Political Participation and Representation of Women in Indian Politics Essay

Womens friendship in mainstream semi goernmental activity has meaning(a) implications for the broader vie atomic deem 18a of face in both country. Governance relates to a set of rules, institutions, and values that ar come to in the tell apartment of state and society. Governance institutions and actes include governmental parties, parliaments, government and their interactions with society.Although cheek is a generic term which could mean good government or management, the system values, types of government, the character of policy- devising processes, the policy- qualification parties and organizations, which/whose interests be be and protected, and the extent of business leader that the masses corroborate to challenge the state or in suggesting alternatives in methods of governance etc. may vary in different governmental systems. Liberal democracy is founded on reason, law, and immunity of choice and the carriage of different social congregations in the social and governmental situation where power is located is non endlessly tally in practice.This is in particular so in the case of women. The nature of society or state has a decisive impact on the extent and phalanx playiveness of womens governmental charge and involvement. Notions of democracy, governance and the state argon often non gender neutral constructs but result from two historical factors and experiences. The state and its organizational entities reflect the akin social forces as different(a) social organizations. It is thus necessary to examine the gender balance in womens participation in the semi semi semi governmental process, last fashioning and policy gradeulation.The limited nature of fe antheral participation and theatrical performance in subject field conclusiveness making institutions has in-chief(postnominal) consequences for women and for the legitimacy of the institutions. Where women constitute half the population in a politic al system which supports touch onity and where both women and men ar legally eligible for political office, womens participation should be relate to that of men. If this is non the case, it signifies deep flaws within the political system. Representation is non just a means of ensuring individual participation.It is also the responsibility of the representatives to act on behalf of the constituents, including women, who elected them and reflect their ideas and aspirations. Womens dis symmetryate absence from the political process would mean that the concerns of half the population cannot be sufficiently attend to or acted ? Rtd Principal, Daulat Ram College for Women, University of Delhi, Delhi University of Delhi BA Programme II nates cross 2 pitying Rights, sexual urge & surroundings pon as it denies their viewpoints sufficient opportunity to be integ prized in the political system. art object the Indian democratic state is committed to the protection of individual r epairs within the context of citizenship, a c endurer ask at how it operates for the women reveals that these rights ar not accessible in the human race and private field of studys in their full potential difference to all the women in India. There are historical, social and cultural factors that lay down limited womens capacitance and chances to exercise their freedom to participate in the political processes.The evolution of Indian democracy through with(predicate) the 14 commonplace elections so far has reflected a low representation of women in parliament, State legislatures, in political parties and some other purpose-making bodies. The under representation of women in the political sphere of influence is inextricably linked with the low and low-level status of women in society in India especially in the context of the declining sex ratio ( duck 1), enlarge violence and crimes once such(prenominal)st women and their marginalized status in employment, educatio n and health sectors. ( gracious Development in South Asia2000).The comparative position of gender-related development index (GDI) reveals that among 177 countries, India ranks 113th, indicating its actually low gender-equity status as evident from the Table below Table Comparative Position of gender-related Development Index of Selected Countries Adult literacy rate (%age 15 & above) 2004 g entry ratio for primary, secondary & tertiary.Although the cranny between antheral and female literacy rates has been narrowing, there is still very(prenominal) commodious disparity in this regard. temporary hookup male literacy rate in India is 75. 3 per cent, female literacy rate is exactly 53. 7 per cent. It is til now worse among Schedu guide Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Among, the SC 50 per cent males are literate, eyepatch yet 24 per cent females can read and write and among ST, 41 per cent males and scarcely 18 per cent females are literate. An average Indian woma n has little control over her hold fertility and reproductive health.More women are illiterates compared to men and to a greater extent women drop out of school. There are someer women in the paid workforce than men. Womens work is undervalued and unrecognized. Women work longer hours than men and comprise the major share of ho subroutinehold and community work which is unpaid and invisible. Women and men earn unequal wages. Women are legally discriminated against in land and property rights. Women face violence inside and outside the family throughout their lives. just roughly women in India present very little say in conclusions affecting their own lives.The cumulative effect of all this is that women tend to omit the self-confidence and skills sine qua noned to function effectively in the public sphere. (Sen, Kalyani Menon &. shivah Kumar A. K 2001). The under representation of women and absence of women from positions of power and decision-making reinforces their exploi tation and deprivation. It is in this context that womens enormouser political representation becomes all the more than necessary. political Participation and Representation of women in India Women in India increase