Empowering Women In The  Modi 3.0 Govt

Though commendable strides have been made in empowering women through policies and initiatives yet gender inequalities persist, necessitating sustained political commitment and societal changes. The pending Women’s Reservation Bill could transform the political landscape, enhancing women’s representation and influence

By Dr Mohan Kanda

• In a first ever global study on female infanticide reveals that preference of son over daughter is a major reason for female infanticide in many countries
• Finland introduced women’s suffrage in 1906. Norway became the first sovereign nation to allow women to vote in 1913
• In 1994, China enacted a law on Maternal and Infant Health Care to address the economic burden of dowries and combat female infanticide
• According to ‘The Women, Peace and Security Index’, Sweden ranks first globally as the best country for women, while Afghanistan ranks last

‘THE POLL CIRCUS’, the theme of an earlier article in Parliamentarian, has just concluded. The trapeze artists, the clowns, lions, elephants and ringmasters have done their bit and the tent, which housed the show, will soon be dismantled and, together with other material, stored away for the next show. A new government has been formed. Promises made in the run-up to the elections will now need to be dealt with, together with the residual agenda of the past. From cricket to climate change, and from foreign affairs to farmers’ distress, the new government has before it a formidable list of priorities to deal with. Empowerment of women, however, will need to figure high on that list. The expectations aroused by the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill were such as to bring no further delay. In what follows, an attempt has been made to review the position of women in the socio-political–cultural milieu, the challenges arising therefrom, as also the responses organised, in different parts of the world. The subject, no doubt, is beaten track. Still as Eronabus, the character in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra says, “Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale Her infinite variety.” 

Women and girls represent half of the world’s population and, therefore, also half of its potential. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth. Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women lack access to decent work and face occupational segregation and gender wage gaps. They are too often denied access to basic education and health care. In almost all parts of the world, they suffer violence and discrimination.  Stark gender disparities remain in economic and political realms, with fewer women being hired for leadership positions. Tough to break the glass ceiling, after all.

CULTURAL PRESSURES

In a first-ever global study on female infanticide by the Asian Centre for Human Rights, a Delhi-based NGO dedicated to the protection of human rights, it has been revealed that preference of son over daughter is a major reason for female infanticide in many countries. Nepalese women, for example, are under pressure to bear a son and, according to a survey by a Nepal-based NGO, Center for Research on Environment Health and Population Activities, 81 percent of women, whose first child was a daughter, preferred a son.

The exalted status granted to women in the history of mankind can hardly be overstated. Whether it is the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Jesus Christ, or Adi Shakti, the source of all divine energy in Hindu religion and the original Creator of the Universe, woman has been regarded as the source from which mankind emanated. The wife of the Head of the State of a country, for instance, is referred to as the ‘First Lady’, although she, on her own, may have won no election or qualified for any office.

I have often wondered why the tradition, a very commendable one at that, of giving women precedence in many matters, improved by the spirit of ‘ladies first’, is confined to the Western world alone. Apparently, the practice began in ancient times, in Germany, when cavemen, fearing attacks by wild animals, ensured that the women were the first to be moved to a safer place. Over time, the practice came to be associated with a display of courtesy and chivalry, as also concern, for the so-called ‘fair sex’. All over the world today, women are invariably treated with similar consideration, when it comes to situations such as standing in a queue, or during rescue operations undertaken, in the wake of the occurrence of a disaster.

“All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”, goes the proclamation by the pigs who control the government, in the novel, ‘Animal Farm’, by George Orwell. In context, it is a comment on the hypocrisy of governments that claim absolute equality, but give little in terms of power and privileges. In the case of India today, however, there is little doubt, in the public mind, about the sincerity of the Government of India (GOI), in its resolve to strengthen the position of women in society. One hopes that, in the days to follow, concrete measures will be taken to justify that trust.

