MUMBAI: With celebrations of International Women's Day on Thursday, the plight of women was back in headlines in India, as many women's groups demonstrated for a greater role in politics in the country. Data on governments was released with the Women's Day celebrations globally, and India did not fare well in the latest rankings, lagging behind its neighbors Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan in the number of women in government positions. Only 11 percent of Parliament is filled by women in the country, ranking it 105th in the world, according to recent statistics released by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, an international organization working for the promotion of democracy across the world. “We have a long way to go, and in fact we have seen women in parliament slide in recent years, so there is much work to be done,” a home ministry official told Bikyamasr.com. Only 60 members of Parliament in India's 543 member Lok Sabha are women, and only 24 of the 240 members of the Raiya Sabha are female, marking a downturn in the number of women in government. In rural India, it appears women are faring slightly better, with their participation in local government growing at what the report said was a “normal rate” but not backtracking. Overall, India ranks low, on par with Ivory Coast in West Africa, leaders hope the report will be a wake up for government to implement new policies to boost women's empowerment in the country. Sunrita Gupta, a Delhi-based women's financial consultant for the Prime Minister's office, told Bikyamasr.com that “through taking a hard look at this report and understanding where we have failed, as a country and people, we can begin to make the necessary changes to the current situation to benefit all women and all Indians.” On the positive note, Gupta argues, is that women “came out on Thursday to show their passion for women's issues on a day that was a holy day as well,” referring to the Holi festival that shut down much of India's businesses for people to celebrate. “We do have a long way to go, but we can improve and make changes where we need to,” she added. Surprising still, 8 countries in the world – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Belize, Palau, Micronesia, Naura and the Solomon Islands – have zero women's participation in government. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/OnQbf Tags: Empowerment, featured, Government, India Section: Latest News, South Asia, Women
