Empowerment goes beyond quota

The day the Maharashtra assembly passed a landmark bill that gives women 50% reservation in local bodies was also ironically the day a girl in the backward district of Beed was abducted and subjected to rape. Such incidents lead one to wonder if reservation is really going to help in women’s empowerment.

Women’s woes cannot be addressed simply by increasing their representation in politics. True empowerment can be achieved only when the basic needs of women across the state are taken care of. An ordinary woman living in a remote village should not have to walk 10-15km in 40-degree-plus temperatures to fetch a few pails of water.

They should not have to work in fields all night long because there is load shedding in the day. Girls should not have to travel long stretches to pursue education after Std X.

Since 1999, there has been a systematic policy move against investments in Marathi-medium schools and junior colleges. Even unaided Marathi-medium schools were denied permission, as the government feared it would have to give funds later on. In the light of such policies, it seems unlikely that electoral reservation is going to have any significant impact on the lives of young girls in the state’s hinterland.

A graver problem is the declining child sex ratio in the state. Despite its progressive outlook, Maharashtra has not been able to get rid of evils like the dowry system and female infanticide. Efforts aimed at making women self-reliant through self help groups need to be sustained.

In urban and rural areas alike, the rate of crime against women has gone up unchecked. The economic survey states that 46% women in the state are subjected to physical and mental harassment by their husbands and in-laws. Furthermore, Dalit women are often victimised to settle wider class and caste conflicts — a case in point being the Khairlanji incident of a few years ago.

Even Kolhapur, which, under the regime of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj, had once taken the lead in promoting girls’ education and combating class and caste conflicts, seems to have strayed away from its tradition of progressiveness. That women were prevented from performing rituals in the sanctum of a Kolhapur temple for Ambabai, a female deity, was an eye-opener. What was more shocking was that the practice continued for so long without any protests.

Activists are now demanding 33% reservation for women in state assemblies and the Parliament. But the question remains: is quota alone going to assure dignity and independence to enable a true celebration of womanhood in 21st century India?