Political carrots for India's women

By M H Ahssan

The freshly-minted Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has wasted no time in relaying an unequivocal message to a lucrative Indian constituency - women. Close on the heels of earning political points for appointing Meira Kumar as the country's first Dalit (untouchable) woman speaker of the Lower House (Lok Sabha) last month, the UPA has now committed itself to a cachet of women-empowerment measures.

As showcased by President Pratibha Patil in her parliamentary address on June 4, the UPA has now promised to reserve 50% of its seats for the fairer sex in village councils and city municipalities in its 100-day action plan. The measure is a throwback to erstwhile Congress prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's move in 1992 to earmark 33% of all seats for women in panchayats (elected village councils).

Widely seen as a deft political masterstroke, this radical move will give a substantially larger representation to Indian women in a country with a population of 1.1 billion - an increase from their current entitlement to a third of the seats in urban and rural councils.

When viewed along with the government's commitment to push for the path-breaking Women's Reservation Bill - that seeks to reserve a third of the elected seats in parliament and in state legislatures for women - this move will ensure the largest-ever political space to Indian women compared to any other country in the world at any time.

Among the UPA's other women-centric welfare measures include 100% literacy for women (as against the current figure of 54%) in the next five years through the National Literacy Mission, fixing the women's quota in central government jobs and setting up of the National Mission on Empowerment of Women for the implementation of women welfare programs. All these items are listed as priorities in the government's "100-Day Action Plan" with the women's reservation bill leading the list of 25 promises for action.

However, what has most spiked the adrenaline of Indian feminists is the UPA's resolve to pass the contentious Women's Reservation Bill within the first 100 days of its five-year term. Laden as this promise is with political, economic and social overtones, it will be interesting to watch how the government steers this controversial bill through the corridors of parliament. The bill has been scuttled repeatedly in the past by caste-based parties which are emphatic that its benefits will accrue only for the elite and not the underprivileged.

Unsurprisingly, the UPA's announcement about the bill's passage generated its share of drama with Sharad Yadav, a longstanding critic of the bill and Janata Dal (United) leader, declaring that he "will consume poison and die but won't allow the Women's Reservation Bill without a quota for Dalit/tribal women".

Amar Singh, the Samajwadi Party leader, has also asserted that "instead of the government earmarking seats for women, it should leave it to political parties to choose the seats on which they want to field women candidates". Singh demanded that the bill be recast after discussion with political parties, "otherwise in its present form, it would uproot many established political leaders from their constituencies".

The drama over the bill, which is close to the heart of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, prompted the government to say it would hold consultations with all political parties to get around the resistance from caste-based parties who are insisting on a separate quota for Other Backward Caste (OBC) and Muslim women.

Given the bill's explosive nature, all eyes are now focused on how the Congress-led government will fulfill its promise. More so considering the bill requires a constitutional amendment and a two-thirds majority in both the houses for its passage. In the Lok Sabha, where the UPA government has a majority, it still needs the support of 364 members. No wonder the legislation has hit roadblocks since 1996 when it was drafted during prime minister H D Deve Gowda's tenure.

In other words, while the UPA government has successfully used the opportunity of the parliament's inaugural session to herald path-breaking announcements for women's empowerment, and be seen as a party with an inclusive agenda, it is their successful implementation of the promises that will truly test the party's mettle.

Meira Kumar's appointment as speaker is definitely a savvy move, given the fact that Dalits feature at the bottom of India's deeply-entrenched caste pyramid. She was elected on a Congress ticket from the state of Bihar.

But while Kumar may be part of a record 58-strong contingent of women MPs in the new parliament, the fair sex constitutes just 10% of India's Lower House. The Congress party thus seems to have got a tad carried away while proving its earnestness for women's welfare. For instance, its decision to recast the National Literacy Mission (NLM) as the National Mission for Female Literacy is definitely driven by political considerations considering the Human Resources Development (HRD) Ministry, under whose ambit the scheme falls, is yet to even flesh out its implementation details.

Plus, the funding for the literacy mission has not yet been upgraded since its inception many years ago. Observers point out that it is rather audacious of the UPA government to envision that 100% literacy for Indian women will be achieved in the next five years considering currently only 54% of this demographic is literate as against 75% men, according to a 2001 census.

According to a HRD Ministry source, it will be impossible to achieve this feat through the current NLM template. And by the time the mission's format is reworked and more money pumped in, it will be difficult for its benefits to percolate down to more than 5.5 million women as against the promised 500 million.

But regardless of inherent flaws in UPA's women-oriented schemes, there's no doubt that in one fell swoop the party has endeared itself to women voters. It is a move that will obviously help the party reap rich demographic dividends when it next goes to polls. At least for the time being, UPA's astute thinkers have managed a coup of sorts.