Women's bill: Let it bring the Girl Effect into work

A few weeks ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos, two overflowing sessions were held on the "Girl Effect". Bringing issues of gender into the WEF as a central theme of development and discussions on the GDP was the Nike Foundation, which, for the first time in 2009, succeeded in bringing the theme into the main conference.

Two very important points were made. The first related to girls and education. In African countries where young girls have been motivated to continue their education beyond the 8th standard, family incomes have gone up as much as 20%, thereby raising consumer spending and, in turn, the national GDP.

The second, relating to Fortune 500 companies, was even more interesting. While most of these companies had only one woman on their boards, many decided a few years ago to push for at least three over the next year.

Massive headhunts were launched. The companies found that while having a single woman on the board seemed not to yield any significant effect on the bottom line, all the companies with three or more women found that a group of women brought a new perspective that had a significant positive effect on their gross profits.

It was suggested that a single woman felt the need to go along with the men but once they were a group they could influence thinking, change practices and bring about positive change.
 Indeed, this trend is already apparent at a different level of own political system. Let us look at the results of the panchayat reservation for women, which has been in place now for over 15 years.

While some women in village panchayats, just like those sitting alone on corporate boards, are only rubber stamps for the men around them, there are still enough that have brought such significant changes in their villages that there can be no arguments about their efficacy in getting down to the brass tacks when it comes to development issues.

In a survey conducted in Maharashtra several years ago, men and women panchayat heads were asked how they would spend their money in developing their villages. The men invariably talked of building statues to their mentors or big marble gates to the village.
The women mentioned building a health clinic, school, a road or drinking water facilities. In an appraisal by the ministry of panchayat raj titled State of the Panchayats 2006-2007, it was found that women surpassed their quota of 33% reservation and constituted between 37% and 54% of panchayats in different states.

A year later an AC Nielson ORG MARG survey of 24 states evaluated the impact of over 10 lakh women in the panchayats and found that most no longer depended on the men who had been their puppet masters and had, in fact, taken charge as panchayat heads.

In her book Sarpanch Saheb, editor Manjima Bhattacharjya tells heart-warming stories of what women have achieved as political leaders, in spite of a society which still looks at them as bodies, servants, or duty-bound chattel.

Whether they are professionals or not, women are still expected to be the sole managers of their homes and families. This means they have had to work with fixed budgets and juggle the needs of multiple people and interests. Should she get her child new shoes this month, or fix the leaking roof? Should she skip the weekly meat for a while so she can afford to pay her children's tuition?

Here she has not looked after the interests of other females in the household, alone nor has she been concerned with the "female" agenda. She has run the entire household and with everyone's interest at heart. And, in most cases, she has managed.

Given the overwhelming evidence suggesting that women in leadership roles are beneficial to government, business, and society, what is it that still leaves so many sceptical about this bill? How does the argument hold that women in parliament will only be concerned with gender-related issues and that the 'real' issues of the nation will be left by the wayside?

The naysayers arguments have little to do with real concerns for muslim or OBC women being left out of the reservation by English speaking and educated women. Otherwise the BSP , Samajwadi party and RJD would have been flush with women politicians by now - no one needed to wait for the bill to promote women, "backward" or otherwise.

No, the naysayers are merely guarding their turf - the only thing they seem to do while in power, besides making huge amounts of money. There is nothing to stop these parties from choosing only women from these "backward" classes or castes or Muslims to field as their nominees once the bill is passed. The decision, after all, is made by the top brass of the party - the very same who have suddenly become champions of muslim and OBC women. As for the argument of the bahu, beti brigade getting in, that will not change the status quo - after all, it is the beta, bhai, bhatija that get the tickets just now. And just let us suppose that 80% of the newly elected women are rubber stamps. How is that different from our current parliamentarians who are a rubber stamp for their own selfish gains? What great efficacy of governance are we seeing just now that we should be wary of trying something different?  The barrel couldn't be scraped further if we tried. The only possible change that the women can bring is an improvement.

In order to make the Bill really work for better governance and more effective leadership, many steps need to be taken. The parties need to set a time limit for identifying women for the Vidhan Sabhas and the Parliament. These women need to be coached - in secular values, the Constitution, leadership, governance and effective management and advocacy. They need to be sent out to work the constituency to gauge what the real issues and blockages are.

They need to understand where government delivery mechanisms break down and how to mend these. They need to be motivated not by the promise of filthy lucre in hidden bank accounts but by the excitement of being at the core of positive change for millions of people. And then, when let loose, we will see the changes that our country truly deserves.

Are our political parties ready to go the whole hog?