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WOMEN IN POLITICS: Civil Services Mentor Magazine: April - 2017

::WOMEN IN POLITICS::

At all levels women participate at politics in India. Right from voting till attaining the highest offices women in India have acheived almost everything. However areas like political activism and voting are the benchmark for women's political participation. Legistlature has from time to time tried everything to improve political participation of women. To combat gender inequality in politics, the Indian Government has instituted reservations for seats in local governments. Women turnout during India's 2014 parliamentary general elections was 65.63%, compared to 67.09% turnout for men. Women have held the posts of president and prime minister in India, as well as chief ministers of various states. Indian voters have elected women to numerous state legislative assemblies and national parliament for many decades. The Constitution of India attempts to remove gender inequalities by banning discrimination based on sex and class, prohibiting human trafficking and forced labor, and reserving elected positions for women. Inspite of these measures there are few grey areas for women political participation in the country. India ranks 20th from the bottom in terms of representation of women in Parliament. Also in many cases women act as a dummy for their husbands. Reservation for women in parliament has long been debated by the parliamentarians but it has still not seen the light. Debates for the participation of women in politics is mostly taken over by men. Nature of politics in India also provide a significant hindarance to women participation.

Constitution of India has taken various measures to safeguard the interest of women in India. These measures provide reasonable opportunity for women to increase their wellbeing and increase their participation in politics. Some of these important constitutional provisions are given below: o Art 326- Universal adult suffrage: This Article made sure that anyone above the age of 18 will have the single vote and all the votes will have the same value.

73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment- The most revolutionary provision is the reservation of one-third of the seats for women in local bodies, along with reservation of seats for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in proportion to their regional populations.

Art 15 and 16: Reservation and non-discrimination based on sex: The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.

Women in India have historically always participated in political movement for the freedom of India and any other women related issue. Bharat stree mandal was formed in 1910 and it totally focused on helping women. In 1927, the All India women's conference was formed toincrease the women participation in political activites in India. It was very helpful in the passage of the Hindu code of bills between 1952 and 1960. Women were also active in the freedom movement. They had a huge participation in Civil disobedience movement and Quit India Movement. After independence a new wave for the fight for women rights started after 1970's. The Committee on the Status of Women in India released a report in 1974, and had a significant influence in the reemergence of activism towards gender equality.

There are various challenges which are faced by the women in India, which provides a hinderance for the political participation of women in India. Illiteracy is one of the biggest challenges. Though literacy among women have improved it is still less than that of men. Poor Sex ratio is another problem which leads to the problem for women to participate in politics. Sex ratio in India has just started improving in the last census still it is 943/1000. However more alarming is child sex ratio at 914/1000. Government schme Beto bachao Beth Padhao will help in improvig the sex ratio and also developing future leaders. Probably the most important hindarence for women to participate in polits is physical and sexual violence. It highly discourages women to come into politics. Economic dependence on men is very big factor in developing women leadership.

At present due to various initiatives by the government and various legislature situation for women to participate in political activities has improved. Steps like Reservation of One third of seats in panchayat and municipal elections have improved the role of women at local level. Some of the states have taken it a step further and they have increased the reservation to 50%. However bill for reservation of women in Parliament is still pending
in Lok Sabha. Also Concerns remain in reserving seats for women in elected positions. Without training sometimes women become proxy for men. Gender gap index of world economic forum is an index which measures the difference between the position of men and women. India ranked low at 87th place globally in terms of gender equality despite a jump of 21 places. In the 16th Lok Sabha, 61 women leaders have made their way to the Parliament. This is the highest ever number of Lok Sabha seats won by women.