Today is International Women’s Day. They are presenting the women’s reservation bill in RS. If has to be approved by a two third of total votes. After this, the bill will be presented in LS and then to every state’s Assembly and if approved by more than half of the states, the bill will become a law. Then women will constitute at least 33% of the ruling polictical leadership.
It would be a great gift to around 50 crores of Indian Women on Women’s day. Some parties are against it like SP, BSP, RJD and a certain fraction of JD(U). But in all likelihood, the bill is going to be a law soon. It has waited for 14 long years.
No doubt, it’s great step in women empowerment but giving power in the hands of someone without actually empowering them enough is something I am against. And that too a responsibility as big as ruling the country is an idea I do not comply with at all. In all likelihood, it is going to promote the rule of the proxy. And noone would be able to do anything. We already had one such instance when a certain leader decided to appoint his wife as the CM when his turn to go to jail came. And we all knew who ruled the state then despite constitution not allowing him to do so. It was a contradiction. Constitution had this provision which went against itself and it couldn’t do anything.
I have witnessed many instances in ward council elections where there are reservation for women. Almost every reserved seat were presented by a proxy candidate.
The reservations in jobs made sense because it was meant to strengthen the backward section of the society but reserving seats for decision makers? Where is democracy? People must have the choice to elect their leaders on the basis of merit, not on the basis of quota. I agree, merit will be involved even after the quota and so will be the choice but that will be a skewed choice. And that is not democracy.
If there are 50% women in India, then ideally there should be around 50% women in parliament. But since a very few Indian women are interested in politics, so the women representation shouldn’t ideally be more than 25%. And since an Indian women’s priority is her family, the number would go down to 20% at max. So next 15% or so are bound to take space of some more worthy candidate who may never get to represent his people.
No doubt this law will help women. But the last 15 years have witnessed a sea change in women law. To the point that voices are being raised against its misuse. So the need of the hour is not providing women with quota on the platter but is to make sure existing rules are being implemented properly. Just making sure that will ensure an exact and deserving number of women representing people.
One area where this quota is going to help the country is bringing the humane touch in the house because women think from the heart and having been in the thick of action for so many years, they are better equipped to understand the plight of the people and to act upon them. Also I have a feeling that so many women representing us should have a soothing influence just by the way they perform.
I wish women of my country prove my apprenhesnions wrong. But if implemented, next five years are surely going to be interesting because we will be witnessing something never been witnessed before. Hope that’s for good.
