Reservations for women in Parliament

- Sidhartha Jatari

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Abstract

From the perspective of societal benefit, reservations for women in our political establishment will do wonders as long as the election to that post is genuine, merit-based and devoid of any ‘game plan’ (read proxy).

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In a patriarchal society such as India’s where women’s creativity and freedom is stifled, this top-down approach (influence society through legislation) might just prove useful. It will benefit women who are capable and competent and whose talents have hitherto gone unnoticed (due to social norms) by offering them an opportunity to become drivers of economic, social and political change. While such an initiative will certainly tap into this existing resource pool it won’t be a panacea by itself. Rather, it will only be a means of uplifting the current status of women and an attempt at dislodging the existing gender stereotype. Without community support, ideological and cultural change and women’s empowerment (from bottom up: family support, economic freedom etc), the entire effort will be futile. Gender discrimination is deep-rooted in our societal system. The fact that sati still continues (and jauhar in Rajasthan), dowry is still demanded (even in urban areas) and female foeticide is common practice shows how embedded the stereotyping and prejudice really is. From the perspective of societal benefit, reservation (and therefore increased representation) of women in our political establishment will do wonders as long as the election to that post is genuine, merit-based and devoid of any ‘game plan’ (read proxy). Women constitute almost half of our population. By keeping them outside the political mainstream one is severely reducing the pool from which to choose leaders from (by almost 50%). It’s like not considering potential women candidates for a corporate job just because they happen to be women! So first and foremost, reservation will force people to look beyond whom they consider today as suitable candidates and will over-time help widen the ambit of choice. In turn, this will make the political system more inclusive and the need for this crutch (reservation) will have lessened. It’s important to note that the ideological debate over caste reservations should not be confused with women’s representation since in the former, the very basis for differentiation is questionable while that’s not so in the case of the latter. There is another interesting and debatable issue here. Do women bring something different onto the table? It would be interesting to look up scientific data on how gender plays a role in thought mechanism, emotions, handling of issues etc. Has the

world deprived itself of a ‘different’ approach to management/politics/socio-cultural dynamics by retaining the patriarchal system? How much have we lost and what’s the future cost going to be? Scientific hypothesis on such questions might help facilitate the need for change (not just on a humanitarian basis but on a practical basis i.e. for the sake of a more inclusive, efficient and probably successful society). Another major benefit of increased representation is that women’s needs will get priority. With that section of society getting more attention and benefitting from it, the cumulative benefit for society will be tremendous. Better educated women will mean better educated (and aware) children (citizens). Health, cleanliness, family planning etc will get a much-needed boost. And last but not the least, the needs of almost half the population will get represented fairly - which isn’t to say that male politicians don’t care for the needs of women currently. It’s just that the understanding of those needs is likely to improve by having more women on-board the political bandwagon.

i IV BSL LL.B