BEYOND THE BOTTOM LINE  

R K Laxman, the legendary cartoonist was once asked why his caricatures always referred to the ‘common man’, and not the ‘common woman’. His retort was, “Because a woman can never be common!” At home, at the workplace, in professions such as law, medicine, accountancy, civil and military service, or sports, women should, undoubtedly, have the freedom to give full expression to their abilities, creativity and skills. Likewise, in terms of public recognition, or remuneration for their services women and men should, certainly, be treated at par. But the effort, at establishing equality between the sexes, should, like any other endeavour, stop at crossing the bottom line. Humankind has come a long way away from the Biblical explanation for God’s creation of women in the Garden of Eden. “And the Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.” In today’s world, however, men and women both need each other, enjoy the same rights and are required to perform similar duties. Gone are the days, in other words, when the words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet “frailty, thy name is a woman” are to be taken seriously.

The expectations society has of women are really extraordinary. They were captured, rather pithily, in the 13th-century verse, by the popular Telugu poet Bhadra Bhupala, who wrote, “Karyeshu dasi, Karaneshu manthri, Bhojyeshu mata, Shayaneshu Rambha,

Kshamayeshu dharithri, Roopeshu Lakshmi, Satkarma yukta, Kuladharma pathni.”

A rather tall order, no matter which way you look at it. I mean, to be able to toil like a domestic helper, tender counsel like a wise minister at critical times, make and serve food as a mother would please a man as Rambha, the heavenly dancer of Lord Indra’s Court, would, be blessed by Goddess Lakshmi to be prudent and efficient in the management of domestic finances, and be endowed with boundless compassion and forgiveness as a mother is, surely asking a bit too much! 

Surprisingly, however, this is precisely how most housewives combine an astonishing package of virtues in their personalities. Fortunately, surely, humanity would appear to have come a long way from certain aspects of that concept of a woman. No longer is a good woman required merely to possess the qualities of being a good mother, an attractive wife, strikingly beautiful, a wise minister and an efficient servant. She is quite the equal, if not far superior, to man in every aspect of human endeavour. It is largely on account of the exalted status accorded to women in India, from times immemorial, that led to Indian history being replete with the heroic deeds of great women such as Jhansi Lakshmi Bai and Rani Rudrama Devi, who exhibited exemplary valour, without compromising with the ethical values of a woman, as enshrined in ancient scriptures.

ECHOES OF REMARKABLE WOMEN

Everyone has memories of the contributions which women have made to their lives. The greatest influence on my life has been my mother, who nurtured me, a premature child, born in the days sans antibiotics and incubators, with great care and affection. She would wrap the fragile lump of flesh in cotton and feed it with an ink filler. And when I went blue, a frequent occurrence, she would administer a few drops of brandy (that was how early my introduction to the elixir took place!). Between her, and her brother who, at that time, was a house surgeon in the Madras General Hospital, they managed to ensure my survival, a possibility that had looked quite remote, weeks earlier. 

The wife is usually called the ‘better half’, on account of the fact that it is she who undertakes the responsibility of sharing all the activities of her husband and fills his life with compassion, care and understanding. Fortunately, a hundred percent true, in my case.

During my tenure as Chief Secretary to the government of Andhra Pradesh, I had to appear before the National Women’s Commission of which, at that time, Nirmala Sitharaman, the current Union  Minister of Finance, was a member, I still break into a sweat when I recall the excruciating grilling I received at her hands that afternoon!

While serving as the Chief Secretary to the government of (the then), Andhra Pradesh state, I had a brief, but memorable, chance experience with the legendary tennis player, Martina Navratilova. She had come to Hyderabad to play a few exhibition matches and I had been invited to witness one of them. I could not resist an invitation to join the players in a game, and, after a gap of several decades, played a shaky, but thoroughly enjoyable, set with Navratilova as a partner. I even actually managed to score a point, upon which we both exchanged a ‘high-five’!

I had the good fortune of watching, from close quarters, the amazingly energetic personalities of such historic figures, as Durgabai Deshmukh, Indira Gandhi and Margaret Thatcher. I have fond memories of Durgabai, whom I regarded as my aunt, she, having been a close friend of my mother from childhood. It was she who took me to Mahatma Gandhi, in the third month after my birth, as a premature child. The Mahatma had come to Chennai, at that time, to lay the foundation stone for the building of the well-known institution Andhra Mahila Sabha, which Durgabai had founded. It was, following the blessings I received at the hands of Gandhi that I was named Mohandas. I had, for long, cherished hopes of serving as Durgabai’s Private Secretary. In 1979, as the District Collector of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh state, I was in the convoy in which Chief Minister Channa Reddy accompanied Indira Gandhi on an election campaign visit. Much later, while serving as Secretary to Vice President Hidayatullah, I had another brief, but interesting, encounter with her. The Vice President was to officiate as the President of India as Gyani Zail Singh, who had undergone a heart bypass operation, had been advised to rest for a while. After being sworn in as President, Hidayatullah was required to append his signature in a book, which I had to carry from an adjoining room through a narrow corridor. As I was entering that corridor, I found Mrs Gandhi at the other end. After both of us had made a couple of attempts to enter first, she flashed a dazzling smile at me, and said, “you go first!”. And, that gave me an opportunity to go home that night, and tell my wife that I had spoken to the Prime Minister of India!

