Prakruthi Vanamali BA LLB, Sec:B
2283119 1st Semester
GENDER AND POLITICS IN INDIA
ABSTRACT:
Gender and politics study how people's gender shapes their involvement in and experience of
political events, as well as how political institutions are encoded with gendered concepts.
This study exists in the context of gender being a key factor in how resources are distributed,
policies are created, and who participates in political decision-making historically and across
countries. Gender and politics research overlaps with research on how other aspects of
people's social identities interact with their political participation and experiences, with
researchers emphasizing that the interaction of gender and politics is intersectional and
dependent on factors such as people's race, class, and gender expression. The principle of
gender equality is, without a doubt, incorporated in the Indian Constitution using reservation
to increase political participation and to promote women’s empowerment.
Keywords: Gender equality; Political Participation; Reservation; Women Empowerment.
INTRODUCTION:
Everyone is born free and equal in dignity and rights, and everyone is entitled to all rights and
freedoms regardless of race, colour, sex, language, religion, birth, or other status. However, it
is really regrettable that women have been seen as inferior to men in practically all countries
around the world. In ancient India, women had equal standing with males in all aspects of
life.
Women of later periods, spanning the middle and modern ages, have been denied their
rightful place of honor, and a vortex of innumerable caste and communal combinations, has
paid scant regard for women's education and welfare, culminating in child marriage, sati, a
ban on widow marriage, and divorce, to name a few.
A central concern in the study of gender and politics is the patriarchal exclusion of women
from politics, which is a common but not universal theme historically and across cultures.
The ability to fight subjugation was severely harmed by the exclusion of women from
positions of power in all of its forms. The leaders of both pre-and post-independence India
paid lip service to the advancement of women in various fields, including rightful
representation in legislatures, both at the center and in the states, with the result that women
continue to be marginalized in the power centers of legislation, administration, and party
leadership.
Women's political empowerment was at the heart of all discussions on women's issues at the
international level as well, yet in any political system, the involvement of women is quite low
in comparison to males, from developed to developing countries. The principle of gender
equality is, without a doubt, incorporated in the Indian Constitution. The Indian Constitution
guarantees adult franchises and gives full possibilities and a framework for women to
actively participate in politics. However, it is unfortunate that women's political participation
has declined in the decades since independence. The state and society appear to be dragging
their feet in providing them with long-overdue political concessions. For nearly a decade and
a half, the Women's Reservation Bill has been a political football. It was supposed to cause
Women Empowerment instead it has always sparked intense debates both inside and outside
of Parliament.
CONTENT:
The word "political engagement" has a fairly broad definition. It is not just related to the
'Right to Vote,' but also to involvement in the decision-making process, political activism,
political consciousness, and so on. Women in India vote and run for public office and
political parties at a higher rate than men. Political activism and voting are the most active
forms of political participation among women.
The Indian government has implemented reservations for seats in local governments to
counteract gender disparity in politics. The proposed legislation to reserve one-third of all
seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women was initially developed by the United
Front government of H D Deve Gowda. On September 12, 1996, the Bill was introduced in
the Lok Sabha. Despite being introduced multiple times in Parliament, the Bill was unable to
pass due to a lack of political unity. Though our Constitution and various other legislative
enactments, as well as various Commissions established for women from time to time, have
made a number of efforts to achieve the goal of gender equality, in actual practice, the
planned efforts to emancipate women educationally, and economically, and especially
politically have not yielded the desired results over the decades since independence.
Recognizing women's oppression and subordination, as well as positive discrimination
against women in general, there has evolved a demand for their empowerment - both political
and economic.
The purpose of this paper is to advocate and urge the passage of the Women's Political
Reservation Bill. Furthermore, it seeks to promote activities aimed at combating corruption,
criminalization, and communalization of politics, establishing strict limits on election
campaign spending and raising awareness in society in order to instil the principles of gender
equality and gender justice. To attain these goals, the current work draws largely on United
Nations publications, international norms and conventions, Indian Constitutional provisions,
and other statutory enactments that provide favourable legislation that grants specific
privileges to women.
Despite the Indian Constitution’s provision of equal opportunity, women have a small
presence in legislative bodies and political participation at all levels. When we look at the
probable reasons, we notice that education plays a role in politics; however, only for women
because female politicians have a higher literacy rate than male politicians, meaning that only
women require political education.
