Weighing in on the efficacy of female leadership in government

Source– The post is based on the article “Weighing in on the efficacy of female leadership in government” published in The Hindu on 13th December 2022.

Syllabus: GS2- Indian polity. GS1- Social empowerment

Relevance– Women in politics

News– The article explains the issues of women in Indian politics. It also explains the effectiveness of women leadership.

What shows the effectiveness of women leadership?

Germany, Taiwan and New Zealand have women heading their governments. These three countries seem to have managed the pandemic much better than their neighbours.

A detailed recent study by researchers in the United States reports that States which have female governors had fewer COVID-19 related deaths.

However, it is not right to make generalisations based on these studies. The important takeaway from such studies is the necessity of getting rid of inherent biases and perceptions about female effectiveness in leadership roles.

What are the impacts of women reservation in panchayats?

They perform significantly better than men in implementing policies that promote the interests of women.

A study was conducted in 1993 to test the effectiveness of female leadership. It concluded that pradhans invested more in rural infrastructure that served better the needs of their own gender. For instance, women pradhans were more likely to invest in providing easy access to drinking water since the collection of drinking water is primarily the responsibility of women.

What are some successful initiatives in India for increasing women representation in politics?

Women were allowed to vote from 1950 onwards. This is in striking contrast to the experience in the so-called “mature democracies” of western Europe and the United States. We have had and have charismatic female leaders like Indira Gandhi, Jayalalitha, Mayawati, Sushma Swaraj and Mamata Banerjee among several others.

What are challenges to women representation in politics?

The female representation in central and state governments is still low. Female members make up only about 10% of the total ministerial strength.

The underrepresentation of women in Indian legislatures is even more striking. The 2019 election sent the largest number of women to the Lok Sabha. Despite this, women constitute just over 14% of the total strength of the Lok Sabha.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India has a dismal rank of 143 out of 192 countries on women representation in legislature.

Attempts have also been made to extend quotas for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies through a Women’s Reservation Bill. Male members from several parties opposed the Bill on various pretexts. Both the NDA and United Progressive Alliance governments have reintroduced the Bill in successive Parliaments, but without any success.

What is the way forward to increase women’s representation in politics?

It is essential to create a level-playing field through appropriate legal measures. The establishment of quotas for women is an obvious answer. Such quotas have both a short-term and long-term impact.