Amidst the election fever that has gripped the newsrooms, the talk of the town is that the Queens are going to be the King-makers this time and also for the times to come!
Female voting percentage is always seen as a significant marker of a mature democracy. It is noteworthy, therefore, that the 2019 General Elections ended the historic gap between male and female turnout. For the first time on record, women voters turned out to vote in a higher ratio than men. 2024 may break the record yet again.
Earlier, the 2014 Lok Sabha elections recorded the highest female turnout ever. Women’s participation in the high-voltage election campaigns since 2014 has also shown substantial increase.
This trend’s significance is apparent in the manner every political party, whether national or state level, is vying for the attention of women voters through manifestos replete with targetted sops and freebies.
Elector Gender Ratio
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), of the over 2.63 crore new electors included in the rolls this time, women have surpassed newly-enrolled male voters by over 15 per cent, totalling around 1.41 crore.
Since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, female voters have increased by 9.3 per cent, reaching 43.1 crore. In comparison, male voters have grown by 6.9 per cent to 46.4 crore. As per the EC, women voters outnumber male voters in 12 States and Union Territories including Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Kerala.
The 2019 elections witnessed Elector Gender Ratio of 926 which was 18 points higher than 2014. In 2014, nearly 65.63 per cent of the total women electors voted, as compared to 55.82 per cent in 2009. 2014 recorded the highest ever turnout recorded in Lok Sabha elections till then, and women had a greater share in the credit as the surge in female turnout was higher than the corresponding rise in male turnout.
Voter participation is always an indicator of people’s trust in the electoral process and of hope for better governance by the elected leaders. An upswing in electoral participation points towards a positive social atmosphere and an enthusiastic outlook. Voter percentages have always been seen to have dipped, world over, in an atmosphere of fear, or despondency towards the options to choose from. So what are the dynamics behind the upsurge in women voter participation in Bharat, especially over the past decade? Is it a sudden spurt of voter awareness among females, or is it societal change spurred by other factors?
Election Commission Efforts
The Election Commission of India (ECI) identified the gender gap in electoral participation as the major challenge after the 2009 elections, when the women turnout was just 55.8 per cent as compared to male voters at 60.36.
The voter education and outreach programme of ECI, termed SVEEP (Systematic Voters’ Education & Electoral Participation), launched post 2009 polls, focussed on addressing the gender gap besides addressing issues of youth disconnect and urban apathy.
The EC subsequently took many steps to enhance women’s participation, which include associating more women as polling booth officials, setting up all-women-managed polling stations, crèche facility at polling stations and ensuring ease of registration with women block level officers motivating women in their own socio-cultural milieu.
The Government has implemented multi-sectoral schemes to recognize the true potential of Bharat’s women, empower them and provide them with the platform to contribute to the nation’s growth story
However, after the initial success, SVEEP found itself struggling to increase the women turnout percentage further and called upon States to work harder.
Focus on women welfare
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently remarked in a speech that “when mother and sisters are empowered, then the entire family is empowered. Therefore, the priority [of the government] is the welfare of mothers and sisters”.
This focus has been apparent from the word go. When PM Modi gave his first speech in 2014 from the ramparts of the Red Fort, he talked about the need for a toilet in every rural house. People were stunned. No leader had ever bothered to address such an issue, far less speak about it from such a crucial public platform. It was a private horror every rural woman faced on a daily basis, yet it was always a hush-hush affair. When Modi chose to go vocal about it from Red Fort itself, there were many who were aghast, many who laughed and scoffed. But he had touched a chord with millions of women who endured the situation all their life, and with urban women who could empathise with their rural counterparts.
He asked: “Has it ever pained us that our mothers and sisters have to defecate in open? The dignity of women – is it not our collective responsibility? Can’t we just make arrangements for toilets for the dignity of our mothers and sisters?”
Modi’s ‘audacity’ set into motion a campaign that no one had ever imagined would be launched, and then implemented on ground at breakneck speed.
The Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) was launched on October 2, 2014 to make the rural areas of the country open defecation free (ODF), by providing access to toilets to all rural households. A February 2022 press release of the Press Information Bureau stated that about 10.9 crore individual household latrines had been constructed in the country under the scheme.
By May 2023, 50 per cent of Bharat’s total villages had achieved ODF Plus status under phase II of the Mission. An ODF Plus village is one which has sustained its ODF status along with implementing either solid or liquid waste management systems. ‘ODF Plus’ milestone meant the project had gone beyond just construction and use of toilets towards complete and absolute cleanliness i.e. from ODF to ODF Plus. Till September 2023, 4 lakh+ villages have declared themselves ‘ODF Plus’.
Notably, prior to 2014, less than 40 per cent of the country’s population had access to a home toilet. The Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan and its success is one of the most significant achievements of the Narendra Modi government. The tangible improvement in women’s quality of life and sense of self-esteem made him a hero to a huge number of women electorate, regardless of caste and creed.
“India was responsible for the largest drop in Open Defecation since 2015, in terms of absolute numbers”, said a Joint Monitoring Programme Report on water, sanitation and hygiene by the World Health Organisation and UNICEF July 1, 2021.
The toilet issue was arguably one of the most memorable points of Modi’s first speech – one, for its unusual-ness; two, for its long-term political impact and three, as a loud declaration of the unabashed women-centric welfare outlook of the Government.
Already women had participated in good numbers in the 2014 elections that brought Modi Government to power. These polls saw almost 10 per cent rise in women participation as compared to 2009. 2014 also recorded the highest ever turnout in Lok Sabha elections till then, and women had a greater share in the credit as the surge in female voter turnout was higher than the corresponding rise in male turnout.
