Thank you dear subscribers, we are overwhelmed with your response.
It calls for a lot of jubilation from all quarters of society as the “Women’s Reservation Bill” or the “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam” sales through both the houses of Parliament. The passing of this bill endorses the contribution of women in the progress of our nation through the ages. For once, it is also heartening to see everyone coming together in its support across party lines, gender and social strata. Even though the bill has been signed into law by the President of India now, the implementation of this quota for women may take a few more years ascribed to a delimitation exercise, based on census. Delimitation task entails redrawing or fixing the boundaries of the various assemblies and Lok Sabha constituencies. This historic achievement thus is likely to be in place by 2029.
To many of us, the word “reservation” in most contexts, evokes a sentiment of concession or an antithesis to merit or ability. This sentiment could hold true of a society where its people have not been subjected to a variety of biases and deprivation, belittling them for centuries over their caste, creed, gender or faith. Over the years “merit” seems to have become the ownership of a privileged few. A modern and just society needs to crease out the imbalances which have perhaps occurred due to baseless and unjustifiable prejudices of our ancestors that have passed down generations. Given a level playing field on all accounts, merit will emerge from every corner and every section of society. Therefore, reservation up to a certain degree, till there is a semblance of parity between different groups is an important tool in taking things forward. A timeframe, however, must be defined to achieve these objectives.
Women too, have been a marginalized section of our society because of continued patriarchal beliefs and practices. With this 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha, State legislatures and Union Territories, they have finally got a share of what should have been rightfully theirs, right from the outset. One believes that these women representatives will be able to voice the everyday needs and concerns of their most deprived, at the highest citadels of decision making. Also, one hopes that these women in leadership roles are derived from a cross- section of urban, rural and tribal belts of the nation transcending social, economic and to some extent even unhealthy political boundaries.
Thus, the greater challenge ahead would be to see these women leaders discharge their duties and responsibilities effectively towards nation building. This calls for utmost sincerity of purpose, honesty and integrity. Simply attaining something or just marking a milestone may not be good enough in itself as it would point to mere tokenism which is not desirable or even expected. In today’s fast evolving and modern world, every woman must realize that just becoming a doctor, engineer, lawyer, scientist, journalist or even an Armed Forces officer shouldn’t be an end or an extraordinary accomplishment in itself. We, as a nation have long surpassed that stage. The crux is the way one uses these qualifications or expertise to give back to society in their chosen field. Similarly, in the context of women’s reservation bill, the women representatives must not become smug about their quota. If this indeed were to happen then their constituency which hitherto had a male representative would suffer the most- and, at the receiving end of this gender tug-of-war would be the common people. Afterall, the most suitable candidate ought to represent them in the corridors of power. Therefore, the onus or burden lies on these women as individuals, to allay the fears of their people. They need to prove their merit and mettle on the ground to uphold the trust of women’s reservation bill; and to also announce through their actions, that the bill was more about equitability than dole.
Nobody can be faulted for thinking of women’s reservation and women’s equality in the same breath, as an oxymoron. However, on close examination they are quite interdependent in the context of our still patriarchal and evolving society.
Views are personal.