Women's Reservation Bill

March 8th International Women's Day, a special day for Indian women as the ruling Congress Government have decided to table the Women's Reservation Policy Bill on that day or a day after to concur with the spirit of the global populace. A statistics says that after the successful clearance of the bill into a law, India would be a nation with a maximum representation in both central as well as state houses of people's representatives. In both Europe and the Americas the representation is only closer to twenty-five percent, that is a way much shorter than the prospective strength of Indian representatives. A good news to hear. However a closer observation will make things difficult to digest. It has been six decades since India was declared an independent state. Gandhi's dreams of liberating and uplifting women have yet to be realised. India has had a lot of reservations over these years and no one has done any stock taking so far. Yet another reservation in these times of high crisis and uproar would not make things any better. Do these reservations help in any way progress towards any better environs? I have not got any statistical data to substantiate my views. How ever, what I personally feel, having seen the functioning of the reservation policy in local body executions over the past ten years, that it does not augur well. Male politicians, who are powerful functionaries of a political party would win a seat for his wife, sister, cousin-sister or would be wife and continue to dominate in the arena of decision making and governance. Women would not act as mere endorsers of the views of men of power, be it at home or without home. What i personally believe that that would have a chance of transforming society is a continuous, committed approach in educating women about life around them and life outside their home bringing them out of their cocoons to visualise a myriad world of vice and virtue co-existing and pulling each other down in the process of climbing to superiority. I am not against the development of women. What i suggest is a holistic approach that strongly commits itself to see to it that one achieves what one visualises and intends to achieve.