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An estimated 5-minute read

Presence of Women in Politics, But Which Women ?

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Representation of women in politics has become a very important issue in the recent scenario. It has been argued by several supporters and feminist that there is an urgent need for representation of women in politics. Whether it can be implemented through quota or any other means is altogether a different issue, but what is more important to realize whether there has been a lack of representation of women in politics? The active participation of women in politics can be seen from a long time even before independence eg. Annie Besant,  Sucheta Kriplani, Aruna Asif Ali etc. Although the facts would show that their representation has not been so good and because of this reason, in recent scenario a strong demand has been for their representation through the means of reservation so that it can be assured that a minimum number of women remain present at the place which is considered to be the ruling body of the country. Indian society had been a patriarchal society since its inception where the role of  women was considered to keep themselves in the home i.e. cooking food, taking care of children. In other words, they were indulged in the household work and usually they could not raise their voice even if they want to do so. But as the time passes the situation has also been changed, and the role of women has not remained confined to household work. Instead, they are now present in almost each and every place which were once considered only for men. The laws have also been changed to provide them security and equality at workplace. It can be seen that the ideology of the society which once used to consider women to remain inside their house has now changed and their new role at several places has been appreciated without any opposition. 

But the representation of women in the politics or in other words assemblies has not been changed to a great extent. It can be concluded from the statistics which are present, there were only 23 women in the 1st Lok Sabha and 59 women in the 15th Lok Sabha out of 545 seats which are present in it. The number has increased but in comparison to the total number of seats, number of women present are only around 10 %. Indeed, the decision of government to introduce 108th Amendment Bill to the Indian Constitution which would provide 33% percent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State assemblies is very matured. It would ensure that certain number of women would be present in these assemblies, which would make the cause of women more strong. There are many women political figures which are known for their contribution to the politics eg. Indira Gandi, Menka Gandhi etc. Moreover, the present head of the ruling UPA government is also as women i.e. Sonia Gandhi. But by introducing the bill, government has ensured that  in politics, there would be sufficient representation of women. Although, government had to face strong opposition from many political leader and in fact these leader tried their best to prevent this bill from getting passed. Soon after the introduction of bill, there was huge blissfulness among several sections of society, specifically women section. They had a sense of relief that now is has been ensured by the government that women would not remain in a position of negligence anymore.

 

But another and very important question indeed is which women would get representation after this amendment? Would they be those women who have been taking part in politics traditionally, those who are from a strong political background or those women who are indeed the true representative of women? These are the question which has to be answered by us. It is indeed a very good step by providing representation to women , but it would remain in vain until and unless those women who actually understands the problems of the women show their active interest in politics. Politics has turned out to be profession for many people, and generation by generation they are following the same practice of politics accompanied by crime, corruption etc. There is a high probability that even after this amendment, those women would take benefit of this who are already from a political background or they would stand for a seat which was previously won by their husband, father-in-law etc. It doesn't mean that those women who are already indulged in politics do not care of the deprived section of women, but after the amendment it has become more important for other women to take part in politics otherwise no productive result could be achieved. It is a well established notion that ' A poor can only understand the needs of other poor ". In the same way, it would be better for a women who belongs to the deprived section to understand the actual needs of other women of her section. It is not possible to understand the needs of such section by travelling in helicopters, AC cars, conference with the official in five star hotels. If it would be handled in this manner, then those who are representing themselves as the leader of women would not be able to understand their needs. Needs varies from section to section and it is very obvious that a women who belongs to upper class or the section which is not deprived would understand the problems of women from viewpoint of her section as she has been observing needs of this section since her birth, and it would be quite hard to imagine that she would be able to think much beyond that.

 

It is the duty not only of the women who belong to the deprived sections to get themselves involved in politics but also the responsibility of other sections to encourage them to do this. They are actually scared from entering into politics, considering it a dirty stuff and they have accepted this notion that whosoever gets elected, the problems would not be solved. Government should also help these women to make themselves political active through various means. Until and unless, women society itself realizes that for their interest, it is necessary to make themselves involved in politics, it would not be possible to address their problem which have been faced by them for a long period of time. They should utilize this opportunity

 

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