Should women reservation bill be passed?

[Editor]

It is quite ironical that in a country like India, which has had a woman prime minister for seventeen years, there has been no significant increase in female literacy rates or decrease in the maternal mortality rates. One fails to understand why the women reservation bill has still not been passed. Every political party, even those who favour it, starts a debate of passing the bill with a bang, however it ends with a whimper.

The bill originally came up before the Lok Sabha in 1996. But it could not be carried out as the House was dissolved. Last time when it was introduced by the Vajpayee government, it was physically prevented from being tabled. Now, the new government, led by Dr. Manmhohan Singh, plans to resurrect the women reservation bill to ensure gender equality in politics.

The passing of the bill implies that there would be 33.13 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by rotation of seats to different constituencies.

Different political parties have different stance on the subject. The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party allies and the Left parties have supported the 33.13 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. However, the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Muslim League were prominent among those who opposed the bill in the present form. They insisted that the reservations for other backward clases and minorities, particularly Muslims, should be incorporated before the bill was introduced.

Though I agree that there are many ways to make positive contribution to the society but still the women in India today need proper representation in the Parliament. We, the urban class women might feel that we are independent and do not need any reservation served to us on a platter. We can excel in any field based on merit. But, as a woman and a citizen of India I feel that the bill needs to be passed for the betterment of the women right from the grass root level. Women have succeeded as sarpanches in the panchayati raj. They may have done this with the support of their kith and kin. Having said that, I feel that when it comes to moving up the political ladder, women have to face the a rock solid patriarchal order which blocks them out of the corridors of power. But the fact remains that women may prove to be better leaders because they are aware of the needs of the people around, can do multi-tasking easily, managing their careers and home equally well. I am also against the view that the reservation will only bring forth the biwi-bahu bridage.

Many NGO’s are working for empowering women in India. One of them is Manushi managed by Madhu Kishwar. She too holds the view that woman reservation is the need of the hour. Our vision in the new century of a nation where women are equal partners with men will be fulfilled when women get their due representation.

Many educated Indian women might think the other way round saying that if a person has talent he or she can excel in any field. But the question of excellence will only arise once there is equal awareness and exposure for both men and women in India. My view is that nobody can stop the idea whose time has come.

So what is your gutfeel? Feel free to express your honest views...

[Urbanangel]

My gutfeel is that women reservation bill is nothing but a tactic to gain votes. Political parties talk about passing it to gain votes and then everything is back to square one. And i also do not feel that the women of today need any type of reservation...they are equal to men counterparts in every aspect...what do you say guys

[sabman]

Women represenattion at the parliament is very important. Though i am not opposed ot the idea of reservation , it should be implemented properly. Some thing like a compulsory women candidates for those constituencies where the status of women is poor can be very useful.

[Aditi77_k]

[sk]

The question of women reservation in Parliament is raised in every session of parliament since 1996. But either due to heavy work load or due to some other reason, discussions are held only once and that too inconclusive.

The very reason for this non-seriousness on the part of allpolitical parties have many hidden factors though almost all parties are in favour of reservation of women. Even after 59n years of independence we have very low representation of women in almost all the lok-sabha elections say 7 to 8%. Various reasons to counter the reservation of women is given in different platforms consisting mainly as follows:
a. Literacy rate of women as compared to men is very low,
b. Due to reservation, the level of parliament debate will go down as only few learned women are in politics,
c. Many veteran parliamentarian will lose their membership as they cannot win from the constituencies other than their own. Their constituency may fall in women’s category,
d. Lastly male chauvinism will not permit them to support the bill.

In my opinion, the present government is serious to pass the bill. The speaker of the Lok-sabha with the consent of all political parties should constitute a committee of elite parliamentarians to finalize the modalities of the bill before introducing it in parliament. This will facilitate getting the bill passed.