The Hindu Business Line : Back on the backburner

THERE IS now little doubt that the Women's Reservation Bill will not see the light of day for some time which, clearly, will be a setback for the United Progressive Alliance Government if one is to go by its Common Minimum Programme (CMP). What, in fact, does the CMP have to say on the subject?

To start with, among the six basic principles of the UPA Government supported by the Left parties is that which seeks "to fully empower women politically, educationally, economically and legally". Expanding on the theme, the programme says that the UPA Government "will take the lead to introduce legislation for one-third reservations for women in vidhan sabhas and in the Lok Sabha".

It also says that legislation on domestic violence and against gender discrimination "will be enacted," a process which, to the credit of the Government, has already been initiated and has been taken a long way forward towards implementation.

Underscoring the UPA's determination to improve the social condition and status of women, the CMP also says that the Government "will ensure that at least one-third of all funds flowing into panchayats will be earmarked for programmes for the development of women and children" and that "village women and their associations will be encouraged to assume responsibility for all development schemes relating to drinking water, sanitation, primary education, health and nutrition".

Further, "complete legal equality for women in all spheres will be made a practical reality, especially by removing discriminatory legislation and by enacting new legislation that gives women, for instance, equal rights of ownership of assets like houses and land". The UPA's stand on the subject is, therefore, crystal clear. Interestingly, that of the main Opposition party, the BJP, is also equally forthright. The party has said formally that, "It is not enough to talk about removing discrimination against women and establishing gender equality.

We need to create new mechanisms for the social, political and economic advancement of women as also to generate social awareness on gender issues. One such mechanism is empowerment, including empowerment through enactment of laws".

And, yet, the entire issue seems to have been brushed under the carpet quite decisively at this point of time. One firm ground for not agreeing to the standing proposal of reserving a third of Lok Sabha seats for women is that, unless there is a further reservation of OBCs (other Backward Castes), SCs (Scheduled Castes) and STs (Scheduled Tribes) within the larger reservation of Lok Sabha seats for women, there would be no point in going along with the reform because it would only lead to strengthening the existing divisions and inequalities among women in Indian society.

Indeed, on Thursday, Muslim MPs, cutting across party lines, are reported to have approached the Prime Minister with the plea that the move to reserve Lok Sabha and State Assembly seats for women should not be pursued further unless "a separate quota for Muslim women is built into the general `gender' quota".

To say the least, it would be regressive per se to argue against the increased representation of women in Parliament. Support for the cause would be in fact be acceptable even if one were to support reservation of seats specifically. The fundamental point, however, is: Are women, from all walks of life, ready for the job, so to speak?

Here, the UP Chief Minister, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav, has a point when he says that the 33 per cent reservation proposal is "impractical" because "no political party... has a sufficient number of women politicians" and that, if the legislation is passed, "women will end up as dummy candidates while their male relatives will hold the remote control in their hands".

Quite rightly, he asks: "What is the point of this kind of reservation?"

Does this then leave us with the Election Commission's proposal of political parties being made responsible for sending up an adequate number of women candidates to fight the polls in the first place and letting the people decide whether these candidates are to be preferred over their male opponents?

One has always felt that reform of this particular sort should begin from the grassroots level and that the general electorate should be left to decide who the lawmakers should be.

Among other things, raising the quota system in the choice of MPs to more than 50 per cent could be described as being a trifle unfair to the rest of the electorate, perhaps leading to questions such as "what is democracy all about?"

Ranabir Ray Choudhury

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