In the 17th General elections last year, Pramila Bisoyi, 71, a self-help group worker debuted into the world of politics when she entered the Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament representing the Aska seat from Odisha. She was cooking mid-day meals in her village when she was informed of her candidature.
Somewhere far away in Bihar, Ritu Jaiswal, an educated young “mukhiya(village head)” in Singhvahini village paints another hopeful picture of women foraying into politics without any political background and clout, yet being accepted and loved by the local people.
The recognition and many awards for her works are just an example of how women in a political leadership role must not be construed as lesser in capabilities. This story of transformation under her capable leadership is the outcome of keeping faith in women as political leaders.
There Is A Lack Of Women In Governance
But these are only a few stories whereas India lags behind even Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh in the share of women among elected representatives in their national assemblies as per this International Parliamentary Union report.
Shifting focus from Parliament to state legislative assemblies, the picture is as gloomy as it can be. For instance, Northeastern states, where women are seen in workplaces and markets way more than in other parts of the country, have a similar tale to tell. Mizoram and Nagaland have zero female members in their assemblies out of 40 and 60 members respectively.
Coming to a much more positive narrative in this context, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act gave 33% reservation to women in local government with an impressive 46% current share of women in Panchayats of the country. However, the question remains: Does the ‘huge ‘quantity’ really entail empowerment for women who are at the helm of the third tier of governance?
The Issues Surrounding Women in Local Government
Herein we have to look towards the challenges of Proxy panchayat members. From this article, it seems that women tend to be merely proxies in the name of the male members of their household.
Ironically, some of these women don’t find it odd when they are not even involved in the official works. Recently released TVF web series, ‘Panchayat’ Interestingly puts this across aptly where women “Sarpanchs(village head)” and many other panchayat members are represented by their husbands!
But at times, the woman mukhiya doesn’t seem intimidated or diffident in front of her husband. Having said that, education, training, and leadership mentoring might be the anchoring required for building confidence for public roles and true empowerment.
Often patriarchal structures pose obstacles in acceptance by the people and can be detrimental to the courage to fight and survive for women in politics. Moreover, criminalization and huge amounts of money being pumped into electoral campaigning has made it challenging for clean women candidates with little money and clout.
The Role Of Women In Leading Civil Movements
But an interesting departure is seen in the civil movements helmed by women as a political voice apart from huge voter turnout among females. Lasting for 101 days and only coming to an end because of the pandemic, Shaheen Bagh in Delhi witnessed a peaceful, organized, and determined crowd of women sitting peacefully and speaking out without making any disturbing noise themselves.
Despite keeping themselves away from political leaders, they are the political voices of democracy. Unfazed by the political filth during Delhi elections’ campaigning, these women were at the center of the opposition to a government policy or legislation for such a long time. It makes for an amazing case study of women in politics.
Moving ahead, for electoral politics, it’s the Political parties who would have to give tickets to more women. For example, the Trinamool Congress did it by giving 40% of its tickets to women candidates. Odisha which had less than the national average of women in its assembly chose to pass a resolution for 33% reservation in Loksabha seats in 2019.
Also, the women themselves need to have the agency for real empowerment even after being elected. Importantly, the Women Reservation Bill stalled for years now should be a topic of wider debate.
A nation willing to become a global leader and known as the “Vishwaguru(world leader)” in the ancient days has to keep its fair share of political leadership roles for women. Unless women rise through the hierarchies of power structures, their subordinated and demure roles would be reinforced by the existing social systems.
The Supreme Court has just sent a message across to change the mindsets for acceptance of women at the top. It’s high time we heed this message for women’s roles in higher political decision making as well. We need more women leaders like Chhavi Rajawat, Ritu Jaiswal, and Atishi Marlena amongst us.