Finding their feet, breaking the glass ceiling : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Finding their feet, breaking the glass ceiling

While the state may cry hoarse over programmes like ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, it is still miles away from ‘Beti Ko Chunauv Ladao’. Almost half of voters in the state are women, but none of the political parties have evinced much confidence in them. Neither have women issues made to any political manifesto or a list of promises.

Finding their feet, breaking the glass ceiling

Urban-rural divide: While women in urban areas are trying to become equal to their male counterparts, those in rural areas are yet to come out of their veils. S Chandan



Sumedha Sharma

While the state may cry hoarse over programmes like ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, it is still miles away from ‘Beti Ko Chunauv Ladao’. 

Almost half of voters in the state are women, but none of the political parties have evinced much confidence in them. Neither have women issues made to any political manifesto or a list of promises.

The reported hypocrisy of the state that governance is male fief is most glaring in the cosmopolitan city of Gurugram. The district that pompously declares itself as free from the shackles of skewed sex ratio and rigid patriarchal order, home of occupational equality and provider of biggest opportunities to women toes with other districts, when it comes to the dance of democracy.

This year, only one woman candidate is in the fray from Gurugram Assembly segment, while none from other three— Pataudi, Sohna and Badshapur. Gurugram has a total of 3,45,333 voters, wherein 1.52 lakh are women.

The segment started on a ‘pink’ note with the likes of Anita Aggarwal, wife of MLA Umesh Aggarwal; councillor Seema Pahuja and Pramila Kumari filing nominations as Independents.

The women voters were eager, thinking somebody will come up and ask them what they want, but all women candidates withdrew their candidature. All three had filed their nominations as Independents. Similarly, Raj Rani of the Congress in Pataudi, Independent candidate Mukesh Kumari in Sohna, Independent candidate Indu and Republican Party of India contender Rajni too dropped out.

The only silver lining comes in the form of Sheilza Bhatia, a 45-year-old entrepreneur fielded by Swaraj India from Gurgaon.

“The successive governments still need to march ahead from issuing slogans, rolling out schemes and confining them to awareness programmes. True women empowerment can be achieved when a woman has her say in formulating policies and its implementation. The patriarchal state still considers election a man’s game, where women can only double up as their husband’s rubber stamps,” says Bhatia. 

She might call her campaign a crusade to highlight women issues and emphasise their participation, but key issues ailing the women of Gurgaon Assembly segment have still not made it to the election list even this time.

Women security 

Women security is the biggest concern for women, especially in the city.  Be it MNC top shots or migrant workers, women security is their biggest concern. Gurugram, according to many surveys, has been notorious for being home to unsafe streets for women. From eve-teasing to molestation, snatchings, cyber stalking, rapes, cyber defamation or sexual harassment at work, name the crime and Gurugram leads the charts in the entire state and is among top five in the country. 

Women in city complain of lacking a sense of security and safety and a majority have in repeated surveys highlighted their fears to be alone outside home at night. The issue has gripped Gurugram since decades, but it never made to the electoral promises or manifestos.

Lack of connectivity

Kudos to transport aggregators such as Uber and OLA, which made travelling around the city convenient and relatively secure for women, but how many can actually afford these on a daily basis, is a big question. A majority of city women, especially who religiously step out and vote every election, are largely dependent on a fleet of shared autos and privately owned city buses and deal with harassment. For others, many of whom are metro users, last-mile connectivity is a task. Getting down from metro, especially late at night, and managing to get an affordable and secure ride back home is the biggest challenge ever a woman in the city faces, but the issue is yet to catch politicians’ attention.

Employment generation 

While Gurugram may be giving several employment opportunities to women, many industry surveys have highlighted reduction in their hiring to avoid the hassle of ‘sexual harassment’. With no say in unions, the issue is never talked about and migrant woman, who ventured to Gurugram looking for livelihood through garment and auto sectors, end up being maids. Even in corporate sector, many women complain of bias, sexual harassment and job threats, but with no centralised authority to voice their concern many of their pleas are often covered up by companies at their own level. 

What they want

Be it erratic garbage collection, water supply, increased fuel or commodity prices, its women, especially home-makers, who face the brunt. Still, nobody ever walks to them to ask what they want. “Two decades ago, leaders would talk to us about things like milk and vegetable prices and problems of locality. But in the past 15 years, no leader has come up and spoken to us,” says Savitri Devi, (70) of Wazirabad village.

BJP’s Nauksham Chaudhary a ray of hope 

Mewat, home to probably the most illiterate and oppressed women, has traditionally never handed over the bastion to women. However, the BJP has won hearts by fielding newbie Nauksham Chaudhary. A Miranda House graduate, who left her job in Europe to fight from Punhana, Nauksham has come as a ray of hope to many women. The biggest issue of Mewat is its women and their plight and I am shocked that this is the only thing that is not being talked about since decades. Their problems including education, safety, marital rights, equality, dowry harassment need to be addressed but none of the veterans, who have represented them since years, even mentioned these. I wish to change it. I visited many places, where women told me that I was the first candidate to ever speak to them as their husbands would either cast their vote or decide for them,” said Nauksham. Another candidate who has created ripples is Aarti Rao, daughter of Gurugram MP Rao Inderjeet Singh.  Aarti who was being seen as an evolving woman leader for the BJP was denied ticket owing to party’s anti-parivaarvaad policy. But her supporters demanded that she be considered on merit of being a woman leader.  “Ticket or no ticket, Haryana surely needs more women in governance to make progress. More women leaders will provide better opportunities for empowering women at grassroots levels and that will strengthen society. I don’t want any sympathy on the basis of my gender, but want to utilise the power of my gender to serve Haryana, especially the women folk,” says Rao.


The biggest issue of Mewat is its women and their plight and I am shocked that this is the only thing that is not being talked about since decades. Their problems including education, safety, marital rights, equality, dowry harassment need to be addressed but none of the veterans, who have represented them since years, even mentioned these. I wish to change it. I visited many places, where women told me that I was the first candidate to ever speak to them as their husbands would either cast their vote or decide for them. — Nauksham Chaudhary, BJP candidate from Punhana


In numbers

3,45,333 Total voters

1,93,333 (male) 

1.52 lakh (female)

Voter turnout

64.10% 2014 Assembly elections 

61.16% Gurugram Assembly segment in 2019 Lok Sabha elections

Top News

'When government changes...': Rahul Gandhi after Rs 1,800 crore fresh I-T notice to Congress

'When government changes...': Rahul Gandhi after Rs 1,800 crore fresh I-T notice to Congress

The Congress leader accuses the BJP of indulging in ‘tax ter...

Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in UP's Banda orders judicial inquiry into death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari

UP court orders judicial probe into gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s death, seeks report in a month

Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari on Tuesday alleged that his brother...

‘Heart attack or poisoning’: The life and times of Mukhtar Ansari—crime and politics

‘Heart attack or poisoning’: The life and times of Mukhtar Ansari—crime and politics

Eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh are among the poorest regions...

CBI files chargesheet against 20 institutes, 105 individuals in Himachal Pradesh multi-crore scholarship scam

CBI files chargesheet against 20 institutes, 105 individuals in Himachal Pradesh multi-crore scholarship scam

22 educational institutions were on CBI radar in the scholar...


Cities

View All