Role of Government

The government understands the situation and does have made some efforts to encourage women’s representation in political structures. Such as:

1. The Indian government implemented the reservation law through the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments in 1994 to reserve 33% of the seats in local government for women in an effort to address the issue.
2. Local governments, such as Panchayati Raj institutions, ensure that one-third of the seats are reserved for female candidates. Reservations have been increased to 50% in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tripura, and Uttarakhand. In addition, the national government has proposed raising reservations in PRIs to 50% As a result of such legislation, there has been an increase in female political participation. Which eventually increased from 4.5 percent to 25-40%. Such a step allowed many women to come to light.
3. The bill for women’s representation in Lok Sabha, through amendment 108th, has also been introduced in the national parliament, which demands the reservation of 33% of seats in Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha for women; however, the bill is still in the process and has yet to pass.

While the government has taken some steps to improve the situation, the problem persists. The concept of reservations has the potential to increase women’s political representation, but there are some issues that are impeding progress. These include a lack of education and training, family issues, domestic violence, gender discrimination, and societal pressure. Women in India are not adequately educated or trained to understand governmental affairs and issues, which the government identified as a concern.

Women’s empowerment can be a significant step toward addressing such issues; the government recognizes the importance of empowering women and is taking steps in that direction. There are also some women’s organizations and groups that are working in the same direction. The other issue is poverty and illiteracy, which are regarded as the two most important socioeconomic factors impeding women’s development. This makes it impossible for them to run for public office or even vote. As a result, the government is addressing the issue by bridging educational gaps. And even combining some government programs for women under the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW). The NMEW’s mission is to “improve the economic empowerment of girls and women through skill development, microcredit, vocational training, and entrepreneurship.

Gender division in our society is seen as a natural and unchangeable concept. The roles of men and women in society have a hierarchical division according to their physical and social strengths, it is thought that men are biologically more suitable for technical and labor works, whereas, women are capable of household work only. But, More than a biological, it seems to be a social concept, enforced by some social expectations and stereotypes that are present in our society.