MAINS DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS
Q1. Describe the key metrics used to measure the level of women’s participation in Indian politics. Also draw attention to the issues with women’s representation in state and federal legislatures.
GS II – Government Policies and Interventions
Introduction:
- Adequate representation of women in politics is a goal of a fully representative democracy. With 662.9 million women, India is the largest and one of the toughest parliamentary democracies in the world. India is therefore a crucial case study to evaluate the level of women’s political participation in India.
Following are some criteria to evaluate the level of women’s political participation in India:
- How many women vote, how many run for office, and how many are elected to national, state, and municipal legislative bodies are the three key metrics used to evaluate the status of women’s participation in politics in India. The involvement of women in electoral politics and other political activities as party members and supporters is a fourth factor.
- Women Voters: Women’s voting participation has risen steadily, but in the most recent Lok Sabha election in 2019, almost as many women as men cast ballots, marking a turning point in India’s journey towards what has been dubbed a “silent revolution of self-empowerment” in terms of gender equality in politics.
- Women as Candidates: Despite an overall increase in female candidates for parliamentary seats over time, their proportion relative to male candidates is still low. Less than 9% of the 8,049 candidates running in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections were female.
- Women’s Representation in Parliament/State Legislature: In compared to their male counterparts, women’s representation in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha has remained low. Less than 15% of the total number of members of the Lok Sabha were elected as women, which is the greatest percentage of women legislators to date. In contrast, average representation in state legislative bodies is even smaller, typically below 10%.
- Women as Political Workers: Over the past three decades, women’s involvement in political activities, such as attending election rallies, running door-to-door campaigns, distributing election flyers, and raising campaign finances, has expanded.
Issues with Women’s Representation in State and Federal Legislatures:
- Institutional inaccessibility: Election results reveal that despite most political parties’ constitutional commitments to adequately represent women, in practise far too few women candidates receive party tickets.
- Slander and abuse: The Indian political landscape is also a tough one, plagued by violence, mudslinging, and calumny. Politicians who are women frequently endure humiliation, offensive remarks, abuse, and threats of harm, which makes running for office and participating in elections very difficult.
- Financial limitations: Since many women rely on their families for financial support, financing is another barrier. The cost of contesting parliamentary elections can be very high, and significant financial resources are needed to mount a serious challenge.
- Threat of criminalised politics: Criminalised politics poses a risk since it elevates the importance of force.
- Social restrictions: Lastly, patriarchal societal norms have an impact on women as a whole. Many women believe it is their obligation to put their family and home life before their political aspirations.
- Given the significant structural barriers preventing women from progressing in their political engagement, institutional change can bring in inclusive politics together with societal change. Better educational opportunities, women’s financial security, more media awareness, and laws governing reservations can all help to open up areas for women’s participation. Additionally, there is a need to take notes from nations like Rwanda, where women hold every third post in the party.
Q2. “Simultaneous elections harm India’s democracy,” you said. Discuss.
GS II – Parliament related issues
Introduction:
- Elections for the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies will be held concurrently throughout India, with voting likely taking place around the same time. The Election Commission of India initially formally advocated “One Nation, One Election” in their report from 1983
Why is India’s democracy harmed by simultaneous elections?
- Simultaneous elections could threaten the federalism of the nation, according to certain concerns. Simultaneous elections run the potential of blending these diverse democratic forums and arenas, with the danger that state-level concerns will be merged with federal ones.
- Reduces accountability: Voters are unable to hold governments accountable for poor performance or reward them for excellent performance because of the ambiguous attribution. Separate elections for each level of government help voters understand which level of government is in charge of what, and it focuses emphasis on how well the relevant government is performing.
- The potential for additional “horse trading” means that there will be a considerable effort made to keep a government in place even when it has lost the House’s confidence in the regular course of events. Horse dealing is anticipated to become quite prevalent during simultaneous elections.
Why is it not harmful for India’s democracy to have simultaneous elections?
- Efficiency of administration improves: Because the pace of government generally slows down during elections, this will improve efficiency across the board.
- Increase voter turnout: According to the Law Commission, holding elections simultaneously will increase voter turnout since it will be more convenient for voters to cast multiple ballots at once.
- reduces the need for security troops to be deployed for extended periods of time: The ECI used about 10 million people as polling officials to manage and oversee the 16th Lok Sabha election.
- Regular elections cause disruptions to daily life in society and have an adverse effect on the delivery of key services. Political gatherings interrupt the flow of traffic and amplify noise pollution.
- Simultaneous elections are advantageous for a variety of compelling reasons. A legal and political problem in and of itself is reaching political agreement on holding concurrent elections among various political parties, particularly regional ones. In order to get their thoughts on the idea of holding simultaneous elections in the nation, several stakeholders including national political parties, the Election Commission of India, bureaucrats, academics, and professionals must be consulted.
