Some say that it will take at least 50 years for society in countries like India to achieve gender equality, especially in politics. The parliament of India currently has 545 members, out of which only 60 are represented by women. There have been many attempts to introduce a similar policy of reserved seats in the Lower House (Lok Sabha) but they have failed altogether.
Political empowerment in patriarchal societies such as India may be very laborious because we talk about culture and mentality. Although women were invited to occupy a certain number of seats in the Lower House, they failed to do so because of their own mentality and the ideas of the society they live in. So, apparently the Indian society wishes to encourage women to participate in the political governance of their country, so what is the issue?
There is a great gender gap in the Indian society since very old times. Indian women are relatively disempowered and are used to house holding and taking care of their family. They almost lack the same access to education and employment as men do. Still, the Indian Constitution is very precise regarding gender equality and even more, it empowers the State to take the necessary measures of positive discrimination in favor of their beautiful sex citizen.
Empowering Indian women comes with amazing benefits for the Indian political governance and society as well, because women are believed to be more honest, meticulous and efficient than men. These qualities influence companies to hire women rather than men, for better performance. Indian women are hard workers and fast learners. Studies and statistics on education worldwide seem to agree that better educated people are more likely to feel empowered and act as such.
No matter how many seats are reserved for Indian women in the Lower House, they will not rush to occupy them if they themselves don’t feel entitled and fit. So, the real problem with empowering women in India is that they are raised with a certain mentality that diminishes their chances to want to be decision-maker factors in the political governance of India. Furthermore, lack of education and higher education in particular make women feel even less fit to represent their country in the parliament.
