WUNRN
INDIA
- WOMEN'S POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT - YES
BETTER LIVES - ??
Analysis by Neeta Lal
NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (IPS) - Despite getting suitably politically empowered,
women in India continue to lag behind on almost all crucial developmental
parametres like education, health and economic participation.
So why isn't women’s political empowerment—a fact acknowledged by the World
Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest ‘Global Gender Gap Report 2009’, which ranks
India at an impressive ‘24’ on the variable of ‘political empowerment’ for its
women when measured against 134 countries—translating into better living conditions
for Indian women?
After all, they constitute half the country’s 1.2 billion population and make
up a whopping 340 million voters out of a total electorate of 710 million. The
country’s President (Pratibha Patil), the leader of the ruling Congress party
(Sonia Gandhi) and Speaker of the lower house of Parliament or Lok Sabha (Meira
Kumar) are all women.
Overall, too, there has been an upswing in the number of women candidates each
general election. This year, for instance, 556 women candidates contested the
polls as against 355 in 2004 and 284 in 1999.
Consequently, a record contingent of 58 women legislators marched into the
Indian Parliament this year. Furthermore, the ruling United Progressive
Alliance government’s landmark ruling—introduced in June to reserve 50 percent
of village councils and city municipalities seats for women—is also seeing more
and more women plunge into politics. All these developments are nothing short
of remarkable for a country whose political matrix has always been male-dominated.
However, experts point out that while the importance of political empowerment
cannot be undermined in a patriarchal society like India’s, that alone cannot
guarantee parity for women. An equitable share of educational opportunities,
health benefits and literacy is vital too.
According to Brinda Karat, Politburo member of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist), and the author of ‘Survival and Emancipation: Notes from Indian
Women's Struggles’, despite the increased participation of women in Indian
politics, their status continues to remain iniquitous because the government
has failed to implement one-third reservation for them in the Parliament.
"As a result," Karat told IPS, "a large majority of Indian women
are excluded from protective legislation, which can guarantee better living and
working conditions for them. The trajectory of growth chosen by India erodes
rather than supports women’s progress. For the millions of Indian women working
in the unorganised sector, for instance, there’s still no social
security." Karat added that increasing domestic violence, spiraling crimes
against women and low rates of conviction chips away at whatever progress takes
place. "On top of it, there’s lack of genuine political will to improve women’s
lot despite the fact that the Indian constitution guarantees gender equality in
Articles 325 and 326. All this adds up to a dismal gender justice
picture," she stressed.
Indeed, India’s recurrent abysmal showing in gender parity surveys— including
the WEF’s latest report—which ranks Indian women at 121st position in
education, 127th in economic participation and an abysmal 131st in health and
survival, exposes its much-vaunted claim of being a "vibrant"
democracy.
The country’s skewed showing brings out its failure to translate words into
action or progressive legislation. While across most countries, women compare
well to men on health and education indices, resources in India are not being
leveraged to better the lot of women, experts said.
India’s figure of 300 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births—one of the
highest in the world—for instance, reflects the low priority its government
accords to health. In fact, public health expenditure in India has plummeted
from 1.3 percent of gross domestic product in 1990 to its current rate of 0.9
percent as against two percent of GDP spending on defense and one per cent on
education.
Furthermore, schemes like the National Rural Health Mission (2005-12) have only
marginally benefited rural women in bolstering their child survival and
maternal health rates. The Mission—launched by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh
in 2005—seeks to provide effective healthcare to the rural population, with a
special focus on 18 states that have weak public health indicators and weak infrastructure.
Besides, it is a well-known fact that in India, it is women who have to bear
the brunt of population control measures. In populous states like Rajasthan and
Uttar Pradesh, for instance, to implement the government’s two-children per
family norm, health workers aggressively target rural women to undergo forced
sterilisations in the most unhygienic conditions.
While it is simplistic to assume that empowered female politicians will give
priority to women-centric policies at the cost of other development projects,
there is no doubt that their enhanced political participation will help close
the gender schism.
This will also have a multiplier effect on ossified social mindsets leading to
women's empowerment, better education for girls, health care for women and
children, enhanced productivity and population stabilisation. Education, too,
has a proven positive trickle-down effect on other social indicators such as
infant mortality and fertility rates.
"Women constitute one half of India’s population and without their
engagement and empowerment, rapid economic progress is out of the
question," asserted Dr Vandana Shiva, a renowned eco-feminist and co-
founder of the International Forum on Globalization, an international non-
governmental organisation.
According to Dr Shiva, gender equality is crucial for the economic prosperity
and growth of any country. "No country can prosper if half its population
is left behind," she told IPS.
The scientist added that gender disparity in India is happening because of
skewed economic growth. To illustrate her point, she explained that while in
the past, Indian women were propelling the country’s "sustenance
economy" —nurturing children and managing cottage industries – they are
now under the brutal assault of the "corporate economy," which has
resulted in their mass displacement at the workplace.
"With corporate takeovers by large conglomerates, self-employed women are
now under threat and losing their livelihoods," Dr Shiva said.
"Gender inequality isn’t happening in India because of insufficient
economic growth; it is happening because of growth. What we see in India is
perverse growth—women farmers and the society are in a crisis, female feticide
(the practice of killing a fetus because it is female) is rampant, especially
in the affluent regions like Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. But large industrial
conglomerates like the Tatas and Ambanis are flourishing."
Due to this lopsided development, Indian women are losing economic power, which
affects their social standing as well. "So the solution is to make growth
more inclusive for women," said the scientist.
Shiva’s point is further reinforced by the ‘India Gender Gap Review’ released
by WEF on Nov. 9. This comprehensive national survey assesses the current state
of gender-related corporate policies and practices in India.
The report states that only 14 percent of the companies surveyed by the
reviewers have at least 40 percent women among their employees. These women
employees are mainly present at the entry and middle levels of management, with
few being able to shatter the proverbial glass ceiling to occupy senior
management niches. In addition, most Indian companies do not track salary gaps
despite wide wage gaps existing between women and men.
The report also exposes the hollow claims of the Indian corporate sector
towards ensuring better parity for women. Wage force participation by its
women, reveals the review, stands at 36 percent, and only three percent of its
legislators, senior officials and managers are women. Furthermore, Indian
women's participation in the labor force is a piffling 36 percent, which is
less than half the labor force participation rate of men.
"It is a pity all this is happening despite India being led by an
economist prime minister!" said Dr Shiva.
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