“The best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women.” -
Swami Vivekananda
With India standing at the 103rd position out 140 countries with a mere 12% representation of women in Parliament in the IPU report, it goes without saying that India has yet a long way to show the progress and sustainable development it is aiming at. It ranked 13 out of 18 in the Asian countries and 5 out of 8 in the SAARC countries. The vast underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions is apparent in these numbers.
COUNTRIES 1995 2016
India 5 12
Nepal 6 30
Pakistan 10 21
Bangladesh 10 20
Rwanda 17 64
Proportion of women in Parliament.; Source: IPU report.
India is even behind its neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan in scoring more proportion of women in the Parliament. Even countries like Saudi Arabia, where women are banned driving, have better women representation than India.
Out of 543 members in Lok Sabha, women occupy just 66 seats while the 9% national average of women representation in State Assemblies is more deplorable. States like Pondicherry and Nagaland have no women MLAs at all. This proves that gender parity is still huge in India’s political sector dominated by male. It is a shame that gender parity is even worse than that of sub-Saharan Africa, one of the poorest regions of the globe, which has a decent score 0.57
Looking at the corporate sector of India, the number of women on boards has doubled over the past six years to 11.2 per cent in 2015, from 5.5 per cent in 2010( Credit Suisse report). As reported in the Economic Time, this positive trend of progress in women's representation at the board of directors level is not carried over to the senior management level. Sahana Sarma, the principal of McKinsey & Company, said, "In India, the number of women at the entry level is 25 percent and in the mid-level management, it comes down to 16 percent. At the senior management level there is a sharp drop to four percent," It is no wonder that at the global level, India is stuck at the bottom position,124 out of 136(WEF report), when women’s economic participation is concerned.
The 2016 Global Board of Directors Survey has attributed gender divide and a generational divide for this problem. As it says, “Women cited most often the fact that diversity is not a priority in board recruiting, while younger male directors (age 55 and under) said that the reason was because traditional networks tend to be male-dominated.” India is losing more than a quarter of its GDP because of this poor market structure trodden by the wide gender gap. Despite encouraging female education and learning in different fields, women’s finesse and capabilities eventually end up mostly in educational sectors, service sectors or in home.
Reservation- an initial key to the solution :
In 1996, the Deve Gowda government introduced the Women Reservation Bill which proposes 33% of seat reservation for women in the Lok Sabha as well as the state legislative assemblies. The Bill had gone through various drama and protests in these 20 years but had not yet been made into a law. It has only passed in the Rajya Sabha and is still pending in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill is attacked by the question of equality, arguing that it would be unfair to the ‘adept’ men if they lose the seat out of reservation; arguing that country’s growth will be affected adversely while also questioning the credibility of “par-kati woman”(short-haired woman) speaking of “our woman”- that is of rural area.
Before questioning the credibility of women, one must need to ponder over the credibility of those MPs and MLAs who themselves hold crime records of rape and violence? The statement of Sharad Yadav , vilifying women by saying “par-kati” itself shows the acrimonious stereotypes against women. Thinking that reservation will hamper growth, then why do top researches and surveys show far better results of those institutions which are inclusive of both genders than those which are dominated by one? History has witnessed women’s oppression and exploitation. Women have been adept too but was never given the chance to show it. Demanding a share of the place to have the voice equal to that of men is only justice and fair.
It is to take notice that our neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh with more women representatives in the Parliament than India have actually provided their women with special incentives like reservation of seats. India itself holds the positive mirror to this, showing an affluent impact on the policy making and societal change in those villages where there 33.33% seat reservation for women in panchayat elections is followed .
Considering the stats of both political and economical sector, it is evident that the stagnancy of women in these sectors is lagging India behind. India is yet to create a level playing field for women in these sectors to not just empower women but also to boost growth and sustainable development. Reservation of women serves as an initiating key to this problem by creating more space for women, encouraging them to voice their issues and opinions and including them into the decision making process.
Women’s poor participation in parliament directly affects the priorities and assumptions of policies and legislations. The Bill will help in translating the democracy into an inclusive one which is a better form of democracy for sustainable progress. It will help in building up of more gender-sensitive development policies and schemes , thereby considering women’s issues too in the decision making, hence improving and strengthening their position in the society. Women who work at grassroots level perceive the situation and problems of women more profoundly and accurately; hence can offer better solutions for women’s issues.
Reservation in corporate and other sectors will increase employment opportunities for women and will also mitigate the gender gap in the workforce of India. Having both men and women in a company will help build a good relation- both in gender and professional level and a better environment, ensuing better efficiency of the company. As pointed out in Mckinsey report of 2011 ,which analysed 89 listed companies, those which had more women proportion in their director's board ensued better return on equity, lucrative operating profits and buoyant share price. Also, with more number of women participation, the companies will onset more training programs for women, thereby honing their skill.
Not a permanent solution:
Swami Vivekananda
With India standing at the 103rd position out 140 countries with a mere 12% representation of women in Parliament in the IPU report, it goes without saying that India has yet a long way to show the progress and sustainable development it is aiming at. It ranked 13 out of 18 in the Asian countries and 5 out of 8 in the SAARC countries. The vast underrepresentation of women in decision-making positions is apparent in these numbers.
COUNTRIES 1995 2016
India 5 12
Nepal 6 30
Pakistan 10 21
Bangladesh 10 20
Rwanda 17 64
Proportion of women in Parliament.; Source: IPU report.