In the 2019 LS poll, women voter participation at 67.18 per cent finally outshone male participation, which stood at 67.01 per cent.
“Women-Led Development”
Women-centric welfare policies have been ingrained in the NDA governance model throughout the last decade of its rule. The well-being of women always reflects in the well-being of the family and the society as a whole. In charting New India’s growth story, Modi has emphasised that India is transitioning from women’s development to ‘women-led development’.
In line with this, the Government has implemented multi-sectoral schemes to recognize the true potential of Bharat’s women, empower them and provide them with the platform to contribute to the nation’s growth story.
The Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana was another landmark scheme, aimed at giving relief to rural women from the discomfort of using wood and other fuel for cooking. As of March 1, there were 9.59 crore Ujjwala beneficiaries in the country. In September 2023, the Modi government approved 75 lakh more LPG connections to be released over the next three years. The Modi Government tags this scheme as “Women’s ease of living through clean cooking” that has “freed women from drudgery and health-related crises”.
In 2017, the government launched the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), a direct benefit transfer (DBT) for pregnant women and lactating mothers to meet enhanced nutritional needs and to partially compensate for wage loss.
The Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, launched as part of ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’, to facilitate the education of the girl child, has reached out to more than three crore aspirational young women.
The financial inclusion of women has been a key focus area, and the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme has played a major role. Currently, over 18 crore women, both in rural and urban areas, for the first time, have access to formal banking and various financial services. As on August 9, 2023, the total number of Jan Dhan accounts had crossed 50 crore. Out of these accounts, 56 per cent accounts belong to women and 67 per cent accounts have been opened in rural/ semi-urban areas.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, the skill development initiative of the Government of India for recognition and standardisation of skills, between 2016 to 2020, 40 per cent of the 73 lakh candidates trained were women.
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was a landmark measure that has increased the maximum period of paid maternity leaves to 26 weeks from the earlier period of 12 weeks. In addition, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 envisages employment of women in all establishments covering all types of works.
The Jal Jeevan Mission has provided over 13 crore tap connections, again directly affecting women’s quality of life.
The Stand Up India scheme provides loans and support to women entrepreneurs, encouraging them to set up businesses and become financially independent.
The Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana provides easy access to loans for women microentrepreneurs, enabling them to start and grow their businesses.
The Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra are centres that act as one-stop shops for women, providing them with information and support on various government schemes and initiatives.
Women, as family care-givers, are the worst sufferers in any calamity and so it was during the Covid pandemic. The pandemic also drastically impacted their working status – statistics indicate 47 per cent women lost their job permanently and did not return to the workforce at the end of 2020 as compared to 7 per cent men who lost their job.
To mitigate the gendered impact of the pandemic, the Modi Government introduced the largest ever cash transfer scheme under the flagship Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana initiative for women holding Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts. By April 19, 2020 itself, more than Rs 36,659 crore had been transferred by using Direct Benefit Transfer in the bank accounts of 16.01 crore beneficiaries during lockdown.
Impressed, World Bank President David Malpass praised India’s Direct Benefit Transfer programme in helping people during the Covid-19 pandemic. “Helped by digital cash transfers, India managed to provide food or cash support to a remarkable 85 per cent of rural households and 69 per cent of urban households,” Malpass had said, asking other nations to adopt India’s move of targeted cash transfer instead of broad subsidies.
The Modi Government also launched the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana in 2020 to provide free rations to nearly 80 crore people during the Covid pandemic. In November 2023, the Centre decided to continue this scheme for five more years until December 2028. Women, as care givers, are natural beneficiaries of this scheme.
The ambitious PM Awas Yojana is yet another scheme that majorly focuses on women. Thus is how www.narendramodi.in introduces this scheme – “In a bid to foster gender equality and dignify Nari Shakti, PM Modi’s government has undertaken ambitious initiatives to offer empowered and fulfilling lives to women.” One of the key features of PMAY is the provision of joint ownership of houses to women. Over 4 crore houses have been sanctioned under the Yojana, and 70 per cent of these are owned by women beneficiaries, who are fondly called Lakhpati Didis by the Prime Minister.
The Women’s Reservation Bill, which kept languishing for years and was only used as an instrument for political posturing by parties, was brought to conclusion by the Modi Government 2.0. In a special session of Parliament last year, the women’s reservation bill was passed by both Houses.
This list of women welfare measures by the Modi government is by no means exhaustive. There are many other laws and policies that have served positive governance to the women of Bharat. Their impact on the women psyche can be gauged from the heavy women participation in the public events of PM Modi and other NDA leaders.
Women empowerment and gender equality have always been high priority in the Narendra Modi model of governance. This was witnessed in his stint as Gujarat Chief Minister also. Just three months after assuming office as CM in 2002, his government had formulated the ‘Nari Gaurav Niti’ – a comprehensive policy to promote gender equality and sensitize government departments to the importance of women’s welfare (which continues till date in the state).
Last year’s assembly elections were a case in point. The Ashok Gehlot government tried its level best to win over the women voters with schemes and promises, but it was the BJP that won 50 of the 88 seats in the state where women turnout was recorded higher than men’s. The Congress barely managed 30 and other independent candidates and small parties bagged eight seats.
All recent Assembly elections have witnessed a concerted focus of all parties to woo women voters. It has finally dawned upon the entire political spectrum that women matter and matter a lot. In fact it will be no exaggeration to state that the female vote will be key to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the ultimate deciding factor.
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