Common woman pays the price for frozen bill

“Inclusion through reservation is better than exclusion. We must make a beginning,” he stressed. Referring to the women’s movement as a matter of attitudinal struggle rather than a gender struggle, he feels that a women’s movement coupled with representation in Parliament and Assembly can make things better.

And were political parties — major and minor — sincere about wanting to see the bill through?No, felt most of those interviewed. Said National Vice-President of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) Mythili Sivaraman: “Most parties are insincere, except the Left.” Taking off from the 33 per cent reservation for women in local bodies, reservation for election to the Lok Sabha and Assemblies she believes is a logical extension which would enable them to participate in the country’s governance.

Sarah Chanda of the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) says women had always wanted representational place and space in the Assemblies and Parliament. This was necessary, she said, for the very fact that when a women’s issue was being raised in Parliament there was hardly any attendance to speak of. “Even though I belong to the minority community, I believe the bill should be passed.”

Lawyer R Vaigai who has represented several women’s groups points out, “You can’t leave a representative section of the population out of the planning process.” She is of the opinion thatpoliticians are absolutely insincere about passing the bill. Quoting a debate held recently on the issue, she said there was more rhetoric coming from the representatives of major and minor parties that participated than a sincere commitment to get the bill passed.

Almost all interviewees dubbed the attitude of political parties towards the bill as a “sham and hypocrisy”, what with parties openly coming out for the bill, but subtly going all out to scuttle it.

And what if the bill was passed? Well, for one, Parliament and Assembly sessions would definitely be less violent. “This is at least for now, as women will take time to imitate their male role models,” says Mythili Sivaraman. Though she agrees that several popular women in Parliament had not added much to the proceedings in the qualitative sense. People like Gita Mukherjee, Subhashini Ali, Parvathy Krishnan, Renuka Chakravarthy and Susila Gopalan had voiced several concerns in Parliament and attempted to set an agenda, which was absent today inmost cases, Sivaraman added.

“I do believe that we will not be boisterous in the Assembly as our men,” adds Chanda. A similar opinion was voiced by Dr Ananthalakshmi of the Feminist Association for Social Action (FASA) who feels that affirmative action is necessary in a transitional society that is moving from tradition to modernity. “Women are not prone to violent temper and are generally restrained and moderate,” she says adding the government could play a catalyst’s role in the process.

Why 33 per cent and not 50 when more than that percentage of women form the population? “Even for 33 per cent such a furore is created. Where is the question of demanding 50 per cent?” women activists ask. They however express optimism, adding that after the initial 33 per cent women participants would evolve as experiments in places like Karnataka had shown.

In future, reservation would die its natural death, with more women coming forward to participate as in the case of Sweden, they hope.

The purpose ofreservation is a question which has a long list of answers.

While Sivaraman feels that several issues concerning women especially those in the informal sector like child care, increased maternity leave, working women’s hostels and creche facilities would be addressed, a 33 per cent women strength in Parliament would definitely be more vociferous than the present five per cent.

“More women will be more concerned about health, welfare, PDS and childcare rather than the nuclear bomb”, says Vaigai. Women can cut across party lines when it concerns common issues, she adds, dismissing doubts of how well women will perform. In the panchayat administration, Tamil Nadu women were coming to the fore thanks to the chance given to them, she adds.