Political representation of women in India
Abstract
The aim of this article is to study the political performance of women in India. To accomplish that, I described the situation of women in South Asia and the Indian history about women participation and representation in politics. India background reveals that women played a major role in freedom struggle and after three decades of being an independant nation, the Prime Minister of India was a woman, Indira Gandhi. However, women participation in politics is still low and even unnoticed, because it is a male dominated sector. Following those conclusions, I analyzed fundaments and exigences in the Constitution of India that consecrate a positive discrimination or quotas for women to get involved in grassroot level (Panchayats). Finally, I discused if legal previsions in India have achieved their goals in terms of political participation of women or if there are still difficulties or roadblocks to get that condition. In fact, the Women Reservation Bill, ensuring 33% reservation to women in Parliament and State legislatures, introduced in 1996, has not been approved yet. To write this article, the technique consisting of documents analysis, records and official and public material, organizational documents, academic exchanges and government reports was used.
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