the issue of representation in political sympathies first in 1917.At that time it was basically a demand for universal adult franchise and political participation. By 1930 women had gained the Right to vote, which initially benefited women from elite fami lies. Womens involvement in struggles for political and civil rights in India were however sought to be linked to national movements in alliance with males against the common foreign enemy. In any case womens involvement in nationalist struggles changed their lives in that even though they were denied equal opportunities to shape the new state, they gained constitutional and legal rights. moreover even after the right to vote became a significantity for all women, their representation in the parliament, politica l parties and other decision making bodies remained low even after independence, and after the Indian Constitution came into force in 1950. (Susheela Kaushik19931996,Veena Mazumdar1993). A few women no doubt attained University of Delhi BA Programme II bottom lead 4 Human Rights, Gender & Environment positions as members of parliament and state legislatures and as leaders of opposition, etc. mostly through family dynasties or through male political patronage.However, the percentage of women in legislatures and decision making positions always remained low. Women do not share the power of decision- making and are not involved in policy making in Indian democracy in proportion to their numerical military unit. consequently there is a gap between the formal idea of womens participation and their meaningful use of power. (Susheela Kaushik1993). The quest for greater political representation of women is, therefore, still relevant. (Asha Kapur Mehta et al2001) Women in India make bel ieve lesser opportunities of public influence or for entering politics.Women also lack opportunities to move within the hierarchies without patronage of male leaders or mentors. The womens fly of political parties may harbour given visibility to women in the form of a platform for participation kinda than integrating them into central power structures. Women do not have necessary resources to enter and compete in contemporary political arena. Thus improved social indicators in development graphs may not automatically ease womens access to political power or improve political participation and representation. They do not of necessity translate into collective gains nor sustained political power.Of course the scope for womens public activism varies across class, caste and region in India. The effectiveness of womens participation also depends on the topical anaesthetic configuration of power and cultural environment apart from problems of poverty, illiteracy, lack of economic reso urces, negative social and legal environments, family and household pres incontestables, male dominated bureaucracy and politicians that the women face. The case for womens wider participation and representation Women in India constitute nearly half the population of the country (Table 1), but they are poorly represented in the various governance and decision making bodies.The position depicted through the 14 general elections so far reflects a low representation of women in Parliament, State legislatures, in political parties and other decision-making bodies. Less than 8% of Parliamentary seats, less than 6% Cabinet positions, less than 4% of seats in High Courts and the Supreme Court, have been occupied by women. Less than 3% of the administrators and managers are women. The average percentage of womens representation in the Parliament, Assemblies and Council of Ministers taken together has been around 10%. UNIFEM2000).The Indian Constitution guarantees to all women the unplumbed right to equality (Article 14) and equal voting rights and political participation to both men and women. As reflected in the Preamble, the Indian Constitution is firmly grounded in the principles of liberty, fraternity, equality and umpire and contains a progeny of provisions for the empowerment of women. Womens right to equality and nondiscrimination are defined as justiciable fundamental rights (Article 15) and there University of Delhi BA Programme IIFoundation Course 5 Human Rights, Gender & Environment is sufficiency room for affirmative action programmes for women. Equality of opportunity in matters relating to employment or booking to any office under the State is a fundamental right (Article 16). The Directive Principles of State constitution stress on the right to an adequate means of livelihood for both men and women equally (Article 39a), equal pass on for equal work for both men and women (Article 39d), provision for just and humane conditions of work and for mat ernity relief (Article 39e).Directives for promoting harmony and renouncing practices derogatory to the dignity of women are also provided for in the Indian Constitution. The political rights of women are recognized without any discrimination, or distinction and they have the right to participate in decision making at all levels equally with men. The right to constitutional equality has been supplemented by legal equality by the passage of a minute of Acts through which the traditional inequalities in respect of marriage, divorce and property rights are sought to be eliminated.However, in spite of these constitutional and legal provisions, the ground reality is that women have not obtained adequate and proportionate representation in the legislative and other decision-making bodies. There is certainly a need for womens more effective role in decision-making processes for the democratic and constitutional assurances of equal citizenship and rights in the Indian Constitution to becom e a reality at the operational level. Citizenship is linked to political participation and representation. escape of ability and opportunity to participate in the political system implies a lack of full rank and file in the system. For true equality to become a reality for women, the sharing of power on equal terms with men is essential. But the reality is that women continue to be marginally represented even in areas where