Women demand greater political representation on Women's Day

As the world gears up to celebrate International Women's Day tomorrow, women activists today demanded greater political representation, with a special emphasis on the passage of the bill that promises 33% reservation to women in Parliament.

Emphasising the importance of Women's Day in the Indian context, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat said, "we need to celebrate the fact that in spite of adverse and hostile conditions, women here are breaking barriers and making it on their own."

"This is an occasion to put pressure on the government to pass long-pending legislations that would be benefit women, like the Women's Reservation Bill," Karat said.

Sudha Sundararaman, All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) General Secretary, wondered if panchayats can have 50% reservation for women, then why cannot Parliament have 33%.

"The government should stop paying lip service, and actually put words into action," she said.

Beside the 33% reservation, the government should also implement existing laws and draft better laws for prevention of violence against women, the AIDWA General Secretary said.

"The Bhanwari Devi case in Rajasthan and happenings in the Karnataka Assembly show how commodification of women has made them vulnerable. Stricter implementation of existing laws and better laws need to be drafted by the government to tackle this," Sundararaman said.

Several important bills like the Pre-Conception & Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, amendment to Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and Child Sexual Abuse bill have been introduced as early as 1997, but have still not been passed, she said.

Sex-ratio continue to drop as a result of this, causing gender imbalance, Sundararaman said.

The government should ensure that policies are women-friendly and ensure gender equity, she said. For example, as more and more women are stepping out of their homes to join the workforce, there are more requirements for working women's hostels and day care centres for children. The government should allocated money for such schemes, she said.

Women's Day, since its inception, has placed emphasis on the rights of working women, and on this occasion, the government should promise better wages, lesser working hours and better conditions for women working in organised and unorganised sectors, Annie Raja, General Secretary of the National Federation of Indian Women, said.

"Women in this country have achieved a lot, but compared to India's overall progress, women haven't made much headway," Raja said.

A conscious effort should be made to remove the notion of patriarchal society, and there should be a political will to improve the condition of women economically, socially, culturally and politically, she said, adding that greater women's representation in the Parliament would help in this regard.