Even shorter was my meeting with Margaret Thatcher, the much loved, hated, admired and feared Prime Minister of Britain. During a visit to India, she had come to 10 Janpath, at that time the official residence of Vice President Hidayatullah, to pay a courtesy call. As required by protocol, I received her, shook hands, and as a gesture of respect and courtesy said, “Madam, you really have a tight schedule.” She grinned at me, and said, “Youngman, it doesn’t pay to waste time!”

A picture, from the 1960s, doing the rounds in the social media recently, showed Indira Gandhi, then the Prime Minister of India, seated in her chair in the Prime Minister‘s office in Parliament, while several important leaders stood around making representations to her. A very telling photograph, speaking volumes about the respect, and authority, she commanded. A photograph that puts paid to any arguments against the reality that woman force has come of age, in all spheres of modern life. Can hardly help recalling, in this context, a limerick my father had composed during the days of the national emergency – “In her cabinet of Kauls, Pandits, and Pants, it is she who wears the pants!”

UNITED NATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS

Right from its inception, the United Nations Organization (UNO) has paid special attention to the status of women, the issues and challenges being faced by them and how they can be empowered.

Within its first year, the Economic and Social Council of UNO established its Commission on the Status of Women, as the principal global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of women. Among its earliest accomplishments was ensuring gender-neutral language in the draft Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1993, a General Assembly Declaration was made on the Elimination of Violence against Women contained “a clear and comprehensive definition of violence against women [and] a clear statement of the rights to be applied to ensure the elimination of violence against women in all its forms”. It represented “a commitment by States in respect of their responsibilities and a commitment by the international community at large to the elimination of violence against women”.

The practice of ‘Ladies First’ began in ancient times, in Germany, when cavemen, fearing attacks by wild animals, ensured that the women were the first to be moved to a safer place. Over time, the practice came to be associated with a display of courtesy and chivalry

In September 2017, the European Union and the United Nations joined forces to launch the Spotlight Initiative, a global, multi-year initiative that focused on eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls. The initiative named ‘UN Women’ is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress in meeting their needs worldwide. It supports member countries as they set global standards for achieving gender equality, and works with governments, and civil society organisations of repute, to design laws, policies, programmes and services needed to ensure that the standards are effectively implemented and truly benefit women and girls worldwide. It also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality and in all deliberations and agreements linked to the 2030 Agenda.

EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES

Over many decades, the United Nations has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration. Working to empower and uphold the rights of women and girls worldwide, UN Women plays a crucial role in this mission.

As the international feminist movement began to gain momentum during the 1970s, the General Assembly declared 1975 as the International Women’s Year and organised the first World Conference on Women, held in Mexico City. At the urging of the Conference, it subsequently declared the years 1976-1985 as the UN Decade for Women. The UN Decade for Women and its conferences helped establish the legitimacy of women’s issues regarding their roles as workers in the home and outside it. The decade also brought the many inequalities women face in education, health care, and work to the attention of national leaders and the general public.

In 1979, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which is often described as an International Bill of Rights for Women.

The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. The CSW is instrumental in promoting women’s rights, documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world, and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Women running for elected office face numerous challenges-including addressing discrimination or cultural beliefs that limit women’s role in society, balancing private, family and political life, gaining support from political parties and securing campaign funding

The United Nations is now focusing its global development work on the recently-developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Women have a critical role to play in all of the SDGs, with many targets specifically recognizing women’s equality and empowerment as both the objective and as part of the solution. Goal 5, to “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” is known as the ‘stand-alone gender goal’, because it is dedicated to achieving these ends. Deep legal and legislative changes are needed to ensure women’s rights around the world. While a record 143 countries guaranteed equality between men and women in their Constitutions by 2014, another 52 had not taken this step.