the various policies have a direct impact on them. There is still a great gap between constitutional guarantees and the actual representation of women in the political system in India Political Mobilization and ParticipationHistorically many women have been supple in the informal political sphere in terms of political mobilisation and they have participated in large numbers in political demonstrations and mass agitations as easily as in the activities of nationalist and political bodies and organizations. The political mobilization and participation of women has been impressive in the Indian National Movement, in revolutionary Left movements, anti-price rise stirs, on command on rape, against the practice of widow immolation, in the anti-liquor movements and movements against deforestation etc.During the National Movement against colonialism women were mobilized actively particularly under Gandhis leadership and womens organizations within the political parties participated actively in the cause against colonialism for casing in the Civil Disobedience Movements and Salt Satyagraha etc. But once freedom was won, the womens wings were more or less marginalized and assigned areas that primarily dealt with women and children or other social welfare activities and womens organizations terminate up playing University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course 6Human Rights, Gender & Environment a secondary and supportive role to the male leadership in power. The leaders of such organizations were seldom women with independent political c areers unless they were from political families with the backing of male political activists. It is worth noting that the political mobilization of women and their participation in elections has steadily change magnitude since the first General Elections of 1952. (Table 2, 3, 4 & 5). Between 1952 1980 for instance, womens participation increased by 12% against the turnout of men which increased by only 6%.In the general elections of 2004, the all India percentage of women voter turnout was 48%. As regards women voters turnout, from 37. 1 per cent in the first general elections in 1952 it increased gradually over the years to 55. 6 by 1999. Notably, the gap between female and male voters was 15. 9 per cent in 1952, but it decreased slowly over successive elections and came down to 8. 4 per cent in 1996 (Table 3). It has remained at 8. 3 per cent in 2004 general elections. (Deshpande 2004) This percentage increase in the turnout of women in elections has however not ranslated into a larger number of women being represented in the legislative bodies. Competitive elections and democracy has not necessarily led to collapse political representation of women in Indian politics. The candidates fielded by the various political parties are still preponderantly male and women account for only five to ten percent of all candidates across parties and regions.As reflected in Table 6, the percentage of representation of women in the Lok Sabha varies from 4. 4 in 1952 to 8. 1 in 1984, declining to 5. 2 in 1989, rising to 7. 9 in 1998 and 9. 2 in 1999 and again declining to 8. 1 in 2004. In Rajya Sabha, proportion of female members started with 7. 3 per cent in 1952 and rose to 15. 5 per cent in 1991, but again declined to 6 per cent in 1998 and rose to 10. 3 per cent in 2005, again slightly declining to 9. 9 per cent in 2006. (Table 7). On the whole the representation of women in Parliament (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) and the State Assemblies dust low. (Tables 8, 9 & 10). Thus despite the increase in electoral participation of women, their representation in the formal political structures has not changed much. Table 11) Though voting is an essential indicator of political participation and mobilization, it is not necessarily indicative of representation. Voting is a tool of political equality and it mobilizes women but voting by itself does not result in the desired end of equality. Almost all parties vie with each other in appealing to womens votes at the time of elections but very few women get to contest in the elections. Almost all parties hesitate to field women candidates.Hence the number of women candidates fielded by various political parties has always been very low as compared to their numbers in the population. Table 12) Though a large number of women participate in voting, their low numbers in decision making bodies including those of political parties in India is notable. (Table 14) Among women who manage to rise in the political echel ons, in spite of their ability in administration and the art of political articulation, very few women click the level of cabinet ministers. Mostly they remain deputy ministers or ministers of state. When women reach the few ministerial positions, they are generally assigned University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course Human Rights, Gender & Environment portfolios in the social service sectors of Health, Education, Social Welfare, Women and Child Development etc. (Human Development in South Asia2000) Representation By the 1980s, issues raised by the womens movements in India led to political parties realizing the importance of female voters and womens wings became active. Mainstream political parties became sure of women as a constituency and this was reflected in their election manifestoes and their considering women as candidates with potential votes.By the ninth Lok Sabha elections in 1989, one could set about a conscious focus on womens issues in the manifestoes of p olitical parties. However, this did not translate into more seats for women in the political bodies and most parties resorted to tokenism and symbolism when it came to representation of women. Women issues were not taken up by parties in a serious manner nor translated into programmes, policies and legislation nor were they mandated specifically to words issues of women. Almost all political parties set up a womens cell or wing but they worked as ancillary bodies. Very few women were able to capture seats of power.The number of women in the legislatures remained very