Hope everyone is doing well in this critical situation.Today's blog is about the participation of women in the field of politics.In our society female participation in this field is like a taboo.Family members do not support women because of societal pressure.

The Global Gender Gap report for 2021 said that the widest gender disparity is in the field of political empowerment.

India has declined on the political empowerment index as well by 13.5 percentage points,and decline in the number of women ministers, from 23.1% in 2019 to 9.1 % in 2021.

Data from the Election Commission of India on the general election to the 16th Lok Sabha in 2014 and the Assembly elections present a dismal picture.Out of the 543 members of the 16th Lok Sabha, only 66 are women a partly 12.6 per cent, considering the fact that women make up half of the country's population.Also distressing is the fact that only 668 women contested for the 543 seats, of whom 206 contested as independent candidates(all of whom lost).

The situation is dire in the state Assemblies too.Out of a total of 4120 elected members of legislative assemblies (MLAs) across 28 states, National capital Territory of Delhi and the Puducherry Union Territory ,only 359 are women,accounting for a mere 8.71 per cent.Only nine States had the percentage of women MLAs in double digits.

India, at 149 among the 192 countries in the IPU (Inter-Parliamentary Union) list,  had barely 11.8 per cent women's representation in the 16th Lok Sabha , which improved to 14.5  per cent in the current lower house. At least seven out of the 29 states have not sent a single woman MP. The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill stipulating 33 per cent quota for women in the Parliament and in State Assemblies remains in political cold storage.The system of voluntary party quotas, which has worked well in many countries,is not likely to cut much ice in India's deeply embedded patriarchal society.As has happened in the case of panchayats and municipalities , only a legally mandated quota could perhaps ensure a large scale entry of Indian women into the higher echelons of political power.

In last December 2020 a 21 year old Arya Rajendran elected youngest mayor of Thiruvananthapuram Kerala. This type of encouragement should be given to young women to come in this field. Government only make policy. The society have the power to implement it. Raising awareness about political participation is the key.

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