According to the Election Commission of India, women make up 10.5 percent of all members
of Parliament. The plight of women in state legislatures is much worse, as they account for
nearly 9% of the leaders. In the last 75 years of independence, women's representation in the
Lok Sabha has not even increased by 10%. Women employees are many in India's major
political parties, but they are frequently marginalized and denied a party ticket to run in
elections.
However, various factors contribute to women's underrepresentation in Indian politics,
including gender stereotypes, a lack of a political network, financial constraints, and a lack of
resources, among others. However, one significant problem impeding women's engagement
in politics is a dearth of political knowledge among women in the country. According to the
Global Gender Gap Report 2020, India ranks 112th out of 153 nations in terms of educational
attainment, demonstrating the importance of education in determining women's political
engagement. Education has an impact on women's social mobility. Formal education, such as
that provided at educational institutions, allows for leadership and instills key leadership
skills. Women are unaware of their political rights due to a lack of political understanding.
Concerns remain about reserving seats in elected positions for women. The topic of training
has become a growing concern in preparing women for leadership roles. In Tamil Nadu, it
was discovered that women lacked the education and skills needed to comprehend panchayat
operations. The family also plays an important impact in women's political participation. In
terms of connections, familial influence can be a barrier or a support system for female
political politicians. Family ties can assist women to gain elected jobs at both the national and
local levels. There has been some worry about women acting as a proxy for male family
members, although women may still have an impact on policy decisions.
The majority of Indian women politicians are well educated, such as Nirmala Sitharaman,
India's Finance Minister; Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal's Chief Minister; Mahua Moitra, an
MP from West Bengal; Atishi Marlena, a Delhi MLA; and Mayawati, former Chief Minister
of Uttar Pradesh. This reinforces the view that education does play a crucial role in women's
political representation. The issue of literacy extends beyond contesting to voting; for
example, women's total engagement is low in places where female literacy is low and high in
areas where female literacy is high. Furthermore, despite gains in female literacy over the last
decade, female voter participation has remained largely stable. It is equally important to
highlight that no such correlation can be shown between men and literacy. In states with low
literacy rates, the inequalities between overall voter participation and female voter
participation are higher. Males, whether literate or not, engage in the same proportions.
In states like Uttar Pradesh, where only 10% of women are represented in state legislatures,
77.5 percent of women are graduates or post-graduates, while men have a lower percentage.
Similarly, only 14 percent of women elected to state assemblies in West Bengal have a
literacy rate of roughly 60 percent, while male leaders are significantly lower. The
comparison here demonstrates the stark reality of political education among Indian
politicians, as female politicians are far more educated than male politicians but continue to
lag in terms of representation, and it depicts an obvious correlation between literacy and
politics for women in India. Women are unable to enter politics due to a lack of political
education and education in general, and gender equality remains a challenge in India.
Without a doubt, female representation is critical to the country's progress toward sustainable
development (SDG 5 (5.5 and 5. c) goals at achieving gender equality and the empowerment
of all women and girls, with a special emphasis on leadership and participation in public,
political, and economic decision-making, and the adoption of policies to facilitate this
participation), as a country where half of the voters are women and policies are designed to
facilitate this participation).
“Where women are more educated and empowered, economies are more productive and
strong. Where women are fully represented, societies are more peaceful and stable” (UNSC
2013), this quote from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon emphasizes the
significance of education in achieving gender equality and making countries more affluent.
India has a low rate of girl-child education and is still engulfed in patriarchy as a result of
traditionally assigned roles to women; however, this has led to more dire issues such as a lack
of representation in policies and problems with inclusion as a lack of education makes
women ignorant of these aspects and becomes a part of the same vicious circle. The
government did make efforts to increase women's political engagement at the grassroots level
by supporting women's education ("Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao") and through constitutional
reforms such as reservations for women.
DISCUSSION:
According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, more than one in every two Indians
believe "women and men make equally good political leaders," and more than one in every
ten feel women normally make better political leaders than males.
The survey of 30,000 adults across the country explored Indian attitudes toward gender roles.
India has seen powerful female politicians, with some rising to top national and regional
political positions such as president and prime minister.
Indira Gandhi, India's first and only female prime minister, for example, dominated the
country's politics from 1966 to 1984.
Women's political engagement is limited, despite research demonstrating universal public
approval of female politicians.
