‘POLITICS SAME AS ANY OTHER PROFESSION’

house. Pakistan is placed at 65 with 20.6 per cent women presence. “There may be several reasons but I would say the main reason is the secondary status of women in society in general. Politics reflects this social reality and the utter failure of development models to deal with the gross gender inequalities which exist still in all fields. There is a domination of male networks in positions of power in parties when such matters of ticket distribution are decided. But I think it is all the more unfortunate in India where the two decades of experience of reservation for women in the local bodies has produced so many highly capable and talented women leaders and administrators at the grass root level. It is a step away from being elected to the Assemblies, but that is not happening,” says Karat. Young women politicians who have made an early mark, sound more positive. “We must appreciate that there are eight women ministers in the present government,” says BJP parliamentarian Poonam Mahajan. But Ragini Nayak, national media panelist, Congress, feels change may be slow for, “men are reluctant in sharing power with women.”

Speaking to Hindustan Times in September 2014, Vineeta Bal, a scientist at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi had shared how a majority of research applicants and marketing professionals who write to her, address her as ‘Sir’ even though her name is clearly a feminine one. ‘We are not used to having a woman in a senior position in science,” she had said. More than a year later, she rues there has been little change to speak of. “May be we have one or two more women in senior positions across institutes and councils, but there has been no policy change or change in mind sets,” she says. Data forwarded by an officer at the science and technology based Societal and IPR Research Fellowship for Women scientists showed that of the total scientific manpower in India in September

2014, the percentage of women in full-time employment at research and development organisations was only 17 per cent. “Science thrives on being able to have peer group discussions. But women often find themselves excluded from this group. It is this little group of men who go on to make the committees. So when a senior position opens or there is discussion for an award, very rarely does the name of women scientists come up,” says a senior Bangalore-based woman scientist who doesn’t want to be named. “We need more women in decision-making roles in science. There needs to be a change in mind sets, of seeing women scientists as peer and not in traditional societal roles,” she says. The demands of this traditional role is one reason why women find it difficult to sustain a career in science. “Figures show that in schools, colleges and till the PHD level, girls keep up with, and often do better, than boys. But the pressures of marriage and having a family make many suffer a break in their career and they find it very difficult to make a comeback and catch up,” she explains.