Urgent need of reservation for women in India
India, world's largest democracy lags behind countries like Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh in terms of women empowerment. With elections next year the AWRB has urged the UPA government to ensure 33 per cent women's reservation bill.
According to a survey, reservation for women stands at only 8.2 per cent in India while in Pakistan it is over 21 per cent, Nepal 30 per cent and Bangladesh is 10 per cent. Expressing serious concern over the least participation of women in country’s progress, the Alliance for Women’s Reservation Bill (AWRB) has accused the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre of betraying the commitments made in the Common Minimum Program (CMP) of mainstreaming women in the legislative process and structures effectively.
The Alliance, which is consisting of nearly 30 women groups besides other support groups and grass-root organisations, maintained that the South Asian countries including those, which have dictatorships, show political will in making provisions and implementing reservation for women in their parliaments and assemblies, but so far India continues to lag behind.
After staging dharnas outside the Parliament, AWRB has sent a memorandum to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh demanding that the 33 per cent women’s reservation bill must be tabled and voted upon in this half of the budget session. It said that since women form 50 per cent of the electorate in India, this election year is an opportunity for the government to ensure the passage of the bill.
Veena Nayyar, director of Women’s Political Watch, an Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) working for the upliftment of women said, "Women are angry, tired and feel insulted by unmeant and unkept promises by manifestos and speeches of the senior most leadership of the country and these too pick up momentum only in the election year."
She said that field surveys show that the common man is supporting and even seeking women’s participation in governance, but it is only the men-in-power who are opposing, denying and occupying women’s rightful places.
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.dear sir i am respected to u but my opinion raservation is slow position for her.it is not devid by according sex it is divid by his/her tilent and in education it provide by reduse in fee.
ti is also provided by it's economic position....................
.mr.utpal....i respect ur opinion wat d'u think abt reservation for seats in entrance exams.....where 'cause of these obc..st n sc we r suffering even though v deserve it more..{ we denotes those who actually study}....i hv to wrk harder 'cause m competing 'ith a sc or st or obc...even if i score more i can't make it since seats r reserved for THEM......wen u r competing dere shudn't b any kind of partiality...it shud b fair....women shud b given reservation ...it wud encourage more women to participate.......yeah to be fair y not compete with equal number of women bt yeah in a way its makin women weaker.......bt wateva...
.This is ridiculous in democracy. Why even have reservation. Make it an autocracy wherein people in power choose their successor from their community/caste/gender. People's will i.e what people of india want are given a second seat.
.There has been hue and cry about women reservation bill and some modifications in it for a long time now but i think that such a law itself should not exist. A person (in this case a Man) who has worked for his constituency throughout life will suddenly find that he is not allowed to contest election from that constituency because it is reserved for women. This is really ridiculous in democracy and is definitely biased against men. Shortcuts are not always good. If women want to come to parliament then they should fight in a democratic way with men. This will give them more respect. NCW and other women organizations are misusing the enormous power being bestowed to them and even the media now are acting irresponsibly. When the OBC quota was introduced the media was responsible enough to show both sides of it. But now even they are biased and are blaming politicians in delaying the passage of the bill. This is a sad situation wherein talent and people's will are given a second seat. The advocacy of such a law shows immaturity and lack of responsibility on the part of its supporters. I hope such a law should not be passed so that any capable PERSON can contest election from the constituency of his/her choice.
.i think whatever points rohan has highlighted are very true and justifiable. from my point of view reservation is not the only solution to bring upliftment of women in india as far as politics is concerned.
33% reservation law for women will truely divide the country on gender basis.
.It is very sad and unfortunate that the Indian media has been taking the side and promoting the concept of reservation for women without ever, for once, showing the negative side of such a concept. By presenting news in such a way as though there were no negatives and that people have already accepted it, it has not been doing justice to the noble profession of journalism. In effect, the media has becoming a platform for one-sided, biased propaganda of certain vested interests and women��s lobbies without taking into consideration the rights and views of men and women who don��t support reservation and this discriminatory concept of ��Robbing Peter To Pay Paul��. This bill is short-sighted, unconstitutional, undemocratic, and discriminatory. The following points are worth considering:
1. This Bill takes away the democratic right of 33% of the electorate (22 crore people) to elect their representatives. It restricts the choice of both men and women in those constituencies. The state has no right to limit the pool of representatives available to the public to choose from. This is against all democratic principles of free choice.
2. This takes away the democratic right of about 11 crore men to contest in elections, thus imparting a severe blow to the health of democracy in India . This is against the fundamental rights of 11 Crore men. It violates the right to equality guaranteed in the constitution.
.3. It will lead to significant upheavals and instability in Indian polity, with MPs being forced to shuffle constituencies in almost every election. This would lead to an inability to nurture their constituency and further reduce accountability.
4. There are no measures to make sure that the benefits are received by the socially backward and underprivileged women, who really need them. There are no objective criteria to prevent the elite class or ��creamy layer�� of women from taking undue and unfair advantage of this legislation.
5. This Bill sacrifices merit and experience of seasoned law makers and will further divide the country on gender lines.
6. This bill suggests a rotation system which would be determined by draw of lots, in such a manner that a seat would be reserved only once in a block of three general elections. This is a serious flaw, insofar as it mechanically provides for entry of women members to fill one-third of vacancies in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. This subverts the democratic process which is all about free choice vis-��-vis a mechanical action/ process.
7. The representation system in parliament and state legislatures is for entire constituencies which include every single person, be they man, woman or child and not just one section of the population within a constituency. In other words, an MP or an MLA is a public servant who represents a constituency and not any group/ section/ portion of his/ her constituency. He/ she is supposed to protect the interests of all in his/ her constituency and not just a particular group/ section/ portion in his or her constituency. This bill is against this concept of representation. The bill implies representation of women.
8. India is a vast country and is multi-cultural, multi-ethic, multi-lingual and with several groups, castes, sub-castes etc. The implementation of this bill would lead to more demands from various groups and sections of society for similar representation and it would be an open invitation for politicization of the representative form of Indian democracy. It will be a death blow to representation through constituencies.
9. The concept of reservation is an insult to women and their capability. This law perpetuates gender discrimination.
.Rather than taking a judicious and considered approach towards the issue, which normally expected during the legislative process, the current Bill builds on gender stereotypes and makes several deeply flawed assumptions such as:
1. Women only vote for other women �� More than 50% of the women exercised their franchise in the General Election of 2004 and elected their representatives, both men and women.
2. Forcing more women on the electorate is women empowerment �� Forcing more women in the parliament through undemocratic means will only serve to undermine the legitimacy and efficacy of the elected women representatives.
3. All women are under-privileged - A gross generalization is made that all women are under-privileged, deprived and discriminated. That women are a homogenous group and there are no differences in terms of social status, education, etc. and hence, an across the board reservation system is needed.
4. All men are privileged - Similarly, a gross generalization is made that men are a homogenous group and are all privileged and have a natural advantage over women.
5. Women are advantaged - Assumption is made that women have no natural advantages over men. That society discriminates only women and not men. It does not recognize the natural and societal advantages that women have got in terms of moral superiority, greater faith and sympathy.
6. Reservation is indispensable - The bill does not recognize the fact that there have been many women who made it to high public offices and there have been many women Chief Ministers and a Prime Minister. Right now, we have a woman President. They all assumed office through their own efforts and without any reservation. The bill is based on the false assumption that women need reservation to enter high public offices.
.What part of reservation for proud women who refuse to shed their 'ghunghats' and tow their better halfs around the world (perhaps to do feet-worship even in foreign lands)?!
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