On 8/3/2010 bill for one third reservation for women in legislatures is to be presented in the Rajya Sabha. I am opposed to the bill.
Those who favour the bill give various arguments justifying it. One strange argument is that only 10% of women win elections. Only 10% or less women win elections was not mentioned.
The bill is elitist, unjust and undemocratic. The argument that women are 50% of the population and hold 10% of seats does not hold water. Women are free to contest 100% of seats. If women vote for women candidates women representatives will be more. Many women don’t vote for women candidates. They, like men, vote for parties. With 33% reservation women will be free to contest 100% seats while men can only contest 67% seats.
Reservation for women in rural and urban bodies should not have been there and should go.
Reservation will mean women from families of existing legislators will become candidates. It will not help ordinary women. To say that even if they are family members they are women is not a sound argument.
Women who are competent win elections. Indira Gandhi became prime minister. Pratibha Patil became president. There have been many women chief ministers. Some of them are leaders of their parties. All of them succeeded without reservations. Reservation for women in legislatures will mean incompetent women will become legislators.
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Tag: women
Reservation for women in legislatures is wrong
Women’s Reservation Bill is in news again. UPA Government wants to pass it. One third of seats in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies are up for reservations for women.
Very few have opposed reservations for women in legislatures. Some want the reservation to be 20% instead of 33%. Some want reservation for women of backward classes in 33%. Some want it to be obligatory for political parties to give 33% or 40% tickets to women.
Women are free to contest 100% of seats. Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati, Mamata Banerjee and Jayalalitha head political parties. India has a woman president and a woman Lok Sabha speaker. In 1966 a woman became the prime minister of India.
Women form 50% of the population and so they should have reservations in legislatures is not a valid argument. In some fields percentage of women is more than men. Most of the primary schools teachers, telephone operators and receptionists are women. In some fields men are more than women. Drivers of trucks, taxis and autorickshaws are mostly men. In some fields percentage of men and women is same. Number of men and women TV newsreaders in almost equal.
The constitution of India guarantees equality. Reserving seats is against equality. Many people want to be seen politically correct and do not publicly oppose reservations. If women constitute around 10% of legislatures because many women have not voted for women candidates. Mostly votes are cast for political parties. Women do not vote for a woman just because she is a woman.
Political parties give tickets on the basis of winnability. The women who have chance of winning are given tickets. Some women contest as independents. Reserving seats means those who could not have made it are allowed to make it and those who could have made it are not allowed to make it.
Reservations once come into effect do not go away. They continue and expand. Reservations for SCs and STs were meant for 10 years. They got expanded to 60 years with no sign of ending. OBC reservations got added. There is a competition to be backward. Those who are backward want ST status.
Women’s Reservation Bill is presently for 15 years with rotating constituencies. If passed, it is unlikely that reservations will end after 15 years. Extensions can be expected.
Reservations for women in local bodies and city buses must come to an end. Income Tax exemption limit should be same for men and women. Reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs must come to an end. UPA Government must scrap the Women’s Reservation Bill. Otherwise those who are not part of UPA should oppose the bill.