Nice topic...
Yes, to an extent there should be a reservation. Maybe I sound a hypocrite, cause in the earlier debates I said men n women should have equal rights.
So, I do have reasons for this contradiction....and well most developing countries would agree.
Asked by a member of the audience as to what the Indian government was doing to cut population, Kalam said priority was being given to women's education as it has been found that if women were educated it is possible to keep the size of the family small.
He said a few states of India were contributing to the increase in percentage of population and what was needed is women's education.
Research suggests that having more women lawmakers makes a huge difference, not just to women, but to society as a whole especially in poor countries. In Rwanda, for instance, a much-needed law that defines rape and protects victims of sexual abuse was passed only after women legislators became a force to reckon with. Their male counterparts saw the subject as taboo. (Rwanda, incidentally, is the first country in the world where women are in a majority in Parliament).
The fact is more than sixty years after independence women are among the most deprived sections of Indian society. In law, the Indian woman has few equals in the world. The Indian Constitution, unlike many others, gave equal rights to women as to men right from day one. In every respect she is on par with the Indian man. But only on paper!
In reality, the picture could not be more different. On almost every human development indicator, women trail not just their male counterparts but also women in neighbouring countries; countries that are not only poorer but cannot boast of so many women at the helm of affairs: a president, a chief minister and a powerful political leader at the centre.
Take, for instance, maternal mortality rates. Deaths during childbirth in India are way above the S Asia average. In Sri Lanka almost all births take place in institutions; in India this number is below 40%. Again, poorest women in Bangladesh have 72 % the health coverage of the richest; in Pakistan the comparable figure is 63 % but in India the number drops to 55% in urban areas and just 37 % in rural areas.
Various political parties have staunchly opposed it because they fear many of their male leaders would not get a chance to fight elections if 33.3 percent seats are reserved for women. The Bill has also been opposed by politicians from the socially and economically backward classes. They argue that reservation would only help women of the elitist groups to gain seats, therefore causing further discrimination and under-representation to the poor and backward classes. But the backward classes in India already have reservations waiting for them in the best institutes across the country.What more?
Women empowerment is what this country needs....And I shall support it
