Role of Gender in Indian Politics
Introduction: Gender issues based on social and gender equity are interdisciplinary and cross-national in nature. India, which is included in the world’s largest democratic country, where participation in politics of women and men is a positive effort. This is also an important issue in other countries of the world.
Gender equality is essential for the development of society because women and men are the foundations of a beautiful society. In the Indian Constitution (Article 15), states : “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” Article 15 secures the citizens from every sort of discrimination by the State, on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth or any of them.
There is a right to equality but there is also a society that is neither male nor female, which is called the third category ie; transgender. In India, transgender is understood through different means by so-called societies. In this situation, it becomes difficult for the individuals of this society. To reduce this gender discrimination, a landmark decision was made by the Supreme Court on 15 April 2014 in the National Legal Services Authority of India, which declared transgender to be in the category of “third gender” which gives fundamental rights conferred by the Constitution of India, has been made equally available to them.
In India, the political system of women is being able to make their decisions at the social level. While India works towards empowering women economically — through microfinance programs — and also encourages greater participation of women leaders in panchayats, or village councils, writes author Shoba Narayan in this opinion piece, one question remains: What is the role of women in Indian politics? The answer is both big and small. Typical of India, it contains contradictions.
Beating the Odds: The rise of Indian women as panchayat leaders is a spectacular achievement given that India has one of the worst records with respect to the way it treats the female sex. Malnourished, suppressed, uneducated, violated and discriminated against, Indian women have the odds stacked against them. Even birth is a hurdle, thanks to widespread female infanticide in rural areas.
Instead of the outrage and anger that urban feminists project, these women panchayat leaders speak with clear-minded realism about opportunities and costs. For many women, attending a panchayat meeting means sacrificing a day’s wage. It means assuming leadership for the first time in their lives and then subsuming it at home to serve in-laws and husband.
Ask women about political reform, and their answers reflect concerns that every women and mother can relate to. They focus on three things: healthcare, education, and the funds to make these two things happen.
Gender Inequality in Indian Politics:
Gender inequality is seen in Indian politics. Some so-called parties’ invite-only males in politics and due to some family reasons women do not get a chance to enter politics.
In a country where the gender-to-sex ratio is low, there are many positive results, in India’s politics, women are trying to get out of gender discrimination, but the journey is long and full of struggle.
In the table, it is seen that due to gender discrimination in the 1st Lok Sabha election of Indian politics, women had to remain satisfied in only 4.5 percent of the seats, while males dominated 96.5 percent of the seats. By far the highest inequality in Indian political history was seen in 1977 Lok Sabha elections when the gender inequality between both genders in total seats was 3.49 and 96.51 percent respectively.
Reasons for gender discrimination in Indian politics: In Indian culture, women are seen with respect but still, there is a difference between a woman and man due to physical reasons which is natural and it can also be called a natural gender distinction, but by society women and the gap in gender differences between men is very deep and is weakening the society. Gender discrimination plays a huge role in pushing back in society so that it is maintained in different ways. There are some other reasons also which promote gender discrimination in politics like:
1. Religious reason: India is a country equipped with many religions. Every religion has its own different beliefs. Religious beliefs is the main reason for gender discrimination. Because of the patriarchal system in the society, the gap of gender discrimination between women and men has arisen. Women are underestimated. Men believe that women should stay within the boundary of the house, due to religious reasons, women have to face gender discrimination and they are unable to enter politics.
2. Social reason: The society has been trying to impose various types of restrictions on women such as practice, child marriage, widow life and illiteracy are some of the important factors that prevent the participation of women in politics.
3. Political reasons: The Indian constitution has given constitutionally many rights to a woman considered weak in the court. According to which women will not be discriminated on the basis of caste, religion, descent, place of birth, and will be considered equal. But some parties of Indian politics do not invite women to enter politics because male dominated society and politics view women with gender discrimination.
Suggestions: To combat gender inequality in politics, the Indian government has established reservations for seats in local governments. Indian society is used to seeing women in the same way. Improving gender discrimination in Indian politics without reservation is extremely difficult. Most political parties are of a male-centric mindset, hesitant to create female candidates. The participation of women in the legislative and executive parts of the government is nil. It is worth considering at what level will the reservation change? The change that has come from the reservation given in government jobs was not possible without reservation. There will also be a drastic change in the political reservation given to women. All kinds of discrimination or inequalities will continue in the society along with reservation as well as the fundamental rights given in the constitution, but real change is possible only when men change their thinking and a kind of humanity, equal treatment of men and women. Start doing it and not think of it as their subordinate. In 2017, the Vice President of India, Mr. M. Venkaiah Naidu said that as long as there are extreme inequalities based on caste, creed, religion, and gender in the country, we cannot make India a developed nation, that is, it is necessary for a developed nation and society that there are no inequalities in it.
Conclusion: Now, with gender discrimination in place, women have a strong desire to move forward with confidence while remaining active in the field of work. Now women are demanding their rights in power and do not want to give up the right to empower women. In terms of the representation of women in India’s Parliament, far behind developed countries, India should learn from developed countries that women can be good politicians in politics as well as men without discrimination.
To overcome gender differences one has to understand that there are two aspects of the same indicator. Several positive steps have been taken by the Indian Constitution to remove gender inequality; The Preamble of the Constitution aims to provide every Indian with a level of equality and opportunity with the goals of achieving social, economic and political justice. In our country, women have the right to political and economic equality in the Constitution of India. They should try not to take this paper, but to take it to the ground. According to the 2011 census, the number of girls in the country is 940 per one thousand boys. For gender equality, first of all, society needs to change the social attitude towards women. Apart from this, concrete and effective steps need to be taken in relation to women’s education, training, employment and welfare, and political participation. At the same time, the prejudice prevailing in society also has to be overcome that women are physically weak and intellectually underdeveloped. This chapter finds that women need political empowerment to remove gender discrimination so that they can get out of the house and discharge their Slavs towards their society and country. Women can gain political participation by ending gender discrimination with women. As women have been given reservation in local politics, to promote political participation, the reservation system should be implemented for women in women’s politics so that women get political rights. Education should be given for illiterate women and political awareness campaigns. “Educating women means educating society”. The establishment of a progressive society free of gender discrimination is possible only with the honor and total opportunity of women.
