Women’s Bill: A measure of equality?

For the 14 years since it was first introduced in 1996, the Women’s Reservation Bill — the proposed legislation to reserve 33.3 per cent of seats in the Parliament and state legislatures for women — still remains a matter of debate and controversy. It touches a sensitive chord and is the cause of much discussion both inside and outside the Parliament. The Bill reflects in more than one way the current position of women in society.

The impression that women have finally arrived at the workplace and that we are living in a women’s world is somewhat of a mirage. Though women comprise half the population in India, 3.4 million voters out of a total electorate of 710 million in 2009, they constitute a lowly nine per cent of the total strength of the Lok Sabha. It is unfortunate that in the world’s largest democracy, even after 60 years of independence and despite 14 general elections, Indian women still have abysmal representation in the Indian Parliament.

This dichotomy is not unique to India. The Shriver Report released in the US recently states that 40 per cent of earning members of households there are women, there is a female speaker of the house and a female secretary of state, 38 women have served as senators, and four out of eight Ivy League presidents are women; yet, less than three per cent of women occupy decision-making positions.

The Indian Parliament continues to be a man’s world, with disproportionately low numbers of the fairer sex. To give an international comparison: 32.1 per cent of the current German Parliament is comprised of women. Here too, women are still largely unrepresented in the top ministries as well as top commercial jobs.

Women’s organisations are striving hard to get equal status for women by fighting for various causes such as female foeticide. Girls born in some parts of India are still considered a curse, and children are cruelly killed by lacing their feeds with poison.

The passing of the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques Act is 1994 is a step towards removing gender discrimination. This Act seeks to end sex determination tests and female foeticide, and prohibits doctors from conducting such procedures for the specific purpose of determining the sex of a baby.

Though the president of India — the constitutional head of state — is a woman and the chairpersons of most private and nationalised banks are women, and despite the country’s policy-making reigns and financial purse strings are in the control of women, we are still not sure if 33.3 per cent of the Parliament should by represented by women.

Opponents of the Women’s Reservation Bill are acting as much out of political convenience as out of plain old-fashioned gender bias. At present, there are 50 women among the 543 members of the Lok Sabha — just nine per cent. If the bill were passed, the number would rise to 181, meaning that scores of male leaders would have to make their way out.

Just as all political parties in power believe that the Bill is a must but disagree on the quantum of reservation, it is abundantly clear that women have come out of their homes to take up challenging role at the workplace. But the quantum of freedom and equality that women have received is somewhat like the divisive condition of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

The writer is  an entrepreneur and educationist