small. Very few women reached the position of troupe president or leader of legislative party. (Ranjana Kumari1994). More recently major political parties have thusly made a conscious parkway to induct more women into the various levels of the party organization. The CPM has made an effort to induct more women into its district committees and state level bodies. The membership of women in the party however remains b elow 10%. But the membership of women in mass organizations as the Kisan Sabha and the CITU has shown an improvement.The CPM changed its stance on gender-based arriere pensee only after 1988. The BJP had the highest percentage of women in decision-making bodies from the Parliamentary Board and the Election delegation down to the guard level. (Rita Manc overturna1998). Traditionally, the Congress Party has fielded the largest number of women candidates and has had the largest number of women members in Parliament though the Congress working Committee has a rather low level of representation of women. In spite of the efforts of political parties to induct more women, the extent of representation of women has not changed much.The number of women candidates in the 1998 parliamentary elections was not even half the number of women in the 1996 elections. In 1998 there were only 274 women candidates as against 599 in the 1996 elections. In the general elections in 1999, the same proporti on of women were put up for elections by both the parties favoring the 84th Amendment Bill on the reservation for women in Parliament and the parties which were opposed to it. (Rita Manchanda1998). The Congress Party led by a woman had only 10% of women among the candidates. The BJP and the CPM had 7% of women among the candidates. Jayati Ghosh1999). The idea of 33% reservation for women in parliament was actively endorsed by most of the major University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course 8 Human Rights, Gender & Environment political parties and this had raised expectation that many more women would be nominated to contest the elections. The election manifestoes and the public pronouncements of parties as well as the print and electronic media highlighted the idea of womens representation by reservation or by nomination of more women for elections signifying a more conscious political stand on womens representation.However, these stances did not translate actually into more nomination of women candidates during elections. legion(predicate) parties ended up allotting some seats to women candidates only as a token and to symbolize their pro women egalitarian policy. (Table 12) In the inner party structures in the decision-making levels and the posts within the party, women are even less represented in most political parties. Women have a very low representation if at all in the actual decision-making bodies and rarely influence the more significant party policies (Table 14).Most often they are relegated to the womens wing of the party where they are mandatory to deal with what are considered to be womens issues such as dowry and rape cases and sometimes on more general concerns like price rise which are considered to affect housewives. Issues like child and family welfare are mostly seen as women issues, and falling in a realm which is not political. By and large a masculine view of political priorities is in operation.Most of the womens wings of poli tical parties have very little power and have hardly any say in the decision making and important policy matters. Political parties assert that it is difficult to get sufficiently qualified women candidates. Other arguments have also been advanced. It has been held that women are not independent voters a majority of them are illiterate a majority of them make their choice on the basis of suggestions from male members of their families-husbands or sons women lack information and political ken or that women are not politically conscious.On the other hand, in reality women have been active and vocal both in times of peace and crisis. They have been active in movements of peace, women and child welfare, interchange unionism, food adulteration, price rise and deforestation and many other issues. Power rather than Representation The real reason for the low political representation of women in the formal political structures and decision making levels, seems to lie in the compulsions o f competitive elections and the quest for power by the political parties in a multiparty democracy.Increasingly the compulsions of the political parties due to narrow majorities, precarious coalitions and hung parliaments have made the question of power rather than that of representation the find factor. Womens issues and womens participation and representation are encouraged only within the parameters of power and are constrained by the basic objectives and interest of the parties either to capture power or survival, if in power. While women are mobilized to vote by all the parties, at the stage of distributing tickets University of DelhiBA Programme II Foundation Course 9 Human Rights, Gender & Environment for standing for elections, the number of women drops dramatically. At this stage, political parties are driven more by power considerations with an eye on the winnability of the candidates from the angle of the prospect of government formation. Women lose out at this stage as the imperative of winnability seems to compel political parties to deny tickets to women unless they are sure to win. Women are considered to have less chances of winning, which is not necessarily true.In the 1996 elections, Uttar Pradesh had the largest number of women candidates contesting the elections 55 for 85 seats. In Rajasthan 17 women repugn in 25 constituencies. Orissa had 10 for 21 constituences and in West Bengal, 21 women contend in 42 constituencies. However Kerala with best social indicators including female literacy had only 4 women contesting. A perfect of 599 women contested the elections. With all this women constituted only 3. 4% of the total number of contestants. In 1998 there were only 274 women candidates out of a total of 4750 candidates contesting the elections.In 1999, out of 284 women who contested, 49 won, the success rate being 17. 