NEW DELHI - The freshly-minted Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
government has wasted no time in relaying an unequivocal message to a lucrative
Indian constituency - women. Close on the heels of earning political points for
appointing Meira Kumar as the country's first Dalit (untouchable) woman speaker
of the Lower House (Lok Sabha) last month, the UPA has now committed itself to
a cachet of women-empowerment measures.
As showcased by President Pratibha Patil in her parliamentary address on June
4, the UPA has now promised to reserve 50% of its seats for the fairer sex in
village councils and city municipalities in its 100-day action plan. The
measure is a throwback to erstwhile Congress prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's
move in 1992 to earmark 33% of all seats for women in panchayats (elected
village councils).
Widely seen as a deft political masterstroke, this radical move will give a
substantially larger representation to Indian women in a country with a
population of 1.1 billion - an increase from their current entitlement to a
third of the seats in urban and rural councils.
When viewed along with the government's commitment to push for the
path-breaking Women's Reservation Bill - that seeks to reserve a third of the
elected seats in parliament and in state legislatures for women - this move
will ensure the largest-ever political space to Indian women compared to any
other country in the world at any time.
Among the UPA's other women-centric welfare measures include 100% literacy for
women (as against the current figure of 54%) in the next five years through the
National Literacy Mission, fixing the women's quota in central government jobs
and setting up of the National Mission on Empowerment of Women for the
implementation of women welfare programs. All these items are listed as
priorities in the government's "100-Day Action Plan" with the women's
reservation bill leading the list of 25 promises for action.
However, what has most spiked the adrenaline of Indian feminists is the UPA's
resolve to pass the contentious Women's Reservation Bill within the first 100
days of its five-year term. Laden as this promise is with political, economic
and social overtones, it will be interesting to watch how the government steers
this controversial bill through the corridors of parliament. The bill has been
scuttled repeatedly in the past by caste-based parties which are emphatic that
its benefits will accrue only for the elite and not the underprivileged.
Unsurprisingly, the UPA's announcement about the bill's passage generated its
share of drama with Sharad Yadav, a longstanding critic of the bill and Janata
Dal (United) leader, declaring that he "will consume poison and die but won't
allow the Women's Reservation Bill without a quota for Dalit/tribal women".
Amar Singh, the Samajwadi Party leader, has also asserted that "instead of the
government earmarking seats for women, it should leave it to political parties
to choose the seats on which they want to field women candidates". Singh
demanded that the bill be recast after discussion with political parties,
"otherwise in its present form, it would uproot many established political
leaders from their constituencies".
The drama over the bill, which is close to the heart of UPA chairperson Sonia
Gandhi, prompted the government to say it would hold consultations with all
political parties to get around the resistance from caste-based parties who are
insisting on a separate quota for Other Backward Caste (OBC) and Muslim women.
Given the bill's explosive nature, all eyes are now focused on how the
Congress-led government will fulfill its promise. More so considering the bill
requires a constitutional amendment and a two-thirds majority in both the
houses for its passage. In the Lok Sabha, where the UPA government has a
majority, it still needs the support of 364 members. No wonder the legislation
has hit roadblocks since 1996 when it was drafted during prime minister H D
Deve Gowda's tenure.
In other words, while the UPA government has successfully used the opportunity
of the parliament's inaugural session to herald path-breaking announcements for
women's empowerment, and be seen as a party with an inclusive agenda, it is
their successful implementation of the promises that will truly test the
party's mettle.
Meira Kumar's appointment as speaker is definitely a savvy move, given the fact
that Dalits feature at the bottom of India's deeply-entrenched caste pyramid.
She was elected on a Congress ticket from the state of Bihar.
But while Kumar may be part of a record 58-strong contingent of women MPs in
the new parliament, the fair sex constitutes just 10% of India's Lower House.
The Congress party thus seems to have got a tad carried away while proving its
earnestness for women's welfare. For instance, its decision to recast the
National Literacy Mission (NLM) as the National Mission for Female Literacy is
definitely driven by political considerations considering the Human Resources
Development (HRD) Ministry, under whose ambit the scheme falls, is yet to even
flesh out its implementation details.
Plus, the funding for the literacy mission has not yet been upgraded since its
inception many years ago. Observers point out that it is rather audacious of
the UPA government to envision that 100% literacy for Indian women will be
achieved in the next five years considering currently only 54% of this
demographic is literate as against 75% men, according to a 2001 census.
According to a HRD Ministry source, it will be impossible to achieve this feat
through the current NLM template. And by the time the mission's format is
reworked and more money pumped in, it will be difficult for its benefits to
percolate down to more than 5.5 million women as against the promised 500
million.
But regardless of inherent flaws in UPA's women-oriented schemes, there's no
doubt that in one fell swoop the party has endeared itself to women voters. It
is a move that will obviously help the party reap rich demographic dividends
when it next goes to polls. At least for the time being, UPA's astute thinkers
have managed a coup of sorts.
Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to
many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.
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