The world today has unequivocally realised that gender equality is indispensable for achieving a peaceful and sustainable existence. For far too long, biases and prejudices inherent in almost every culture across the globe enforced deep-rooted structures depriving women of their rights and dignity as equal citizens.
Recognising these structural inequalities, policies have been framed at various international platforms and concrete steps and measures have been adopted to empower women and achieve equality of the sexes.
In the context of India, women empowerment and gender equality were envisioned as a part of nation-building from the very beginning, finding expression in the visions of leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar.
In the women’s conference of 23 December 1936, Gandhi stated that the dream of the ideal state can be realised only when women who are called abla (helpless) become sabla (empowered), while Ambedkar is credited with the famous quote that the progress of a community is measured by the degree of progress which women have achieved.
Gender Equality Can Change Economic Outcomes of Countries
Notwithstanding the significant strides that India has made towards women’s empowerment, it is pertinent to examine this progress against the targets and goals outlined in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The facts and figures indicate that there is a difference between women’s empowerment and gender equality and India still has a long way to go.
Amartya Sen defined development as ‘expansion of freedom for all, men and women equally’ and presented gender equality as a core objective of development. The inextricable link between gender equality and human development has been emphasised by many subsequent economists.
For instance, Martha’s findings established that unequal social and political circumstances facilitate unequal human capabilities. It is inconceivable to achieve any target set for human development without the full participation of half the population. Similarly, Esther Dufflo (2012) finds a causality between women’s empowerment and economic development as development curbs inequality and women’s empowerment leads to development.
It is often overlooked that gender equality has the potential to change economic outcomes by enhancing productivity and the economic empowerment of women translates into poverty reduction as women invest their earnings in their children and communities.
Why Proportionate Representation for Women Is Important?
At the dawn of the 21st century, member states of the United Nations pledged to implement the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), which included specific targets for achieving gender equality including proportionate representation of women in the national parliament.
Its sequel, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), further envisioned equal participation of women at the level of decision making in SDG5.
The Global Gender Gap Index examines gender inequality in four aspects: Economic opportunity, education, health, and political empowerment.
During the period of MDG (2000-2015), India achieved remarkable improvement in contracting the gender gap in the first three aspects but without a corresponding success with regards to political participation.
As a signatory of these international commitments, India is struggling to bridge the gender gap, particularly in improving the representation of women in decision-making.
In the first tier of representation, the Parliament that is, women constitute only 14.4 percent in Lok Sabha (75/540 till April, 2019), and 11.2 percent (27/241 till June, 2020) in Rajya Sabha.
Women's Representation & India's Dismal Numbers
This proportion is less than the world average of 25.8 percent. The proportion of women in the Indian parliament is extremely low, standing at the 147th position in the Inter-Preliminary Union (IPU) ranking among 187 countries.
In the Global Gender Gap Index ranking (2021), India stands at the 140th position. It is, by all indications, a poor national performance. The second tier, state Assemblies, do not reflect any major difference.
In the Assembly elections of ten states since 2019, women’s representation improved in Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur, and Goa while declining in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, and Assam. West Bengal has maintained the numbers in consecutive elections.
With the current trend and pace, meeting the target of 50 percent by 2030 appears to be a far-fetched dream.
The Wait for Women's Reservation Bill
India has achieved greater success in the third tier ie, local bodies through the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1993 which provided 33 percent reservation for women.
However, the country is still waiting for women’s reservations in the first and second-tier.
The 108th Amendment Bill which aims to reserve one-third of seats in Parliament and state Legislative Assemblies was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but has unfortunately never been discussed in the Lok Sabha.
In India, women have occupied the highest position in the representative bodies but it has not translated into an increase in the number of women representatives.
In 72 years of democratic India, the country was headed by a woman for nearly 16 years but in the same period, the proportion of women in the Parliament was only 14 percent.
Even when women have occupied prominent positions in the Parliament, they have not been plentiful.
An Alternative Beyond Political Framework
If women’s reservation is not provided as a constitutional mandate, what possible mechanism remains to increase women’s participation in law-making?
Political parties have to think beyond the legal arrangement and begin within their respective parties.
The African National Congress (ANC) model of providing women’s reservations from within the party is worth considering. The ANC voluntary quota model may have a long history as Irene Tinker has traced it to Sweden.
The ANC (1997 Amendment) took the progressive step of ensuring decent representation of women in all levels of decision-making by implementing a quota of at least one-third in its structure to enable such effective participation.
The 1997 amendment changed the face of the South African Parliament as a result of which women’s participation rose from a mere 2 percent to 46.4 percent and bagged the 11th position in the IPU ranking. A World Bank report also indicated in very clear terms that quota arrangement facilitated an increase in women’s representation in decision-making bodies.
On the same line, in the recently held Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the state Congress Committee reserved 40 percent of seats for women in party ticket distribution as an exercise of voluntary quota arrangement.
While the Congress failed to secure an electoral victory, the party’s experiment with voluntary quota deserves attention. It could be an alternative as well as an effective means to achieve the set targets of women’s participation in higher decision-making bodies.
The stats from countries such as South Africa indicate phenomenal success with voluntary party quota and the Congress experiment with it in India is worth mentioning.
(Dr Utsav Kumar Singh is an Assistant Professor of Economics in Delhi University. This is an opinion article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)
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