Women’s groups from across India assembled at Press Club on Tuesday to share their concerns regarding the passage of Women Reservation Bill.
“It may seem paradoxical, but it is true, to say that the political leadership in a country which registers the highest number of maternal deaths, high cases of violence against women and serious evils like female foeticide continues to remain averse to women’s participation in politics and Governance,” said Ranjana Kumari, Director, Centre for Social Research.
“Even though the passage of the long pending Bill was on the election manifestos of both BJP and Congress, this important Bill has hardly been discussed since the new Government took charge and seems to be lost in the corridors of power,” she added.
The other key speakers at the conference included Annie Raja, Head of National Federation of Indian Women, NFIW, Sharmishtha Mukherjee, Politician and Spokesperson, Congress, Jyotsna Chatterjee, Director and Secretary Joint Women’s Programme, JWP, Asha Singh, Veena Kohli, president of All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), Maimoona Abbas Mollah, Delhi president, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA).
“It is extremely critical that women’s political participation becomes a reality, not just a political rhetoric, if we are serious about building a nation where women thrive and feel safe and respected,” said a member, representing more than 50 women’s organisations.
India is one of the world’s worst countries in terms of women in politics. Data shows that there are only 96 women representatives in both houses of the Parliament in India. It ranks 103rd in the Women in the Parliament study. In the lok Sabha, out of the 543 members, only 65 are women. In the Rajya Sabha on the other hand, there are only 31 female MPs among 243 members.