WUNRN
Women's Feature Service
India - New Delhi
Women constitute around 340 million voters in
India - a largely silent category whose core concerns have been ignored,
overlooked or denied by successive governments. (Credit: WFS)
By Pamela Philipose
Women constitute around 340 million of
the 710 million Indian voters, a largely silent category whose core concerns
have generally been ignored, underplayed or denied by successive governments.
So the question at this hour is: Will
the newly-sworn-in Manmohan Singh government do more than continue with ritualistic
posturing and ineffectual policy-making for this faceless, voiceless and
largely unrepresented section of
Social philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum
has listed ten capabilities that she sees as central for "truly human
functioning". Let's highlight five of these to help evolve a roadmap for
change. On top of Nussbaum's list is 'Life': The ability to live to the end of
a human life of normal length. 'Bodily Health' and 'Bodily Integrity' are other
central requirements she lists. The first of these requires adequate
nourishment and shelter, the second, the capacity to move freely while being
secure against bodily assault. 'Senses, Imagination and Thought', is yet
another requirement that figures high on Nussbaum's list, and which hinges on
adequate access to good education. Finally, there is 'Control over One's
Environment' - a factor that Nussbaum maintains is crucially dependent on
aspects like political participation, equal property rights and the right to
seek employment on an equal basis with others.
From these central capabilities that
Nussbaum has listed, we can flag eight concerns requiring the government's
urgent attention and action. Take the first capability, 'Life'. It leads us
immediately to Concern One:
'Bodily Health' in Nussbaum's list
takes us to Concern Two:
The lack of women's agency in questions
of marriage and childbirth is a pivotal factor for women being in the
social situation they find themselves in today. Data shows that women who
had studied for 12 years or more, were employed and earned an independent income
could exercise greater autonomy, both within the home and outside it. What is
needed, then, is interlinked action rather than separate and discrete
interventions.
This brings us to a set of three
concerns, which, if addressed together, could buttress women's position within
the family and in society generally. Concern Four - the Denial of Eight Years
of Schooling Plus. According to National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO)
data, school has never been a part of life for over 15 per cent of girls between
the ages of 5-14, while one in five of those who do go to school drop out by
the time they are 14. Concern Five is the lack of an enabling environment for
women's employment. Not only is women's representation in public employment
extremely poor, their wages are roughly half that of their male counterparts
and the conditions of work do not cater to their specific needs, such as
childcare. Concern Six deals with the sluggish pace of legal reform. Our new
law makers could, for instance, consider a slew of new laws, including the
enactment of legislation which specifically recognises women's economic
contribution within the family, even if they are not formally employed.
Nussbaum's capability of 'Bodily
Integrity' brings us to Concern Seven. Today, rape is one of the fastest
growing crimes in
Finally, we come to Concern Eight, lack
of meaningful political participation, which recalls the capability to have
'Control over One's Environment', according to Nussbaum. A measure like the Women's
Reservation Bill, now hanging in limbo in the Rajya Sabha, can only be one
among several initiatives to deepen women's participation in Indian democracy,
which will strengthen Indian democracy in turn. A moment that has seen the
highest ever number of women being elected to Parliament in
For those hundreds of thousands of
women who queued up outside polling stations this summer, the mere act of
exercising their vote should mark the beginning, not the end of the process of
change.
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