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(This story appears in the 24 January, 2014 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Can they be trusted ? It would be worth reading the Poll Manifestos of different political parties to find out what each promises in the matter of Women\'s Representation Bill , which is pending before the Lok Sabha for over 40 years May be, all of them promise that , if voted to power , they will expedite the passage of this bill , which guarantees to women of India , 30 % representation in the Lok Sabha I urge the Women Voters , When any candidate of any party turns up at your door , asking for your vote , first ask him / her : \" Will your party publicly declare that it will fight for 30 % seats to be reserved for Women ? \" If he says , \" Yes , of course \" , then ask > for a copy of its manifesto > an explanation for the following : Party / No of Candidates Announced / Women Candidates / % > Congress / 417 / 53 / 12.7 % > BJP / 409 / 35 / 8.5 % > AAP / 385 / 57 / 15 % Next tell him / her : \" Get lost / We don\'t trust you / We won\'t vote for you ! \" * hemen parekh ( 03 April 2014 / Mumbai )
on Apr 3, 2014Nothing But Despair ? Do forthcoming Lok Sabha elections hold anything but despair for the women of India ? Unfortunate , but I don't think so Optimists may want to look at the following statistics : Lok Sabha of / No of Women Contestants / Winners / Percentage > 1957 / 45 / 27 / 60 % > 1967 / 67 / 30 / 45 % > 1980 / 142 / 28 / 20 % > 1998 / 274 / 43 / 16 % > 1999 / 296 / 52 / 17 % > 2004 / 355 / 45 / 13 % > 2009 / 556 / 59 / 10 % > 2014 ? 600 ? 60 ? 10 % ? My reasons for despair : > Even though marginally more number of women may contest in 2014 , the percentage of women winners may either remain same or decline > Apparently - and sadly - women voters ( nearly 400 million ) will continue to vote for male candidates > With a male-dominated Lok Sabha , Women's Reservation Bill , which is pending for the past 40 years , will continue to remain pending for next 40 years > With 11 % women in Lok Sabha , India ranks 111th out of 185 countries when it comes to women representation in parliaments of these countries > Criminalization of politics will continue as before , despite the fact that ,in the current Lok Sabha , only 6 women MPs have " Criminal Cases " pending against them , as against 161 male MPs who have such a reputation ! Is there any hope ? Yes , > If all women members of 7 National level and 34 Regional level political parties resign en-masse from their current parties and come together to form WAR ( Women And Rights ) party > Accept only women as members of this WAR party > Put up women candidates for all 543 Lok Sabha seats ( too late for 2014 ) > Persuade women voters not to vote for any male candidate WOMEN OF INDIA , If you think , by some magic , male-dominated Lok Sabha will hand-over to you EQUALITY on a platter , then forget it You are fooling no one but yourself ! Don't expect the males to gift you , your RIGHTS You will need to forcefully snatch away what is rightfully , yours ! Empower Yourself ! Stop self - pity and ask yourself , " How come a developing African country like RWANDA , has 60 % members of its parliament , women ? "
on Mar 30, 2014