The Narendra Modi-led government is going hammer and tongs at the recently increased Minimum Support Prices (MSP) on Kharif crops. The government is claiming that it has fulfilled a promise it made to farmers in its 2014 election manifesto.
However, four years after it came to power, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) seems to have glossed over the promises it made to Indian women.
In its 52-page manifesto, the saffron party had dedicated a section to issues concerning the women in the country. The women also came out in droves, 65% exercised their franchise, contributing significantly to the victory of the BJP. But the government today seems to have all but reneged on its promises.
Women's Reservation Bill
The BJP, in its manifesto, pledged that it would pay special attention to women’s empowerment, saying that it was committed to giving 33% reservation to women at the state level as well as in the parliament.
The Women's Reservation Bill proposes to reserve 33% of the constituencies in the state assemblies and in the parliament for women. The Rajya Sabha had passed the bill during the UPA 2 in 2010, but opposition from Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) saw it stuck in the upper house.
However, despite having over 300 seats, the BJP-led NDA government made no effort to get this bill passed in the Lok Sabha.
Women’s Participation in Police Force
BJP promised that it would work towards making police stations women-friendly and increasing the number of women in the police force.
Contrary to this promise, the growth in the participation of women in fact has declined over the past four years.
According to a 2010 India Spend report, 4.2% of women were part of the police, which increased to 6.1% in 2014. However, under the Modi dispensation, women’s participation in the next four years rose to 7.28% only, an increase of just 1.1%.
'Bank for Women, By Women'
The BJP promised that it would start an all-India women’s bank. However, four years later, things have reversed. The Modi government couldn't even save the already functioning women’s bank, started by the UPA with a budget of Rs 1,000 crore. Another promise that went unfulfilled.
Funds for Acid Attack Victims
The saffron party vowed that if voted to power, the BJP-led government would create a fund for the treatment and cosmetic surgery of acid attack victims.
The party came to power and created a Rs 200-crore Central Victim Compensation Fund (CVCF), but this money was withdrawn from the Nirbhaya fund.
The same fund was then utilised to compensate rape survivors, victims of trafficking, and those injured of firing from across the border.
This story was first published on Quint Hindi and has been translated for English readers.
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