INDIA’S INITIATIVES

The Government of India (GOI) has, over time, mounted several initiatives to ensure a level playing field for women in public life. Among the earliest initiatives taken in this direction was the constitution, in 1952, of the Central Social Welfare Board with Dr Durgabai Deshmukh as the founder Chairperson. This board was established to carry out welfare activities for promoting volunteerism and to provide technical and financial assistance to voluntary organisations focused on the general welfare of families, women, and children. The GOI, and many other states, followed, with steps such as the reservation of seats for women in elections to local bodies, admissions to educational institutions, and employment and welfare programmes, among others. It is a matter for regret, though, that the most significant of all initiatives on the anvil, namely, a bill proposing an amendment to the Constitution of India to provide for women a percentage of seats in the lower house of Parliament and State assemblies, should be languishing, awaiting passage by Parliament.

The United Nations is now focusing its global development work on the recently-developed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Women have a critical role to play in all of the SDGs, with many targets specifically recognizing women’s equality and empowerment as both the objective and as part of the solution

GENDER INEQUALITIES AND CHALLENGES

No country can claim to have achieved adequate and effective gender equality yet. Many challenges remain for women in the new millennium. Any discernible change is possible only if political commitment obtains and adequate legal and policy frameworks are put in place, to provide a level playing field for women and men.

Recognising the fact that gender equality is in the interest of men, as well as women, and a prerequisite for genuine democracy. Parliaments in many countries are moving away from the traditional male – dominated membership towards promoting equality. The process, naturally, calls for critical examination of the institutions, and the readiness to acknowledge unseen barriers that hinder the presence of women, and limit their participation. 

Ideally, Parliaments ought to be places where the requirements of both men and women are met, where the environment not only enables women to work but also encourages them to work. They should put in place family-friendly environments, where men and women find that their needs to live, as well as work, are taken into account. They also ought to be places where sexist language or conduct is not tolerated.

Women running for elected office face numerous challenges-including addressing discrimination or cultural beliefs that limit women’s role in society, balancing private, family and political life, gaining support from political parties and securing campaign funding.

“Der aaye durust aaye”, goes the Hindi saying, with “Better late than never”, being the English equivalent.

WOMEN REPRESENTATION

There is no gainsaying the fact that the introduction in Parliament, of the Women’s Reservation Bill, was overdue. However, one draws consolation from the fact that the legislation has finally seen the light of day. According to the central government, the provisions of the Act will come into force after the delimitation exercise for Parliament and Assembly constituencies is done, based on the results of the first population census of the country to be conducted in the future. When that happens, and given the rapidly changing ambience of the country, on account of increased levels of female literacy and urbanisation, one begins to see light at the end of the tunnel, for the women of the country.

Some years ago, this columnist served as a Member of a Jury constituted by the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to determine the best state in the country in terms of encouraging production of TV stories espousing the cause of the welfare of the Girl Child. It was a truly revealing experience. Despite their best efforts, most of the Telugu TV channels could not produce stuff without violence or stereotyped insipid themes highlighting the plight of the Girl Child, strikingly indicative of the hypocrisy, which society in general practices, while dealing with issues involving discrimination against women and children.

No country can claim to have achieved adequate and effective gender equality yet. Many challenges remain for women in the new millennium. Any discernible change is possible only if political commitment obtains and adequate legal and policy frameworks are put in place, to provide a level playing field for women and men

A few short movies, and documentaries, that were shown, however, highlighted the scourges of discrimination against women, beginning when they were girls, with parents spending time in grooming girls for becoming good wives, while concentrating little on providing them learning and knowledge.

Efforts by governments to protect the status of women and create equal opportunities in education, employment and inheritance of property were, in fact, initiated quite some time ago. As long ago, as in the 1980s, the legendary NTR piloted the passage, by the Andhra Pradesh Legislature, of an Act that created a right for women in ancestral property.

And, now the Government of India’s “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao”, is an initiative of the central government that celebrates the girl child and enables her education with hundred percent government assistance.

