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Women
Empowerment &
Reservation
Presented by:
Shruti Gupta
AEO, The ICSI
WOMEN
EMPOWERMENT
Meaning…
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Women's empowerment is a new phrase in the
vocabulary of gender literature. The phrase is used in
two broad senses i.e. general and specific. In a general
sense, it refers to empowering women to be selfdependent by providing them access to all the freedoms
and opportunities, which they were denied in the past
only because of their being women.
In a specific sense, women empowerment refers to
enhancing their position in the power structure of the
society.
The word women empowerment essentially means that
the women have the power or capacity to regulate their
day- to- day lives in the social, political and economic
terms -a power which enables them to move from the
periphery to the centre stage.
UN Declaration….
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Violence against women is a manifestation of historically
unequal power relation between men and women, which
have led to domination over and discrimination
against women by man and the prevention of the full
advancement of women, and violence against women is
of the crucial social mechanism by which women are
forced into a subordinate position compared with menUN Declaration on the Elimination of violence
against woman (1993).
Current Scenario
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However, in spite of the fact that we have had a woman
prime minister, chief ministers and now a president,
women have not really made any remarkable inroads
into politics full time.
In order to help women to be in limelight, they need to be
empowered. Therefore, empowerment of women is the
prerequisite to transform a developing country into a
developed country.
Real Scenario
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The gap between the goals enunciated in the Constitution,
legislation, policies, plans, programmes with the
situational reality has been analyzed extensively in the
Report of the Committee on the Status of Women in India.
Gender disparity manifests itself in various forms, the most
obvious being the trend of continuously declining female
ratio in the population in the last few decades.
Mind set of son preference.
Principles and Suggestions for Women
Empowerment
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To create an environment for full development of
women to enable them to realize their full potential.
To enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedom
on equal basis with men in all spheres – political,
economic, social, cultural and civil.
To give equal access through participation and
decision making of women in social, political and
economic life of the nation
To give access to women to health care, quality
education at all levels.
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To change societal attitudes and community
practices by active participation and
involvement of both men and women.
To mainstream a gender perspective in the
development process.
To eliminate discrimination and all forms of
violence against women and the girl child.
Partnership
with
the
voluntary
sector
organizations: To build and strengthen
partnerships with civil society, particularly
women’s organizations.
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To strengthen our legal system: In addition to the
review of the existing system, the following will be
implemented:
Strict enforcement of legal provisions and speedy
grievance redressal
Preventing sexual harassment
Women’s cells and other aiding centers to be
strengthened
Panchayati Raj Institutions: To be actively involved
in implementing and executing the National Policy for
Women at the grassroot level.
Women
Reservation
Introduction
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The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the
Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights,
Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles
From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards there
had been a marked shift in the approach to women’s
issues from welfare to development.
The National Commission for Women was set up by an
Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and
legal entitlements of women.
The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the
Constitution of India have provided for reservation of
seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and
Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for
their participation in decision making at the local levels.
Provisions of the Women Reservation
Bill
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Political Reservation for Indian women at each level
of legislative decision-making, starting with the
Indian Parliament, down to state and local
legislatures.
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If the women reservation Bill is passed, 1/3 of the
total available seats would be reserved for women of
India in national, state, or local governments.
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In continuation of the existing provisions already
mandating reservations for scheduled caste and
scheduled tribes, one-third of such SC and ST
candidates must be women.
The arguments in favor of the Women
Reservation Bill
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It would lead to gender equality in Indian Parliament,
resulting in the women empowerment as a whole.
Historically, the women Bill's supporters say, women
are deprived in India.
Increased political participation of Indian women will
help them fight the abuse, discrimination, and
inequality
women
suffer
from
in
India.
Reservation for women in panchayat
elections
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33.3 per cent seats in panchayat elections have
been reserved for Indian women already.
The experience of Women reservation at the
panchayat level has been very encouraging.
A million women are being elected to the
panchayats in the country every five years. This is
the largest mobilization of women in public life
in the world.
Opposition to the Women Reservation
Bill
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Various Indian political parties have staunchly
opposed the bill because political Parties fear many
of their male leaders would not get a chance to fight
elections if 1/3 seats are reserved for Indian women.
The women reservation Bill has also been opposed
by Indian politicians from the economically and
socially backward classes. They argue that women
reservation would only help women of the elitist
groups to gain seats, therefore causing further
discrimination and under-representation to the poor
women and women of backward classes.
History of Women Reservation Bill
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1996 -- The Deve Gowda government
introduces the women's reservation bill as
81st Constitutional Amendment Bill.
1998 -- The bill is re-introduced in the 12th
Lok Sabha as the 84th Constitutional
Amendment Bill by the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government headed Atal
Bihari Vajpayee.
1999 -- The NDA government re-introduces
the bill in the 13th Lok Sabha.
2002 -- The Bill is introduced in parliament
but fails to sail through.
2003 -- Bill introduced twice in parliament.
2004 -- The United Progressive Alliance
Women Reservation Bill in Brief
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As nearly as about one-third of all seats in Lok Sabha
and State Legislative Assemblies shall be reserved for
women.
Reservation shall apply in case of seats reserved for
Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) as
well.
The women reservation bill will provide Reservation for
women at each level of legislative decision-making,
starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local
legislatures.
If the Bill is passed, one-third of the total available seats
would be reserved for women in national, state, or local
governments. And this number will be 181 . The Bill
seeks to reserve for women 181 of the 543 seats in the
Lok Sabha and 1,370 out of a total of 4,109 seats in the
28 State
Drawbacks of the Bill
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Rotational reservation of one-third seats is the most
serious flaw in the Bill. The pre-election nursing of a Lok
Sabha or State Assembly constituency involves a very
heavy investment on the part of the political parties and
individual aspirants. It would lead to a grave uncertainty
for sitting male MPs eroding their meticulously
developed political base and leaving them no scope to
pursue politics as a life-long mission or career.
The Bill also ignores an important recommendation of
the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 81st
Amendment Bill about extending reservation to Rajya
Sabha and Legislative Councils that was incorporated in
the Clause 21 of its Report.
The Bill turns women’s quota into a zero sum game
where women would get seats only if male MPs were
removed from one third of the constituencies.
Country
Sweden
Argentina
Norway
Canada
Pakistan
United Kingdom
France
USA
Sri Lanka
INDIA
% of elected women
47
40
36
24
21
20
18
17
6
15
Key Features of Woman Reservation
Bill
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The Bill seeks to reserve, as nearly as possible,
one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha
and the state legislative assemblies (including
Delhi). The allocation of reserved seats shall be
determined by such authority as prescribed by
Parliament.
As nearly as possible, one third of the total number
of seats reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled
Tribes (SC/ST) in the Lok Sabha and the legislative
assemblies shall be reserved for SC/ST women.
Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist
15 years after the commencement of the Act.
Disclaimer Clause: Views expressed
in this presentation views of the
author do not necessary reflect those
of the Institute.