Women in Indian Politics have always been confronting a male-dominated and patriarchal system and society, where men tend to feel that women are inferior to them. Women are considered as ‘Binaash’ or a burden. Despite this, women have always participated in politics. Historically, like in any other country, Indian women were not allowed voting rights. They could not even take part in the councils of their very own villages. Women were elected to local government bodies for the first time in 1951. The first two women-elected members of India’s Parliament were Hemu Kalani from Bombay and Renuka Devi from Kanpur in 1952.
Almost half of India’s population is women, but only 11.6 percent of them are in State assemblies out of a total of 634 elected seats in 34 States and six Union territories. Election Commission data shows that a mere 857 out of 4,123 candidates (20.5 percent) fielded were women. Only 71 women were elected as members in the recently concluded Assembly elections. If women had equal representation in India’s parliament, laws on family law and women’s work would be more progressive and is an obvious fact. The availability of political opportunities is almost the same in a few areas like economic and political spheres. Though India is a democratic country, people belonging to the deprived section like women and other minorities have failed to get equal representation in all the social fields.
Women’s roles increasing in the workforce. But still, their unequal status in society is restricting their work and opportunities to prove themselves as leaders and professionals. Women occupy approximately 10% of legislative seats across the world, and they remain underrepresented in most countries in the world. However, India is ranked a lowly 120th out of 189 countries in this category. Common terms like the glass ceiling and the gender wage gap continue to emerge as major issues. Over the past several years, The Representation Project has been examining women in politics. We wanted to understand what factors were contributing to women’s representation in government and how they impact the way society runs.
It is true that now women are excelling in any field they have taken but still we can’t deny that there is gender disparity. Because of which women are not able to achieve things they deserve in society. Women have faced and are continuing to face challenges, and representations of women in politics must be changed. With the current representation, no issues related to gender equity and equality can be addressed within society.