Not just political Empowerment but holistic empowerment for women is needed

For so many years there has been debate in India about providing reservation for one-third of the parliamentary seats in Lok Sabha (Lower House) for women. The proposal in the form of bill was to be laid in the Lok Sabha for discussion but was opposed by few parties like Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal. Media is excited about this, but has not done an analytical study on this issue. Intellectuals who support the bill in the present form given space and time in media while others are marginalized. People with different views are mocked as 'daibolic', 'casteist', 'living in stone age'…etc. But the fact is that only these so called 'progressive' live in 'fantasy' and do understand social reality of India.

Empowerment of women

Empowerment of women has to happen at all levels and in all areas. The political empowerment through reservation in elections to local bodies has been highly successful. Yes, there are instances where woman Dalit Panchayat President was humiliated or not allowed to function. But, that does not in any way undermine the benefit derived from that. Empowerment in the area of economy is a far cry. Even working professional women have to surrender their pay to their husband some times to their mother-in-law. Empowerment in the area of education is still a distant dream. Many girls are at home taking care of their younger siblings or doing house hold chores. Girls who have completed high school do not have privilege of higher education as they are discriminated against. Empowerment in the area of health care is also not being realized. The food, nutrients and medicine are denied for girls but provided for boys in the family. When girls are sick they are neglected while boys are attended to. Brides have to pay a huge dowry or face harassment or violent death and the law is not implemented in letter and spirit. There is social sanction for dowry and no social movement against dowry. All Internet stalwarts lobbying for petty things (like animal rights including stray dogs) do not think this as worthy cause for India to become a progressive nation. So, empowerment of women in the area of politics is good but not enough for the progress of women; unless aggressive steps are taken to empower women in other areas. It is unfortunate the advocates of women empowerment in the area of politics do not speak about other areas.

Voting pattern in elections for Parliament and State Legislatures

The reason for voting may be many. Here only two are picked up. The third factor which is money is not considered in this brief article.

i) Caste

Caste is one of the most opted criteria for voting in election. An average Indian voter evaluates a candidate based on his caste and his contribution or loyalty to the caste. All political parties are aware of the caste in each constituency and choose candidates from a caste that could win the election. The voter's loyalty to caste is sometimes more than the loyalty to a political party or ideology. This has become more apparent with the emergence of Post-Mandal political parties like Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Party and Janata Dal (United). Social engineering is the art of creating caste alliances that could bring a party to power. Lalu Prasad Yadav – MY (Muslim-Yadav) combination kept him in power for fifteen years. Nitesh Kumar has found a better formula and he has defeated Lalu in his own game. Other parties have used social engineering one time or the other to win elections. Some intellectuals think that caste is only a problem of Hinduism, but in reality it is more than that. It is a social problem of India and it transcends Hinduism and has affected Christianity and Sikhism also.

ii) Charisma quotient

Another factor foe winning elections is the beauty and charisma especially from cine world. The legendary triumph o f M.G. Ramachandran in Tamil Nadu politics and N.T. Rama Rao in Andhra Pradesh brings to focus the celluloid world's impact politics. Jayalalitha former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu is another leader who was benefitted by cinema. The second criteria other than caste seems to be the face value of the leaders. Film heroes become political heroes. Yes, there are stories of film personalities not being successful.

Hard fact

In the current Lok Sabha only 3 Members of Parliament belong to Dalit community were elected from unreserved constituencies. It is almost impossible for a Dalit leader to be accepted by all people as their leader. Jagjivan Ram was not allowed to become Prime Minister because of his Dalit background in the late 70s. It is an irony that his daughter has become the first woman speaker of the current Lok Sabha. It took fifty years for the first Dalit to occupy the office of the President of India. When we look at the educational institutions, the depressed caste students are not welcome in AIIMS or IITs. They get in because of reservation, but hounded and made to leave in between. Same is the story of Government employment. Until Mandal commission report was implemented by V.P. Singh, the bureaucracy was filled with Upper Castes. Now gradually other castes are entering in to elite civil service. In the private sector, including IT sector, the youngsters from depressed castes are not welcome. Their surnames betray them and they are rejected, even before the selection process begins. Captains of industry do not want reservation in private sector. All these indicate that without reservation, depressed women from depressed castes could never make it to Parliament. In Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati has become Chief Minister, who was supported by Dalits and few other castes like Brahmins. But, she suffered setback in the current Lok Sabha elections. Only time will tell how acceptable she would be beyond her core constituency.

Quota within the quota is needed

When one-third of the seats are reserved for women in the Parliament, it is essential to have quota of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Backward Castes. Otherwise it would be representation of women from elite class and elite castes in the Parliament. If Dalit leaders could not be elected from unreserved constituencies as in the case of present Lok Sabha elections, there is no chance for Dalit women to be elected from in any unreserved constituency. So, is the case with women from Scheduled Tribes and Backward castes. Because the voting pattern in majority of cases is based on caste and women candidates from depressed castes would be summarily rejected.

Also women from elite caste, educated in best schools, with modern fashionable dresses would have more charisma than women from Scheduled Tribes or Schedules Castes or Backward Castes. The Upper Caste women have more photogenic faces and media would love to promote them. Look at the film world in India, how many heroines are dark? In that case, women from depressed castes would be mocked and defeated instead of being elected.

Hypocrisy of parties

The political parties who are vociferous supporters of women reservation bill have not shown any such positive action in the distribution of tickets for candidates. The parties can allot one-third of their seats to women to begin with voluntarily. They could reserve one-third of party positions for women. Why should they wait for the Parliament to enact a law? May be it could be made mandatory for next ten years and revisited if there is a need for a special law.

Challenge

Instead of rushing with the bill with the present format, the bill should be debated widely. Not just with select group of leaders who live in Delhi. All parties should be consulted. Social workers with in depth understanding of social realities of India should be consulted. Then appropriate bill should be drafted. Meanwhile, it should be made mandatory for all political parties to have one third of their candidates as women.