Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Women reservation - for??






There is so much hip hip hurray happening for the passing of the Women reservation bill, happy to see so much camaraderie amongst MPs from different political parties, different ideologies and opinions coming together for a particular cause, but does it really mean Women empowerment???

This is my take on this...
Women, as a matter of fact anyone, who want to get into political life will get into it irrespective of if there is reservation for them or not, take for example a sushma swaraj/brinda karat/jayalalitha/mayawati/vasrundhara raje scindia or anyone they will win irrespective of whether the seat is reserved or not, they have the capability.
Does this reservation ensure that Women who struggle day in and out to make ends meet benefited from this, or those who go miles to bring one pot of water to ensure the family doesn't go dry/ or go deep into the forest to ensure that the family doest go hungry??, Will it benefit all the single mother who are struggling to take care of their kids?, will it help Women get job easily?, will it ensure that Women get better education? will it ensure Women get better health care?...not sure it will help and my answer is NO.



Many are saying this bill will ensure that more Women representation means they will fight for more Women cause, this is like expecting just because our honorable PM is a Sikh he has done too many great things for the Sikh community, I know the analogy is bad... but the argument that more Women in parliament means more power to Women is also wrong.

For me what would have made more sense is a education bill which has reservation for Women, a employment bill which guarantees job for Women and a better health care for Women and ensure that it reaches the remotest part of India .. this is what empowerment of Women to me.

A reservation in parliament is nothing but a hogwash, all the existing women in parliament will still win irrespective of this bill, does it throw new women politicians into the fray, yes it does... WHO? the guy who loses his criteria to get nominated in that seat which is declared reserved for Women, will definitely ensure that his wife/sister/mother/relative will be field and he will play the puppeteer role and ensure that he is one who still calls the shot.
Would there be a law passed that any existing MP from the seat declared as reserved for Women cannot field his wife/mother/sister/relative?? the answer is NO

What will happen with this Women reservation bill is that, we would end up created more Rabri's.... and that is the truth.