Education & Skill Building
Jobs, safety, education, equality on women’s minds as they cast vote | Pune News
Women in the city said they would like a political representative who understood their issues and highlighted it in the Parliament. They rued the fact that despite their numbers as electors being significant, there were hardly any women politicians in the fray for the Lok Sabha elections.
There are 55 lakh registered women voters in Maharashtra and 10 lakh in Pune, and demands for a proportionate representation in the parliament are rising. Meanwhile, only 15 women are candidates for the 2024 LS polls with nine of them from political parties. The latter include Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar (Baramati), Raksha Khadse, Neena Gavit, Bharati Pawar and Praniti Shinde.
Shweta Kulkarni, an entrepreneur based in Kothrud, said, “The gender divide in candidature itself is concerning. One sees women who are largely from well-connected political families, not ones who have risen from the ranks. Moreover, whoever is the representative, must understand issues at the grassroot level. As a person educated in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), I not only want more opportunities for women to venture into my field, but ensuring of schools in the remotest village. A representative who understands both is who we need.”
Women’s rights activists stressed the need to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill and ensure equal representation on a national level. A similar sentiment was observed among many women voters from all sections of the society — they also wanted creation of more jobs, introduction of menstrual leaves, equal pay, public safety, job safety as well as revised sexual harassment frameworks.
Practising psychologist Reetu Samuel said, “There needs to be an advisory committee comprising women with understanding of different segments of societies to suggest policy changes to our representatives. There must be more job security and employment opportunities for women mainly. This comes with ensuring education and awareness of issues faced by women from a young age. For women, jobs must be created and security ensured at work places. Also, menstrual leaves must be considered.”
Lawyer, Ashbi George said, “Safety for women must be top priority and lack of it is a testament to the collective failure of all those who have held power.” Crimes against women rose by 28.34% in 2022, according to the National Crime Records Bureau data. Most cases registered were of cruelty by husbands or relatives (domestic harassment), followed by abduction. “Crime against women continues to increase at an alarming rate in public and domestic spaces and needs to be addressed urgently,” she added.
A student from Fergusson College, Shravani Bua, told TOI, “While women in Pune still get to reach out to police for help in dangerous situations, those in rural areas don’t have access.
Our representative must advocate for introduction of better public safety networks for women. Along with this, a major issue observed is the vast pay gap between male and female daily wage workers and that must change.”
President of the Pune Zilla Gharkamgar Sanghatana and a women’s rights activist, Dr Kiran Moghe, said, “The current labour code does not have any protective law to recognise domestic workers in the society. A large chunk of women work as domestic helps and there are hardly any mechanisms or investments in place to allow them dignity and protection. Our representative must advocate things such as job security, minimum wage without negotiation and weekly offs. It has been their demand for many years now.”
Another policy reform requested by many women is that of enhancing the various modes of public transport. Homemaker Swati Atkari said, “There is a sense of independence when the public transport network of a city works efficiently. Our dependence on private vehicles is also reduced. My domestic help, for example, cannot take a job that is far from here home, as she has no means to get there. It is a huge obstacle and must be addressed by the elected MP.”
She added, “MPs must work on creating awareness around existing schemes. There is a major gap in policy implementation because of a lack of awareness.”
There are 55 lakh registered women voters in Maharashtra and 10 lakh in Pune, and demands for a proportionate representation in the parliament are rising. Meanwhile, only 15 women are candidates for the 2024 LS polls with nine of them from political parties. The latter include Supriya Sule and Sunetra Pawar (Baramati), Raksha Khadse, Neena Gavit, Bharati Pawar and Praniti Shinde.
Shweta Kulkarni, an entrepreneur based in Kothrud, said, “The gender divide in candidature itself is concerning. One sees women who are largely from well-connected political families, not ones who have risen from the ranks. Moreover, whoever is the representative, must understand issues at the grassroot level. As a person educated in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths), I not only want more opportunities for women to venture into my field, but ensuring of schools in the remotest village. A representative who understands both is who we need.”
Women’s rights activists stressed the need to implement the Women’s Reservation Bill and ensure equal representation on a national level. A similar sentiment was observed among many women voters from all sections of the society — they also wanted creation of more jobs, introduction of menstrual leaves, equal pay, public safety, job safety as well as revised sexual harassment frameworks.
Practising psychologist Reetu Samuel said, “There needs to be an advisory committee comprising women with understanding of different segments of societies to suggest policy changes to our representatives. There must be more job security and employment opportunities for women mainly. This comes with ensuring education and awareness of issues faced by women from a young age. For women, jobs must be created and security ensured at work places. Also, menstrual leaves must be considered.”
Lawyer, Ashbi George said, “Safety for women must be top priority and lack of it is a testament to the collective failure of all those who have held power.” Crimes against women rose by 28.34% in 2022, according to the National Crime Records Bureau data. Most cases registered were of cruelty by husbands or relatives (domestic harassment), followed by abduction. “Crime against women continues to increase at an alarming rate in public and domestic spaces and needs to be addressed urgently,” she added.
A student from Fergusson College, Shravani Bua, told TOI, “While women in Pune still get to reach out to police for help in dangerous situations, those in rural areas don’t have access.
Our representative must advocate for introduction of better public safety networks for women. Along with this, a major issue observed is the vast pay gap between male and female daily wage workers and that must change.”
President of the Pune Zilla Gharkamgar Sanghatana and a women’s rights activist, Dr Kiran Moghe, said, “The current labour code does not have any protective law to recognise domestic workers in the society. A large chunk of women work as domestic helps and there are hardly any mechanisms or investments in place to allow them dignity and protection. Our representative must advocate things such as job security, minimum wage without negotiation and weekly offs. It has been their demand for many years now.”
Another policy reform requested by many women is that of enhancing the various modes of public transport. Homemaker Swati Atkari said, “There is a sense of independence when the public transport network of a city works efficiently. Our dependence on private vehicles is also reduced. My domestic help, for example, cannot take a job that is far from here home, as she has no means to get there. It is a huge obstacle and must be addressed by the elected MP.”
She added, “MPs must work on creating awareness around existing schemes. There is a major gap in policy implementation because of a lack of awareness.”
Read More
