POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY, Vol. 11, No. 4, July 1992,331-333

Comment

The new world order from below: The role of women in transforming Indian politics

1991 has seen a number of important political and economic changes in India. The tragic death of Rajiv Gandhi, the visionary who planned of taking India into the 21st century, threw the Indian political scene into tumult, midway through the 10th general election. The changes in the leadership that this has brought about, along with the economic crises which loomed through the spring and summer of 1991 have heralded changes which will remap India’s place in the world. In this section I want to look at the place that women will occupy in this new system and my vision of the changes this will bring in the roles and responsibilities of Indian women.

In the next decade, the economic and industrial policies followed by the Indian government will be dictated largely by the need to conform to the regulations set by international banking organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The government acknowledges that its international debts amount to Es. 1 500000 million, an amount which is almost a quarter of its total national income, while the World Bank estimates are still higher. This year India has requested the IMF for a short-term loan to meet its interest payments and balance the budget. This has been accompanied by the devaluation of the rupee, liberalization, delicensing and decontrol of the economy. However, the structural adjustment policies that India will be required to make, will bring economic and social changes that will herald a new era of free market but will also bring attendant economic changes in individual well-being. It can be presumed that an initial downturn in indicators of well-being and an increase in unemployment will bring hardship to a number of those living at and below the poverty line.

The role played by women in the survival of poor households negotiating the impact of adjustment is well documented (Commonwealth Secretariat, 1989). The social cost of adjustment has varied with the structural-adjustment policy measures which have accompanied the loan and existing government policies among others. However, in every case, women-as producers, as home managers, as those with the primary responsibility for child-bearing and rearing and in their role of community workers-have borne a substantial part of the impact, helping to mitigate the social and economic cost of adjustment within individual households. They have borne a major portion of the cost of adjustment, by making greater demands on the use of their time and through greater dependence on the ‘communal economy’ (Pahl, 1980). In the next decade, the resourcefulness of Indian women will be called increasingly into service, if the masses are to survive. It is to be hoped that the status accorded to women within Indian society will improve concomitantly.

In my perception, the status of women has been declining steadily in the second half of this century. Educated Indian women came to the forefront of the national movement in the first half of the century. The popularity of Mahatma Gandhi helped to widen the base of

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the independence struggle, making it into a mass movement and bringing hundreds of thousands of ordinary women into its fold. In the post-independence era, the strides made during the earlier era were largely lost and there has been a widespread decline in the social and economic value placed on women.

The 1991 census gives some clear indications of this trend. The sex ratio (number of females per thousand males) has declined from 974 in 1901 to 929 in 1991. The past two decades had witnessed a relative stabilization in the sex ratio and the 1981 census reported a slight increase in the ratio. Alarmingly, the most recent census reveals that today, there are 31 million less women than men in the Indian population. Though undercount of women may be responsible for a part of this decline, it is my conjecture thar the declining sex ratio is also an indicator of a more widespread deterioration in the relative position of women. India is one of only five countries where the life expectancy at birth of females is less than that of males. Sex-selective differential mortality rdteS in vulnerable age-groups such as during childhood and in the child-bearing ages have all contributed to this picture. The social and economic value placed on males in Indian society is visibly higher than that placed on females.

The increasing subordination of women in an essentially patriarchal society is also reflected in changing customs and practices. The increasing demand for dowry, an increase in the number of dowry deaths and the shift from bride-price to dowry even within some of the matriarchal communities of Kerala are some indicators of women’s inferior bargaining power within what Sen has called the ‘co-operative conflict’ which characterizes gender relations (Sen, 19SS>.

The picture, however, is not altogether bleak. There has been considerable rhetoric on the part of the government in favour of women’s issues. A number of government and para-governmental organizations dealing with women’s issues have been established. One such organization, the National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development organizes gender-awareness courses for bureaucrats, Rajiv GandhiS government also instituted a reservation of 30 percent of the seats in local government for women. India also boasts the only long-term perspective plan for women, in the world (National Perspective Plan for Women 1988-2000 AD.).

More perceptible, though on a smaller scale, have been the achievements of the non-governmental organizations. The mobilization of women at the grass-roots level has had visible success and though the growth of such org~~zations has been sporadic and largely confined to urban centres, the spread of such mosements seems to offer a positive

way forward. The contributions made by women to the ‘green’ movement are also noteworthy. The

most famous has been the Chipko forest-conservation movement in the Himalayas, which has now been extended to cover issues related to water resources in the area (Momsen, 1991). Women have also played an important role in c~lpaj~ning against the constr~~~tio~ of large-scale dams and in favour of small-scale irrigation projects, against centrally planned projects and in favour of cornn~Llni~ devetopment schemes which reflect the requirements of the local commul~i~, and against subsumptioi~ into the world capitalist

system (Qmvedt, 1989). Ail this has resulted in an increasing awareness in the power of women. Peasant women

now question the appr~~priateness of the 30 percent figure far reservation of seats-‘Why not 50 percent?‘-while feminist activists aim to secure 100 percent of the seats, without the aid of a reservation policy. This was actually achieved in a village in the Satara district of the state of Maharashtra. Women won all the seats in the elections to a co-operative society as the public was disenchanted with the corruption of male members (Omvedt, 1989).

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It is to be hoped that this power will lay the foundations for the events of the next few decades. The increasing significance of women in providing subsistence for households adversely affected by the structural adjustment policies which are likely to come into effect later this year, will bring them greater power in the household. This power can be channelled and can be translated into local movements which can form the basis for the complete transformation of Indian politics in the next century.

Women’s knowledge of the local community must inform development strategy and be utilized in formulating policy. This presupposes a degree of decentralization and democratization of the governing process. The rise in nationalist movements throughout the world indicates the people’s readiness to accept the responsibilities of the devolution of power, and India is no exception. The structural adjustment policies can initiate this process by removing bureaucratic red-tape and through decontrol policies, but any real change will require the active collusion of the central government. The increased participation of women in the political process can change current policy, giving power to the people and helping to create a new world order.

References

COMMONWEAL~ SECRETARLU (1989). Engendering Adjwtment for the 1990s: Report of a Commonwealth Expat

Group on Women and Shzchual Adjwtment. London: Commonwealth Secretariat,

MOMSEN, J. H. (1991). Women and Development in the I&bird World. London: Routledge.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (1988). National Pwspective Plan for Women 1988-2000 A.D. New Delhi: Department of

Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

OMVEDT, G. (1989). India’s movements for democracy: peasants, ‘greens’, women and people’s power. Race and

Class 31(2), 37-46

PAHL, R. E. (1980). Employment, work and the domestic division of labour. International Journal of Urban and

Regional Research 4(l), l-20.

SEN, A. K. (1985). Women, technology, and sexual divisions UNCTADATl79.

PARvAn RAGHURAM

University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne