Stree Shakti must be real, not proxy

The Womenrsquos Reservation Bill may not have been passed but a larger question has been raised mdash does the system truly want empowered women leaders or just symbolic representationThis is not a new struggle Nearly 100 years ago women leaders had already raised this demand In 1917 Sarojini Naidu led a delegation demanding voting rights marking the beginning of Indiarsquos organised womenrsquos suffrage movement Later in the 1930s Begum Jahanara Shah Nawaz strongly advocated for womenrsquos education and political participation Their efforts made it clear that womenrsquos rights are not limited to one community but concern society as a wholeThe journey of this idea has been long and difficult Introduced in 1996 the Womenrsquos Reservation Bill has been delayed for decades Its 2023 revival has yet to result in meaningful implementation as the Bill got rejected in Lok Sabha on FridayWhile there is agreement in principle to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies for women action has been slowMeanwhile Indiarsquos social indicators are moving forward According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation the sex ratio is expected to improve from 943 in 2011 to 952 by 2036 with women making up nearly 488 per cent of the population Womenrsquos participation as voters has also risen sharply from less than 60 per cent before 1999 to over 67 per cent in 2019 even surpassing men In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections womenrsquos turnout stood at 658 per cent slightly higher than that of menBut this growing presence is not reflected in power In the same 2024 Lok Sabha elections only about 95 per cent 799 of the 8360 candidates were women and just 74 were elected The gap between participation and representation remains starkThe situation at the state level is no better In the 2024 Maharashtra Assembly elections out of around 4000 candidates for 288 seats only 364 were women about nine per cent Of these just 22 were elected These numbers clearly show how far India still is from equal political representationEven globally according to some reports India has a long way to go Ranked 48th out of 146 countries in political empowerment the country continues to lag in ensuring womenrsquos presence in leadership and decisionmaking rolesAnother major concern is the rise of ldquoproxy representationrdquo In many cases tickets are given to women from political families wives daughters or daughtersinlaw while real decisionmaking remains with male relatives This is visible both in rural areas and cities like Mumbai The face changes but power often does notThere are also deeper structural issues Political parties often claim there are not enough women leaders but they have failed to invest in building them at the grassroots level Without training support and opportunities independent women leaders struggle to emergeAt times the barriers are even more basic In one case from Solapur a woman candidate reportedly needed police protection just to file her nomination This shows that the challenge is not just political but social where fear and pressure still restrict womenrsquos participationThis is not about womenrsquos ability which has already been proven The real problem lies in a system long controlled by a few entrenched networks For years such was the maledominated mindset that when it came to key appointments from Mumbai police commissioner to chief secretary women officers were often overlookedBut the shift is now visible Maharashtra has seen its first woman chief secretary and first woman director general of police Today it also has a woman deputy chief minister a woman municipal commissioner and a woman serving as joint commissioner of police intelligence in Mumbai These are important milestones They show that change is possible but it must become the norm not remain the exceptionIf reservation is to truly succeed it must go beyond numbers Political parties must bring in women from diverse backgrounds and give them real authority not symbolic roles Society too must move beyond seeing women as placeholders and recognise them as decisionmakersReservation can open the door But real empowerment will happen only when women walk through it with independence and power Stree Shakti is welcome but it must be real not a proxy Otherwise no matter which party introduces or implements the Bill womenrsquos empowerment will remain a slogan not a lived realitySanjeev Shivadekar is political editor midday He tweets SanjeevShivadekSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper