DELHI, 7. January: The first all-womens political party in India has been formed after 100 women joined. A first order of business is to boost female representation in parliament from 8 to 50 percent.
In October, Suman Krishan Kant, a prominent social activist and the widow of former vice president Krishan Kumar Kant, joined with other influential women to launch the United Womens Front to address issues such as womens illiteracy, early marriage and tokenism in parliament, where women hold just 8 percent of seats.
To qualify for official party status, the group had to muster at least 100 members and pay about 300 US dollar in registration fees.
– Women have simply not been getting the kind of governance they deserve, says Kant, who is now President of the new political party.
– Take (delstaten,red) Delhi for example. It has a female chief minister, yet it is one of the most dangerous places for women. All this is precisely because we do not have enough women in decision-making and in the political process. A few women here and there cannot make much of a difference, she notes.
Prem Ahluwalia is a journalist who specializes in womens issues and directs the Delhi-based Institute for South Asian Women, which seeks to foster ties among women in India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and the Maldives. She is also the United Women Fronts national general secretary.
– It is for the first time in the history of India that a national political party has been formed by women, she says, adding: – In fact it is the only party of women in the world. We need to ensure that the issues of priority concern to half of its population remain in the forefront of the pressing issues on Indias national agenda.
Land of Contradictions
India is often called a land of contradictions and that pertains to the status of women here. The national constitution guaranteed womens legal equality in 1950. India also elected Indira Ghandi in 1966, making her the worlds second female prime minister after Sri Lankas Sirimavo Bandarnaike, who took office in 1960.
This past July Pratibha Patil was elected Indias first female president, a mostly ceremonial position that nonetheless leaves India with a female head of state.
Women hold top cabinets posts and at least three states have female chief ministers. Village councils reserve 33 percent of their seats for women.
On the other hand, millions of women live in poverty, illiteracy, malnourishment and ill-health. In November, the World Economic Forums latest gender gap index put India among the worlds 10 most gender-biased economies, with womens participation in the paid work force at 36 percent.
Recently, Sonia Gandhi, the female president of the All India Congress Party, the ruling party in the coalition government, said she was unable to pass a bill first introduced in 1996 that ensures 33 percent of parliamentary seats – the widely assumed critical mass – go to women.
The Ministry of Women and Child Development in 2006 drafted a bill for the prevention of workplace sexual harassment that was supposed to have been passed this year. However, it is still pending.
New Law Lacks Implementation
National statistics from 2005 to 2006 show 40 percent of Indian women suffer from domestic abuse. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act passed through parliament in 2005 and came into force last year.
Lawyers, however, widely lament that insufficient arrangements have been made for them to handle cases brought under the law. For instance, the trained personnel – counselors, protection officers, service providers – called for by the law are not in place.
The Womens party has these types of issues in its sights. In the two months since its formation, however, it has focused on recruitment and making 50 percent female representation in parliament its chief objective.
So far the party has established organizations in 16 of Indias 28 states. The groups vary in size. The Delhi chapter, for instance, claims 25.000 members; another state chapter claims 5.000.
Kilder: Womens E-news og The Push Journal
