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Women are actively involved in family and community work, and as a result, they are well aware of the real problems that ordinary people confront. This provides individuals with insight and perspective, which can help them contribute to long-term development.
The presence of women in local governments encourages other women to pursue careers in a variety of fields, as well as dispelling prejudices about women’s responsibilities in society and public space. People had begun to trust women as good public administrators and local government officials. Women’s earnestness and commitment to their responsibilities, as well as their resistance to political criminality are recognised by society. Women in governance must be measured in order to determine whether policy intervention is needed to improve it.
Since its independence, India has recognised the importance of keeping gender statistics on political involvement. At the local level, the process of recording women’s participation is still changing, and attempts are being made to improve the current infrastructure.
Provisions of the Indian Constitution related to women in governance
Not only does the Constitution grant women equal political image, but it also allows for ‘positive discrimination’ in their favour, as stated in Article 15(3). There are numerous more articles in the Constitution that emphasize gender equality. Article 14 of the Indian Constitution talks about equality before law. Article 39 clause (a) deals with the states should make policy to give adequate means of livelihood to both men and women. And Article 39 clause (d) mentions policies by state for equal pay for equal work for both men and women. Article 42 of the Indian Constitution mentions securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief and Article 51(A) (e) refers to the fundamental duty of citizens to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women.
Women in Parliament
Women in governance were founded on the assumption that it primarily interacts with individuals. Though only a small number of women entered politics at any given period, it was assumed that as education and employment possibilities improved, women representation in politics would expand as well. Sixty-six women contested for Parliament in the first general elections of India, and 19 were elected to the House of People
Lok Sabha
As of February 2, 2022, there are 81 women representatives in Lok Sabha.
Rajya Sabha.
As of February 2, 2022, there are 29 women representatives in Rajya Sabha.
Challenges while measuring women in governance
Women in governance may indeed be measured very easily using vote percentages and legislative election results. Estimating the actual participation of women in the decision-making process is a difficult task.
- Participation by woman as Proxy Candidate-There have been allegations that certain women were voted into the system because of reservation policies, but that have only served as mouthpieces for their male family members. This suggests that on-roll women’s participation may be higher than what is currently observed on the ground. Women’s active participation is on the rise as a result of increased awareness campaigns and increased female education. There is still a need to collect data at a more micro level in order to identify women who just act as proxies.
- Measuring decision-making initiatives- Quantitative data on women in governance at the local level is accessible, but qualitative data is not available on the features of their active participation, such as their use of the decision-making capabilities available to them.. Although the legislature has allowed them to have a large presence in the current situation, their meaningful contribution to the system has yet to be established in most regions. Data on their awareness of their rights and how they are used is still missing. Participation of women in debates, initiative in bringing legislation, and engagement in other elements of the democratic process can all be monitored to see the actual participation of women.
Need of the Hour to measure Women in Governance
- Use of technology-The new government of India has a tendency for utilizing technology to provide government programmes to rural areas. Today, mobile phone penetration is higher than that of electrical connections. By counting their attendance and vote share in passing a decision in the Panchayat, digital communication developments may be used to record the actual women in governance in the Panchayat operations. Women’s issues could be voiced through portals and mobile applications that seek responses from the general public.
- Use of Analytics- Data on women’s participation in local politics may be validated, clustered, and segmented using advanced analytics. Big Data approaches have enabled policymakers to work with massive amounts of data, both quantitative and qualitative. Text mining and video mining techniques can be used to extract useful information from large amounts of data, which can be in the form of recordings, documents, and other data. The new government has begun work on using social media analytics for grassroots development, and gender concerns can be included in this framework.
- Women in governance score- For policymakers, gathering data on women in governance is critical. With so much linked and unrelated data, it’s critical to turn that data into an indicator that can be used to make policy decisions. The information needed for this work might include all three dimensions of political participation: women as voters, women as elected representatives, and women as policymakers. Other gender statistics can also be used as an input to provide a comprehensive picture of women’s engagement in that field. Budgeting and policy intervention can both benefit from a single score that is a weighted average of normalized versions of numerous factors.
Conclusion
Young Indian women, perhaps more than any other grouping today, embody aspirational India. If given a chance, they may breathe fresh life into our stale politics by focusing on basic requirements such as health, nutrition, education, and livelihoods.
