Letter to BS: Gender equality in Parl, a noble goal but a distant dream

This refers to “Why more women are needed in Parliament” by Kumar Rajesh (August 19). Gender equality, though a noble goal, is a distant dream today. Even those in leadership roles in various fields are not comfortable while discussing this subject for various reasons. In fact, many women who are themselves in a leadership role do not seem supportive of the idea of developing a second rung with a focus on gender equality.

Going by their success as teachers, civil servants, medical professionals, banking executives, businesspersons and in several other areas where skill matters, there is no logic or rationale for keeping them just as workers when it comes to political leadership and membership in the legislature (from the Parliament to gram panchayats). Some visible progress has been made at the ground level in states such as Kerala. But other considerations weigh when decisions are taken on candidates for state legislatures or the Parliament. 

To create awareness about gender equality, these elected bodies should hold sessions to provide more women an exposure to how the Parliament or the state legislature functions. These meetings should be held at least once or twice a year with spouses of members also being invited. For each such meeting, half the members could be invited with their spouses so that conduct of deliberations doesn’t become a problem because of the unmanageable number of participants.

M G Warrier  Mumbai

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