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Uttarakhand have increased reservations in panchayats to 50%. The struggle bringing women into mainstream politics does not stop here. The Women’s Reservation Bill (108th amendment) has been introduced in the Indian Parliament to reserve 33% of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha seats for women to address gender inequality in the national and state level political representation.
Road ahead
There are numerous reasons stopping women coming to mainstream politics such as harassment, lack of opportunities, social stigma, sexual violence, male dominance etc. Further, the percentage share of women representatives compared to men in national and state assemblies are much lower, for instance 86% of parliamentarians are men. There no adequate representation of about half of the Indian population i.e., women in parliament demanding serious attention to bring in policy and institutional level changes to address this large gender-based inequality in political participation and decision-making systems.
Some of the initiatives and strengthening measures are necessary to address the challenges such as creating awareness among rural women about their political rights and its implications, improving women literacy rate, economic opportunities, capacity building etc. Further, increased opportunities should be provided to young women to make use of their potential in addressing societal, cultural and economic issues and building a strong nation.
Conclusion
The tremendous women political representation at the grass root level and recent trend in parliament and states representation is an example of silver lining towards higher women leaders at the decision making levels. Success of women participation in panchayat raj systems, previous and current national politics in India shows the potential of women representatives in addressing societal and developmental issues. The current trend of enthusiasm in women’s political participation and level of awareness presents a positive hope of achieving gender equality in political domains. It is evident that the second generation of women leaders stand as an example for an upcoming women leader to take up leadership and strategic roles. Truly, there is a great hope. We can expect better political participation of women in India in the coming years. This would usher in a new era of women leaders.
Dr. Naveen B R is a Lok Sabha Research Fellow at the Parliament of India and PhD from Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
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"Increased women political participation at the grass root level has resulted in the improvement of supplying public goods, including water, sanitation, primary education, public health and roads." This means above said areas were in bad condition before women entered politics. It has improved after women participation increased in politics. Chart shows women MPs more than 10% in last three parliaments only. Last three Transport ministers: Kamalnath, CPJoshi, Oscar Fernandese, Nitin Gadkari. Last three Health and Family Welfare ministers: Gulamnabi Azad, JPNadda, Dr Harsh Vardhan. Last three Education Ministers: Kapil Sibal, Palam Raju, Smriti Irani, Prakash Javdekar, Ramesh Pokhriyal. There is only one woman MP who held the ministerial post among transport, health, education. How women politicians have played role in improving primary education, public health, and road?
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Interesting question! "Increased women political participation at the grass root level.." implies women participation in local governments such as Panchayat Raj (Rural Local Bodies) and Municipal Corporations (Urban Local Bodies) which was the result of 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment where 33% of seats are reserved for women. Further, "....has resulted in the improvement of supplying public goods, including water, sanitation, primary education, public health and roads." implies, according to Economic Survey (2017-18) increased women participation at Panchayat Raj and Muncipal Bodies have increased basic amenities and services as a result of women reservation. Being representatives of their communities, women share responsibility of the work assigned which helps to understand the local issues in-depth, and to raise their levels of capability, awareness and skills. Therefore, the sentence in quotes not necessarily implies that said areas were in bad condition. Moreover that sentence mainly talks about panchayat and muncipal bodies, not about national representation at parliament level. Also, this can serve as an example to have more women representatives at state assemblies and parliament.