Wanted Woman Power in Government Jobs

GUNJAN PRADHAN SINHA

TIMES NEWS NETWORK [ THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2006  12:00:00 AM]

NEW DELHI: While the corporate sector is rich with able women decision makers like Naina Lal Kidwai and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, the government’s employee statistics show that opportunity for women to grow to such power-packed positions is grossly limited. Of the total employees at the Centre, only 8.2% are women, according to the latest CSO report — Women and Men in India. With such a low participation of women in vital decision-making processes in the country, very few women are found at top level government positions when compared to their male counterparts. Interestingly, state governments seem more progressive when it comes to empowering women in the real sense. The percentage of women employees in state governments, at almost 20%, is more than double that of the Centre. Empowerment of women at local level is even better. More than one fourth of local government employees are females. About 26% of decision making positions at local government level are occupied by women. What is more astounding is that these percentages have varied only negligibly between 1995 and ’02, for all the three tiers of the government. The report points out that according to the latest available figures out of the 12.8m people employed by the state only 2.3m are women, including all the three tiers of the government. The problem, however, is not only confined to numbers. Women officers are often appointed for so-called ‘soft jobs’ within the government. "We are usually considered for postings and positions in departments dealing with issues like education, health and social welfare. Hard-core areas like infrastructure, defence, home affairs continue to remain male bastions," according to a senior lady bureaucrat. This mindset prevails at both the centre and state level, she added. This dismal state of affairs extends even in the case of electing MPs, MLAs and members to the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). As far as contesting elections is concerned, while the number of women that actually contest is very low, their success rate is much higher than that of men. According to the report, 17.8% of all women contestants that stood for elections got elected in the 1999 elections. However, the success rate among men was found to be much lower at 11.3%. This the case when 55% of women actually participated in the election process as against a higher percentage of 64% participation by men. Of more than 500 elected members of the Lok Sabha only 10% members were found to be women in 2004, as per the CSO report. So, the poor participation of women in decision making activities extends even to the highest representative body of the Indian democracy. The report also says that 7% of married women in urban areas and 10% in rural areas have never been involved in any decision making process. This includes decision making both inside and outside the home.

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This dismal state of affairs extends even in the case of electing MPs, MLAs and members to the Panchayati Raj institutions (PRIs). As far as contesting elections is concerned, while the number of women that actually contest is very low, their success rate is much higher than that of men.

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