After 27 years of deliberation, in a special session of Parliament in September, politicians across regions and backgrounds united for the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill. While the arrival of the bill must be celebrated, the question is if this reservation is enough. The upcoming magazine issue of Outlook will be dedicated to women – their rights, representation in politics and their role in the Indian democracy.
The Women’s Reservation Bill has been passed after 27 years. The struggle for a seat at the table has been long. We go to the table being us. As women who want to redefine, reconfigure and reset the narratives. We begin with lipstick and bindi.
Why does Hindutva only see women as Sita or Surpanakha and not talk about the warrior women of Ramayana at the receiving end of violence?
The support for the Women’s Reservation bill reaffirms India’s faith in affirmative action even as it highlights its dichotomous allegiance to ‘meritocracy’ at the cost of inequity.
India’s women-centric policies were conceived mostly under global influence, until the rising women voter turnout in the country changed the trend.
The Modi government had no time to get into the more demanding fundamentals concerning the implementation of the legislation
Indira Gandhi wielded her authority so strongly that she went on to be described as the 'only male' in the ministry full of 'old women', the last description referring to Congress veterans.
The Women’s Reservation Bill carries the ominous possibility of overshadowing all other forms of social demands
Jayalalithaa, however, does not invoke holiness but represents the awe of inscrutable power. She is more an elemental force than a human being.
When the Narendra Modi government introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill, it was seen as an attempt to polarise women voters towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), but, when it comes to polarising women voters, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is way ahead.
Mamata Banerjee stands out in stark contrast—she is neither heir to anyone else’s position nor does she have any wealth to support her political aspirations.
Caste and class have remained at the core of exclusion even in the Panchayati Raj system, where reservation for women was implemented more than 30 years ago
The political odyssey of Dakshayani Velayudhan, K R Gouri and K K Shailaja: Confronting the grip of patriarchy
For residents of women-led panchayats in Rajasthan, 33 per cent is not just about numbers in Parliament and state assemblies, it represents a new vision, a new idea, and a different nazariya
Mayawati is shrewd enough to realise that there will be no archives for her, no equivalent of the Nehru Museum. She has created no future dynasty but she has a sense that she belongs to a genealogy of power.
Women legislators are perceived as more democratic, people-oriented and inclined towards a collectivist approach as opposed to their male counterparts. Women-led states often scored higher in developmental metrics like roads, healthcare and education.
Gandhian institutions and memorials should be insulated from governmental interference and from takeover bids
Devdungri stands as a testament to the power of collective action, where a small group of individuals dared to dream of a better India and turned their vision into reality.
Nostalgia is like wearing rose-tinted glasses but on some nights, it is good to return to the good old days when a condom could transform into a piglet and an antenna was the medium through which we saw the world outside of our little worlds
