Tags:
Journalism of Courage
THE gender ratio in 50 Assembly seats in Gujarat, based on the 2022 electoral rolls, has fallen when compared to the 2011 Census, despite an overall increase in women voters.
The 2011 Census put Gujarat’s gender ratio at 937, much below the national average of 943. However, it marked an improvement from 918 in the 2001 census. The overall gender ratio in the 2022 electoral rolls is 934 — or 934 women for every 1,000 men, as per data compiled by the Election Commission comparing it to Census findings. In 2017, the overall electoral roll gender ratio was 921.
This year, there are 4.9 crore voters in Gujarat – of which 2.53 crore are male voters and 2.37 crore are female.
Among Gujarat’s 33 districts, 21 have seats with a lower gender ratio in the electoral rolls in comparison to the Census numbers. Among the 50 constituencies in this category, the lowest number of women voters are in Udhna of Surat district, where there are only 731 women voters per 1000 male voters, the EC data show.
The Mahuva seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribes, in the same district shows an opposite picture with a strength of 1048. As per electoral rolls, the highest gender ratio for the entire state is in Vyara, at 1057, of Tapi district, also a tribal seat.
Previous electoral roll data show urban constituencies reporting fewer women voters, with tribal constituencies reporting higher rates. Part of the same pattern, the constituencies with the highest gender ratios as per the 2022 electoral rolls — Vyara, Mahuva, Nizar, Mansvi, Vansda – are all tribal-reserved seats.
However, some seats with a large tribal population are also seeing lesser women voters. In the Dang constituency, for instance, there were 1007 females for 1000 men as per the Census. The electoral rolls, however, have 995 women. Similarly, in the tribal seats of Chhota Udepur and neighbouring Jetpur, the rolls have a 949 and 951 gender ratio – as against 994 and 987, respectively, in the Census.
Lower gender ratio can also be seen in rural seats. Of the nine Assembly seats in Banaskantha district, considered an agrarian region, six seats have a lower gender ratio in comparison to the Census data. Similarly in the Amreli district, a Congress stronghold, four out of five seats have a low gender ratio.
The state capital Ahmedabad also reflects the pattern. The Sabarmati seat, which hosts a bullet train terminal, has just 908 women voters compared to 922 in the census. Automobile hub Sanand has 943 women voters. The Census number was 950.
Additionally, in at least seven seats — Gandhinagar South, Sabarmati, Gondal, Dhari, Amreli, Lathi and Kaprada — the number of women voters is lower in comparison to the 2017 Assembly Affelectoral roll data. With a gender ratio of 944 and 955, Ghatlodia and Dangs witnessed no change in gender ratio between 2017 and 2022.
“The electoral rolls data presents the latest picture of gender disparity in Gujarat. In comparison to male voters, there are 15.84 lakh less female voters in the electoral rolls for the Gujarat Assembly elections. This is a huge disparity. The first school for girls was established by Sayajirao Gaekwad in the 19th century and this is the scenario now,” said Gaurang Jani, a sociologist and expert on gender issues.
Speaking of the pattern in tribal regions, Jani said, “Awareness about smaller families due to the interaction of tribals with non-tribals could possibly be a reason for the higher ratio.”
About urban hubs such as Surat reporting lower ratios, Jani added: “The gap in such areas is due to single-male migration of workers.”
In an earlier interview with The Indian Express, P Bharati, the Chief Electoral Officer of the state, had expressed concerns about the gender ratio in the 18-19 voter group being very low, at 660. “It means that for every 1,000 male voters, there are only 660 female voters, and that young female voters are not getting enrolled,” she had said.