India is even behind its neighbouring countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan in scoring more proportion of women in the Parliament. Even countries like Saudi Arabia, where women are banned driving, have better women representation than India.
Out of 543 members in Lok Sabha, women occupy just 66 seats while the 9% national average of women representation in State Assemblies is more deplorable. States like Pondicherry and Nagaland have no women MLAs at all. This proves that gender parity is still huge in India’s political sector dominated by male. It is a shame that gender parity is even worse than that of sub-Saharan Africa, one of the poorest regions of the globe, which has a decent score 0.57
Looking at the corporate sector of India, the number of women on boards has doubled over the past six years to 11.2 per cent in 2015, from 5.5 per cent in 2010( Credit Suisse report). As reported in the Economic Time, this positive trend of progress in women's representation at the board of directors level is not carried over to the senior management level. Sahana Sarma, the principal of McKinsey & Company, said, "In India, the number of women at the entry level is 25 percent and in the mid-level management, it comes down to 16 percent. At the senior management level there is a sharp drop to four percent," It is no wonder that at the global level, India is stuck at the bottom position,124 out of 136(WEF report), when women’s economic participation is concerned.
The 2016 Global Board of Directors Survey has attributed gender divide and a generational divide for this problem. As it says, “Women cited most often the fact that diversity is not a priority in board recruiting, while younger male directors (age 55 and under) said that the reason was because traditional networks tend to be male-dominated.” India is losing more than a quarter of its GDP because of this poor market structure trodden by the wide gender gap. Despite encouraging female education and learning in different fields, women’s finesse and capabilities eventually end up mostly in educational sectors, service sectors or in home.
Reservation- an initial key to the solution :
In 1996, the Deve Gowda government introduced the Women Reservation Bill which proposes 33% of seat reservation for women in the Lok Sabha as well as the state legislative assemblies. The Bill had gone through various drama and protests in these 20 years but had not yet been made into a law. It has only passed in the Rajya Sabha and is still pending in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill is attacked by the question of equality, arguing that it would be unfair to the ‘adept’ men if they lose the seat out of reservation; arguing that country’s growth will be affected adversely while also questioning the credibility of “par-kati woman”(short-haired woman) speaking of “our woman”- that is of rural area.
Before questioning the credibility of women, one must need to ponder over the credibility of those MPs and MLAs who themselves hold crime records of rape and violence? The statement of Sharad Yadav , vilifying women by saying “par-kati” itself shows the acrimonious stereotypes against women. Thinking that reservation will hamper growth, then why do top researches and surveys show far better results of those institutions which are inclusive of both genders than those which are dominated by one? History has witnessed women’s oppression and exploitation. Women have been adept too but was never given the chance to show it. Demanding a share of the place to have the voice equal to that of men is only justice and fair.
It is to take notice that our neighbouring countries such as Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh with more women representatives in the Parliament than India have actually provided their women with special incentives like reservation of seats. India itself holds the positive mirror to this, showing an affluent impact on the policy making and societal change in those villages where there 33.33% seat reservation for women in panchayat elections is followed .
Considering the stats of both political and economical sector, it is evident that the stagnancy of women in these sectors is lagging India behind. India is yet to create a level playing field for women in these sectors to not just empower women but also to boost growth and sustainable development. Reservation of women serves as an initiating key to this problem by creating more space for women, encouraging them to voice their issues and opinions and including them into the decision making process.
Women’s poor participation in parliament directly affects the priorities and assumptions of policies and legislations. The Bill will help in translating the democracy into an inclusive one which is a better form of democracy for sustainable progress. It will help in building up of more gender-sensitive development policies and schemes , thereby considering women’s issues too in the decision making, hence improving and strengthening their position in the society. Women who work at grassroots level perceive the situation and problems of women more profoundly and accurately; hence can offer better solutions for women’s issues.
Reservation in corporate and other sectors will increase employment opportunities for women and will also mitigate the gender gap in the workforce of India. Having both men and women in a company will help build a good relation- both in gender and professional level and a better environment, ensuing better efficiency of the company. As pointed out in Mckinsey report of 2011 ,which analysed 89 listed companies, those which had more women proportion in their director's board ensued better return on equity, lucrative operating profits and buoyant share price. Also, with more number of women participation, the companies will onset more training programs for women, thereby honing their skill.
Not a permanent solution:
Reservation of women is not a permanent solution to the upliftment of women in the social, economical and political levels but fuels the initial process of their empowerment. Like reservation of OBC and ST/SC was necessary because the chronic caste system barred their educational, social and political right. It was the reservation which brought them in upfront, enabling to access all those fields. Reservation of women will make a profound impact if be effective for at least three decades; hence later, women will be accessing these spaces with more confidence and strength. They have been historically at the socio-economic disadvantage, with their careers choices moulded by the stereotypes. India needs to quickly take a mandatory initiative step to eradicate gender gap which is necessary for the sustainable human development of the country. The survey makes it evident that women empowerment is a half-cooked meal if other necessary ingredients aren’t added into it. India has to do more than giving education to women, it has to include them in economical and political fields as well to strengthen their position in society, gain its shrinking GDP and introduce inclusive schemes and laws for the country. Swami Vivekananda had perceived it rightly,
Can you better the condition of your women?
Can you better the condition of your women?
Then there will be hope for your well-being.
Otherwise you will remain as backwards as you are now.
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