Is Reservation for women justified?

 In Favor:-

• There exists a gender gap in literacy levels even now, especially in rural areas. Reservation for women will encourage girl education.
• Reservation in public transport and public places prevents physical abuse & eve teasing.
• As still boy child is being preferred to be educated by poor families, reservation in jobs for women bridges this gap.
• Reservation in jobs helps in empowerment of women and make them economically independent which indirectly helps in improving the economic condition of family.
• Political reservation for women is a justification of democracy itself and helps in improving the condition of women in society as women can address well the problems faced by them in society.
• Reservations provide opportunities for women to participate in nation building and development of society.

Against:-

• Reservation for one gender is against gender equality.
• It’s a wrong generalization. In a case where a boy from poor background and a girl from a wealthy family are competing, reservation for women have no relevance.
• Giving reservation to women means again pointing out that they are less capable and cannot compete with the other gender.
• There are many women in politics as well as in other fields where they achieved success without any reservation.
• There are chances of misuse of the reservation by women candidates in education and job sector.
• There are chances that reservation for women in politics leads to the entry of women from political background but not the common women and thus inturn encouraged family politics.

Facts:-

• In ancient days, there were few kings who accompanied by their life partners in war and also used to take their help in ruling the kingdom.
• Now, there is a reservation for women for many government jobs and educational institutions.
• ‘Women’s reservation bill‘ seeking reservation of women in parliament was passed in Rajya Sabha on 9 March 2010, but never get voted in Lok Sabha and it was lapsed after dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.
• In 1993 an amendment was passed which reserved one third positions of village council leader, or Pradhan, positions in gram panchayat for women.

Situation in Other parts of the World:-

• India is not the only country encouraging women through reservations, around 40 other countries in the world have different reservation quota for women.
• The percentage of reservation for women in few countries is as follows.
  Nepal = 33%
  Pakistan = 17.5%
  Bangladesh = 3%
  Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, France, Portugal, Spain, Sweden = 50%.

Conclusion:-

Reservation for women has not lost its relevance because there exists a gender gap even now. But steps must be taken to avoid its misuse, by linking it to the social status of the family.

Afterwords :- What is your opinion on this topic? Express your thoughts in the comment section below.

Photo Credits : Hans Splinter

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