"Politics is often seen as a male bastion, and women are discouraged from entering it on the
pretext that it is not a 'feminine' profession," said Jayakumari Devika, a women's rights
activist and social critic from Kerala state in southern India.
People who hold such ideas, according to Devika, fail to consider the experiences of
hundreds of women who are comfortable leading public political life by leading self-help
groups, civil society organizations, and non-governmental organizations. Female politicians
face more than simply societal prejudices against them.
Priyadarshini, the youngest councillor elected to the city corporation of Chennai in Tamil
Nadu state, remarked that, in addition to gender bias, young women face significant
infrastructure impediments to entering politics.
Padmini Swaminathan, former director of Madras Institute of Developmental Studies
(MIDS), argues that affirmative action encouraging women's participation in law-making is
essential to improve female representation in politics.
"A woman may get elected for the first time because she comes from a family with a political
background. But later, she will have to go out on the field," she said, adding that after
reservations were introduced in local bodies, many civil society organizations came forward
to train rural women on local governance and administration.
The impact of women's reservations has grown in a variety of public commodities, including
water and highways. The most commonly highlighted topics by female elected leaders are
drinking water and road upgrades. Roads, irrigation, education, and water are the most
important issues for males. Women are also more likely to raise welfare issues such as
violence against women, childcare, and maternal health.
CONCLUSION:
Gender stereotypes and discrimination are the two largest hurdles for women in politics. Even
though there have been female political leaders, most have not enjoyed the same notoriety
nor have been put upon a pedestal as male politicians in similar positions have.
As important as Sonia Gandhi and Mamata Banerjee are as examples, each has close ties to
the political establishment. Sonia Gandhi entered politics several years after her husband,
Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991, the son of Indira Gandhi, the daughter of India's first
prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Banerjee's political career was built on activism and
politicking, but she was nevertheless able to achieve many degrees at a time when few
women completed secondary school exams. A rags-to-riches story is common among male
politicians – Prime Minister Narendra Modi's tea-selling background is a prime example –
but poverty is a difficult weight to overcome for any woman seeking to lead.
Reserving seats for women is meaningless if women were treated as "puppets" by their male
family members.
Low literacy rates for women pose an additional hurdle. According to the World Bank, the
literacy rate for women ages 15 and over in 2018 is 66 percent. The literacy rate among men
is 82%. This inequality, as well as a lack of education for women, particularly women in rural
regions, makes it more difficult for them to go from unpaid employment to public life in
politics.
Women's organizations have concentrated on issues of empowerment for women, such as
education and financial freedom. Education and financial independence allow women to
follow their hobbies and get the information they require, while also providing financial
support. Reservation for women in politics has been a big step forward in increasing the
number of women who participate in politics. Women's participation has suffered for ages,
and given the dire situation we are in, these preliminary steps are meaningless.
As a result, there is an urgent need for policies that can ensure better representation of women
in the country, such as more stringent policies and implementation of girl-child education in
the country; initiatives from recognized political parties to ensure that women receive a
minimum agreed-upon representation in state assemblies and parliamentary elections; and
initiatives from recognized political parties to ensure that women receive a minimum agreed-
upon representation in state Taking these factors into account, women's political participation
in India still has a long way to go, particularly at higher levels of government. However, as
more female political leaders emerge and more women exercise their democratic rights, we
may expect policy changes that will help India improve its political performance.
India has made advances in recent years in efforts to clean up the plague of dirty money in
politics. However, the corrosive influence of gender inequity remains a key battle. It will take
more than a chiseled brow to attract attention to the problem.
The policies put forward, problems addressed and changes brought about by male and female
political leaders are vastly different. In a parliament where every issue needs to be addressed
as far as possible having an equal number of males and females will improve the diversity of
the policies which is paramount in a country as diverse as India.
References:
[1] “Why are there few women in Indian politics?” By Sushmitha Ramakrishnan
[2] "17th Lok Sabha to see more women power" by Daily Pioneer.
[3] “India’s failure to include enough women in politics” by RAJESH TRICHUR
VENKITESWARAN
[4] Spary, Carole (2014). "Women candidates and party nomination trends in India -
evidence from the 2009 general election". Commonwealth & Comparative Politics.
[5] "50:50 is right, prove Seeman's women candidates in TN Lok Sabha polls". New
Indian Express. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
