Women representation in Politics

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Women representation at high posts

• In June 1991, P V Narasimha Rao, appointed a camelot of bureaucrats, technocrats, and politicians to usher in the liberalisation of India’s economy. This team, whose decisions affected the lives of all Indians, comprised solely of men. 
• First, there just weren’t enough women in the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) to begin with. Recruitment rules were skewed in favour of men. It was after the marriage disqualifier was removed that the ratio of women to men in the IAS went from 1:82 in 1960 to 1:8 in the 1970s.

• Second, such structural changes happened too late. Thus, by 1991 when Rao was putting together his team, women officers were either too junior in rank or ongoing systemic issues kept them out of senior positions.
• Third, even with entry barriers gone, postings were overshadowed by mistrust in women’s abilities. Women have largely been seen fit for only “soft” departments. India still hasn’t boasted a woman as RBI governor, cabinet secretary, or chief economic advisor.
• Talent, however, was never the problem. 
• Renuka Viswanathan, the first woman district magistrate in Karnataka, had a doctorat d’etat, higher than a doctorate, in public finance from Paris Dauphine University. Yet, when she sought a spot in the finance ministry in the 1980s, her appointment was not an easy yes. Her file was pushed to Rajiv Gandhi’s office that had just appointed Sarla Grewal as India’s first woman principal secretary to the prime minister. Gandhi intervened and deemed Viswanathan best suited for the finance ministry.
• Sudha Pillai, who would be robbed of the chance to become India’s first woman cabinet secretary in the aughts, as joint secretary in the industry ministry worked on amending the anti-monopoly law. 
• Janaki Kathpalia, additional secretary (budget), worked closely with Manmohan Singh in preparing the union budgets from 1991-1995. 
• Sindhushree Khullar, then commerce minister P Chidambaram’s private secretary, oversaw significant changes in trade policy. 
• Today, the problem of “few” does not loom as much. Of the 933 candidates selected in the latest round of the union civil service examinations, 320 were women, the highest ever.
• However, these numbers do not indicate how many will reach top leadership positions in the services, particularly in the ministries of finance, commerce and industry, home, and defence.

Mains Question for practice

List down the main obstacles faced by women while being represented in Indian politics, and what steps may be taken to overcome them?

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