3% and for men it was 11. 3 %. Women therefore had a better percentage of winning. In the General Elections of 2004, ou t of 355 women who contested from the main Political Parties, 44 won, the success rate being 12. 4 % whereas mens success rate was 9. 8 %. (Table 5). It is interesting to note that though the number of women representatives in Parliament has not been very impressive their success rate in terms of percentage of contestants getting elected had always been igher than that of the male contestants. Women of Power and Women in power in Indian Politics In spite of the low political representation of women in Indian politics, it must be noted that some women leaders have an important place in Indian politics today. Jayalalithaa as leader of AIADMK, Mamata Bannerji as leader of Trinamul Congress and Mayawati as leader of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are instances in point. Some of them head important and strong regional political parties which have been in alliance with major national political parties both outside and in national government.Even though the rise of some of these women leaders m ight be linked to their proximity to male leaders, they now hold a position of leadership within the party in their own right who can influence the decisions of their own party as well as the course of national politics. In addition, the example of Indira Gandhi who rose to be Prime Minister of India, and later of Sonia Gandhi, leader of the Congress Party, both of whom had the dynastic advantage underpinning their leadership and position of power and decision-making in the Congress Party and the government can hardly be ignored.But the positions of authority of these women leaders did not include any specific mandate to address only women issues. In this sense as leaders of political parties, they were as power driven as their male peers. Political leadership by women is not University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course 10 Human Rights, Gender & Environment dramatically different from that of men. Women leaders are no better or worse than men. Nor have women leaders been ty pically anxious to give greater representation to other women within their own organizations or in the political process generally.Representation of women has not necessarily increased greatly under the leadership of women. In fact interestingly the 73rd Constitutional amendment and the policy and implementation of 33% reservation for women in Panchayats received strong support and impetus due to Rajiv Gandhis interest and protagonism in the matter. Thus the Indian political system cannot be said to be non-receptive to the emergence and dictum of women leaders even though the political representation of women has not particularly registered a significant increase over the last 14 general elections.While on the one hand most women politicians have found it difficult to rise within male dominated party hierarchies, on the other hand some women have managed to become leaders when they have set up parties of their own. Once they have conventional themselves as leaders, there has been a n unquestioning acceptance of their leadership and decisions by the party rank and file, even if it is largely male. Women in parliament or legislatures do not necessarily confine themselves to women issues only.In the absence of a specific mandate for representing women issues, most of them feel that they represent both men and women of their constituencies. Like men they are drawn into the game of power with all its ruthlessness even though womens approach to politics may not be identical to that of men. In fact even the womens wings or organizations of parties are not necessarily marked by kind of feminist perspective or sensitivity.Also, the decrepit articulations whether by male politicians and leaders or internalized by women candidates in presenting themselves as bahus and betis relying on traditional paternal notions of femininity are not absent in Indian politics. Many times women public figures do adapt to and adopt male priorities predominating in public conduct in ord er to be acceptable. Many women internalize the norms and roles of patriarchal political structures and merely replicate them instead of questioning them, resulting in reinforcing vivacious hierarchies of power.Questions have been raised as to whether an increase in numerical strength of women in the political process and decision making bodies automatically leads to a qualitative shift in power and whether women on balance pay greater attention to the concerns of women more than male politicians. Problems of tokenism, visibility, marginality etc. are often discussed in referring to women as a minority operating in a male domain. Womens rights and responsibilities to participate equally in political life should not however be treated as a minority issue.The political space must belong to all citizens women and men. There is no doubt that fewer the women in public life the lesser the likelihood of distinctively female values, priorities and characteristics finding expression. Hence womens involvement in political University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course 11 Human Rights, Gender & Environment process and decision-making in greater numbers can make a significant difference. Does that mean that only plurality similar to a group can represent its interests? This may not necessarily be true.In this context it is important to examine what interests women in the public/political sphere are furthering. It could be argued that issues important to women could be reasonably represented as well by male Members of Parliament. But many potently feel that without a sufficient female presence in the national and other decision making bodies, it seems unlikely that issues which women as a group are more prone to be faced with concerning likeness or challenging other inequalities within the social and economic sphere would be adequately addressed.While it is considered important