Women’s Reservation Bill, that had been pending for 27 years, was recently passed during a special session of the Parliament. It will indelibly get etched as a ‘golden moment’ in India’s history. The Manmohan Singh government had tried to get the bill enacted in 2010 but was unable owing to opposition from various parties, thus keeping it unresolved. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi accomplished this feat owing to his determined efforts. Four years ago, people also witnessed Modi government’s achievement when Article 370 and 35(A) of the Constitution were abrogated for Jammu & Kashmir. Modi government exhibited how a ruler needs to be tough while taking certain decisions for the development of the country. At that time too, warnings were sounded that abrogation of Article 370 will lead to bloodshed and that the tricolour will not be hoisted in Kashmir. But without getting affected by these warnings, Article 370 was abrogated in the Parliament after duly fulfilling legal provisions. The passing of women’s reservation bill is Modi government’s tribute to woman power, an accomplishment of his pledge to empower women.
If we look at history, we will realize that both, the
Bharatiya Janata Party and even earlier the Jana Sangh had consistently raised
the demand for women reservation from various platforms. But the so-called
progressive parties that talk tall about women empowerment never showed the
forthcomingness in handing over strategic positions to women within their party
organizations or within their government. This shows their hypocrisy. But Prime
Minister Narendra Modi duly honoured women by entrusting important portfolios
like foreign affairs, defence, finance and human resource development to women
leaders like Sushama Swaraj, Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani.
Smt. Sushama Swaraj had consistently advocated for
women reservation, both inside the Parliament and even on other platforms. And
hence, when Women Reservation Bill was tabled in the Parliament, many members
accredited it to late. Smt. Sushama Swaraj. Also, when Smt. Sitharaman was
given the portfolio of finance ministry, many self-proclaimed intellectuals and
journalists had mocked the decision. Today, we have seen how Smt. Sitharaman
has given due justice to this department.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has always admired and
encouraged ‘stree shakti’ (woman power) through his actions. After becoming the
Prime Minister in 2014, Modi spelt out his focus on women centric policies and
since then he has been working towards achieving every initiative.
Declining birth rate of girls was a matter of great
concern. The ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign helped in creating effective
public awareness against female foeticide. Modi government also launched the
‘Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’ to provide nutritious food to pregnant
women. Under this scheme, bank accounts of families with pregnant women and
children from the poor and underprivileged sections got credited with financial
aid which significantly helped in reducing maternal mortality rate in the
country. During 2014-16, the maternal mortality rate was 130 per one lakh
mothers which came down to 97 per one lakh in 2018-20. Under the ‘Sukanya
Samriddhi Yojana’ more than 3 crore accounts got opened in post offices and
various banks whereas under the ‘Ujjwala Yojana’ more than 10 crore women got
free gas cylinders for cooking, thus freeing them from sufferings due to smoke
emissions.
The ‘Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’ benefitted
over 2.78 crore pregnant women.
Nearly 11 crore toilets were constructed as a mark of
respect for dignity of women in rural areas under the ‘Swachh Bharat Yojana’.
The ‘Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matrutva Yojana’ enabled medical examinations of
more than 4 crore pregnant women. This shows how every decision of the Modi
government is committed towards women empowerment; it could be by building
toilets for girls in 4.17 lakh schools or doubling the postnatal leave period
or the decision to grant scholarship to over 45 lakh girl students.
The Modi government implemented the decision to admit
girls in military schools on a pilot basis in 2018-19. Seeing its success, all
military schools reserved 10 per cent of its seats for girls. In the academic
year 2021-22, nearly 320 girls got admitted to 33 military schools across the
country.
Also, 335 seats are reserved for girls in military
schools for the year 2022-23. Around 1,16,891 girls wrote the entrance exam of
the National Defence Prabodhini held in November 2021. The government also
decided to reserve 33 per cent constable posts in the Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) and the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for women. Nearly
14 to 15 per cent seats will be reserved for women in the Border Security Force
(BSF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police and the Service Selection Board (examinations
for officer posts in the military service). Also, to increase the number of
women in police forces in Delhi and all the Union Territories, 33 per cent
reservation has been made for jobs from constable to sub-inspector positions in
police.
Attempts were made to encourage women participation in
Indian National defence from 2018 to 2021. In 2016, 3 women were inducted into
the Air Force as fighter pilots. Even before that, in 2015, it was decided to
directly recruit women for the non-gazetted posts, i.e., from constable to
sub-inspector in all union territories. 170 women have been recruited as
officers in the Indian Navy. Till March 2022, the Indian Air Force inducted 15
women as ‘combat pilots.’ Nearly 28 women officers have been deployed by the
Indian Navy. Also, to mark Women’s Day, the Air Force appointed Shaliza Dhami
as the group captain of a strategic unit on the Pakistan border. Also, the
Short Service Commission women officers of the Navy were made eligible for
Permanent Commission. The first female pilot joined the Navy in 2019. It was
owing to the efforts of the government that women’s SWAT (Special Weapons And
Tactics) team was established in Delhi in 2018. Interestingly, a total of 36
women commandos in this anti-terrorist squad are from the north-eastern states.
This article is an attempt to briefly acquaint readers about Modi government’s
commitment towards women’s welfare.
‘Woh shakti hai, sashakta hai
Woh Bharat ki naari hai,
Na zyada main, na kam main
Woh sab main barabar ki adhikari hai’
After years of hard work, PM Modi finally brought
these lines to fruition.
(Article Pre-Published in Times of
India -25 September. 2023)
Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson
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