Women in Indian political system

• India ranks 153 out of 190 nationsin the percentage of women in the lower house of world parliaments.
• The Economic Survey 2018 said there are developing countries like Rwandawhich has more than 60 per cent women representatives in Parliament in 2017.
• In India, between 2010 and 2017 women’s share rose 1 percentage pointin its Lower House (Lok Sabha).
• As on October 2016, out of the total 4,118 MLAsacross the country, only 9 per cent were women.
• The highest percentage of women legislators come from Bihar, Haryana and Rajasthan (14%), followed by Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal (13%) and Punjab (12%).
• The factors such as domestic responsibilities, prevailing cultural attitudes regarding roles of women in society and lack of support from familywere among main reasons that prevented them from entering politics.
• Lack of confidence and finance were the other major deterring factors that prevented women from entering politics.
• Ahead of any election campaign in the country, sexist and derogatory remarksstart doing the rounds against women contestants, in some cases forcing them to withdraw their nomination.
• The introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in 1996that would reserve 33 percent of seats in Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies for women on a rotational basis, lapsed in 2014 with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
• The constitution allocates total seats to states by population, the resultant women’s representation at 12% is far below the actual population of women. So, on grounds of fairness, this is an anomaly.

• Prejudice: Ironically it exists among both men and women – against genuine equality. It is believed that male legislators have the gumption to fulfill election manifesto more than women.
• About half the world’s population feel men make better political leaders as per UNDP Gender Social Norms Index.
• Another major factor is familial support to pursue political career for women. In India, it is most often those women who have a political background that enter into electoral arena.
• Role of Money power in politics makes it harder for women to enter the political forum.
• 24% of parliamentary seatsworldwide are held by women, and there are only 10 female heads of government out of a possible 193. This shows the dearth of women representation in politics.
• The unhealthy political environment: For instance In this recent MeToo movement, a journalist Priya Ramani accused Union Minister of state of external affairs, MJ Akbar of sexual harassment.
• On the reserved seats, at the local level, political leaders take positions in the name of their wife, and after winning elections, actual power is used by their male counterparts instead of women. (Concept of sarpanch pati raj/pati panchayat phenomenon)

• Women legislators in India raise economic performance in their constituencies by about 1.8 percentage points per year more than male legislators.
• When average growth is 7%, this implies that the growth premium associated with female legislators is about 25%.
• Lower Criminalization of Politics:Male legislators are about three times as likely as female legislators to have criminal charges pending against them when they stand for election. This explains the growth difference mentioned above.
• Policy Making– Better representation of women’s and children’s concerns in policymaking. Eg: Panchayat Raj institutions serve as a good example in this front.
• Lower Corruption: The rate at which women accumulate assets while in office is 10 percentage points lower, per year than among men. These findings line up with experimental evidence that women are more just, risk-averse and less likely to engage in criminal and other risky behaviour than men.
• Economic growth: It was found that male and female politicians are equally likely to negotiate federal projects for road building in their constituencies. However, women are more likely to oversee completionof these projects.
  • Eg: The share of incomplete road projects is 22 percentage points lower in female-led constituencies.
• From a feminist viewpoint politics needs to follow a road that moves women out of the traditional social and political marginalization.
• Despite so many favorable points for women, women make up 14% of the Lok Sabha and 11% of the Rajya Sabha.

• In 1994, India ratified the 73rd and the 74th amendments to the Indian Constitution, granting women 1/3 reservation in rural and urban democratic bodies.
• There are 13.72 lakh elected women representatives (EWRs) in PRIs (Panchayati Raj Institutions) which constitute 44.2 per cent of total elected representatives (ERs) as on December, 2017.
• Women sarpanchs accounted for 43 per cent of total gram panchayats (GPs) across the country, exhibiting active leadership of women in local government.
• There is documented evidence both at the international level and at the gram panchayat (village) level to suggest that a greater representation of women in elected office balances the process and prioritizations that elected bodies focus on.
• In terms of policy styles, for instance, the inclusion of women adds behind the scenes discussion rather than direct confrontation on the floor of the House.
• In terms of agenda(as measured in Rwanda), a wider range of family issues get tackled.
• Esther Duflo and Raghabendra Chattopadhyay (NBER Working Paper 8615) showed that in a randomised trial in West Bengal, women pradhans(heads of village panchayats) focus on infrastructure that is relevant to the needs of rural women, suggesting that at least at the local level outcomes can be different.
• The role model effect also erases the gender disparity in educational attainment of young girls.
• A study by IndiaSpend reported women panchayat leadersin Tamil Nadu invested 48 percent more money than their male counterparts in building roads and improving access.
• Another study by the United Nationsfound that women-led panchayats delivered 62 percent higher drinking water projects than those led by men.

• India should have an Election Commission-led effortto push for reservation for women in political parties.
• Reservation for women in political parties– a more viable option.
• Quotas for women in Parliament as envisaged in the Women’s Reservation Bill.
• Awareness, education and role modellingthat encourage women towards politics and wipe out Gender stereotypes which perceive women as weak representatives.
• Inclusive economic institutions and growth—both necessary for and dependent on social empowerment—require inclusive political institutions.
• Women’s leadership and communication skillsneed to be enhanced by increasing female literacy especially in rural areas. They should be empowered in order to break socio-cultural barriers and improve their status in the society.
• India is yet to pass a bill introducing 33% reservation in Parliament for women. This experiment at the local level (PRI’s and ULB’s) has been very successful.

• Political mentoring andskill training can enhance their political knowledge; thereby becoming potential candidates who will steer the nation towards development.

B.R. Ambedkar once said that “political power is the key to all social progress”. Ensuring proportional representation to women in parliament is seen by policy makers as a panacea to the issues surrounding women empowerment. Recognizing the significance of roles of women in decision making process in the society is critical to strengthen women’s agencies for building a progressive society with equality of opportunities among all citizens. Male politicians must take a lead role in challenging traditions which foster inequality and also unequivocally condemn the misogynistic language that their counterparts use when it comes to women.

SDG goal 5 has a target – ‘’ Ensure women’s full and active participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision making in political, economic, and public life’’. It needs to be achieved with the collective efforts of the international community (SDG goal 17- Partnership for the goals). There is no one-size-fits-all solution to ensure gender equality in politics. But there is plenty that can and should be done to ensure that women’s voices are heard.