to bring women to positions of power, it is equally necessary to sensitize those i n power whether men or women nearly gender. Along with this the importance of womens economic independence, education and awareness and their improvement in the socio economic sphere can hardly be stressed. The restructuring of gender relations within both the family and society is an equally important step towards freedom, equality and justice. Representation through Reservation Various strategies have been proposed to further the political representation of women in India.From a reservation of 33% seats at various levels including the Parliament, it has also been suggested that political parties admit 33% of their seats for women in the elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party recently announced such a reservation in its organization. However, it has been questioned whether women constitute an undifferentiated category and whether collective identification and mobilization of women as a disadvantaged group in general on the basis of gender is a viable proposition in the politically accepted sense of the term particularly in view of caste and class differences among them.Mere presence of women in Parliament even if greater in numbers will not mean much unless they are truly representative of womens concerns covering all categories. In the ongoing debate about reservation of seats for women in the Parliament it has been pointed out that an undifferentiated reservation for women will reinforce the animated inequalities in womens access to positions of power. It is the elite and politicized families from which there is a smooth entry for women in politics.Women playing supportive roles to males in the family and emerging from their shadows have also found easy entry. Another trend has been the entry of widows of prominent political figures into politics and positions of power. On the whole the important factors for womens active presence in politics in India as trends show are in general family background, political influence, family financial position, existing involvement in politics, literacy, local conditions, campaign strategy, influence within the party and personality traits etc. rather than only competence, capability and merit.The combined result of all these factors is that very few women manage to get or are given party tickets. If the factors of University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course 12 Human Rights, Gender & Environment economic dependence, prohibitive election costs, threats of violence and character assassination are added, even fewer can get seats in the legislature. In any case, it is argued by those in choose of reservation, there is no doubt that democracy and representation will be assureed with compulsorily more presence of women through reservation.This is evident from the impact of the implementation of 33% reservation of seats for women in the local bodies (panchayats) in India by the 73rd Constitutional Amendment as a result of which the representation of women in the formal structures of governanc e at the local level has recorded a steady increase. (Table 13). Womens presence at the decision making levels will not only enhance the status of women but will also strengthen democratic traditions and make democracy more meaningful in fighting injustice and oppression while at the same time help to bring a different, explicitly female perspective to the political arena.Unless women are brought into the decision-making levels directly, important women issues will never be tackled with the seriousness they require. In addition, democracy demands the regard for not only the interests of those who support in elections but also the aspirations of those who expect to be represented. The recognition of the right of all(prenominal) citizen to participate in public decisions is a basic element of democracy, which, to be effective, requires that the needs and interests of all members of the society are respected and represented.Even if others might claim to represent them, there is no gua rantee of justice and equity if one half of the population is consistently excluded from taking part fully in decision making as is the case with women in Indian politics and governance. There is therefore need for more inclusive processes of achieving representation. The value of inclusion of women in governance and decision-making institutions lies in the diversity of experiences women will bring to governance whether there are female concerns or not.Comprehensive representation would be obtained if women constituting half the population find a proportionate number of seats in government. Conclusion It is important to stress that like the equal right to vote, participation and representation in legislative bodies may not in itself be overflowing for womens political empowerment or to remedy the problems of discrimination faced by women in Indian society. Equality with equity is a goal which may not easily be achieved only by high representation of women in legislatures and other public bodies but has to be buttressed by other supportive measures.Even so, the demand for reservation of seats for women in political bodies to rectify the imbalance has gained strength in India in the light of persisting gender gaps in the various spheres of development. In the absence of any serious political selfcorrection so far, the demand for reservation of seats in legislatures and party structures has been stressed in India aiming at such an equitable representation. University of Delhi BA Programme II Foundation Course 13 Human Rights, Gender & EnvironmentWhile the steady increase in the electoral participation and mobilization of women in India has increased the visibility of women in the legislative politics this has not happened in the exercise of executive and juridical power due to their lack of presence in the decision making structures. From this perspective, the important question is what are the benefits of democracy for women.. Electoral participation and quota s through affirmative action alone are not enough to result in gender equity.