GLOBAL EXAMPLES

Many other countries have taken significant steps towards ushering in an era of equality and parity for women. For example, realising that the dowry system in South Asia makes daughters “an unaffordable economic burden”, and contributes to female infanticide, the People’s Republic of China brought in a law on Maternal and Infant Health Care in 1994. China also has the Population and Family Planning Law that prohibits sex identification of foetus and sex-selective abortion. Likewise, South Korea is one of the very few nations where the imbalanced sex ratio has been reversed. According to ‘The Women, Peace and Security Index’, co-published by Georgetown University and Oslo’s Peace Research Institute, Sweden ranks first among the countries in the world which are best for women. And Afghanistan comes last.

Committed to uplifting the girl child, NGOs like ‘Save the Children’ are bringing hope to thousands of girls in India by giving them the right environment and opportunities to learn.

FROM HISTORIC STRUGGLES TO MODERN TRIUMPHS

The history of the world has seen many great women contributing significantly to the welfare and development of mankind.

Few persons can match the sacrifice, and sense of dedication, that went into the activities of great persons, such as Florence Nightingale, Mother Teresa or Durgabai Deshmukh. The valour and bravery shown by great women such as Joan of Arc in France and Jhansi Lakshmi Bai in India, through fearless opposition to imperialist forces, will never be forgotten by their countrymen.

Few people strutted so majestically, and confidently, in the international arena, as Indira Gandhi did in the 20th century. Her tenure as Prime Minister was marked with as many remarkable achievements, in the field of economic and social development of the country, as it was marred, by many instances of ruthless, quelling of opposition to her policies, especially the period of the national emergency during 1775-77. She left an indelible mark in the history of her country and her assassination was described by world leaders as an event that left a ‘big emptiness’ in international affairs. 

Then there is the example of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first woman in the world to become the Prime Minister of a country, who also served as the Chairman of the Non-Alignment Movement in the middle 1970s.

Such is the position women have come to occupy in the world today, in various spheres, from politics to business, and adventure to scientific research, that it is indeed intriguing that the right for women to vote in elections took time to be granted in several countries. 

FROM SUFFRAGE TO STARDOM

Women’s Suffrage, a movement demanding the right for women to vote in elections, was a cause espoused by national and international organisations, especially the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance, started in the early 20th century in Germany. The movement was a broad one, with activists such as Emmeline Pankhurst in Britain and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott in America in the lead. The first country in Europe to introduce women’s suffrage was Finland in 1906. It was only in 1913 that Norway became the first sovereign nation to allow women to vote. Canada and Britain followed suit. About a decade later it spread to some states in the United States of America. Strangely enough France and Greece, and much later, Switzerland, were among the last to extend the privilege to women, London in 1908, as soon as they became republics. An intriguing development, in that context, was the coming into being of organisations such as the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League, which, especially in the period before the First World War, opposed franchises for women, citing their relative experience. And, interestingly enough, in ancient Athens, regarded as the birthplace of democracy, only adult males owning land enjoyed the right to vote. Needless to say, it is a matter of immense gratification that India, proudly, claims a prominent place among the countries which ushered in universal suffrage,

Women have made their mark in many areas including scientific research, exploration, sport and adventure. From Marie Curie, the first woman to win the Nobel Prize and the only woman to win it twice, through Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman astronaut, to Agatha Christie, also called the Queen of Crime Literature and made a Dame by the Queen of England to P V Sindhu, the world champion in badminton. The World Boxing Women Champions 2023, Nitu Ghanghas and Saweety Boora made India proud with their historic accomplishments.

Having sung praises for the ‘better halves’ all along, this columnist now wishes to end this piece on a tongue-in-cheek note. The Chief Guest, at a function, got up to celebrate the status of women, began his speech with the words, “Women are generally speaking…”, when a rather tired-looking, middle-aged man from the audience stood up, and said, “Sir, I think you have said enough”!

Those who have read ‘Pygmalion’, by Bernard Shaw, or watched the movie based on that book, ‘My Fair Lady’, will remember Professor Henry Higgins, whose role was portrayed to realistically, be the legendary actor Rex Harrison, saying, “Why can’t the French speak English”?

I have little doubt that most of us, at one time or other, have wondered why men can’t be like women!