PANAJI
A humble cup of tea can be a great gender leveller, depending on who brews it, according to National Women's Commission chairperson Rekha Sharma.
Sharma, who was speaking at the National Women's Parliament event held near Panaji, said that the day men brew their working wives a cup of tea on their return home, is the day when gender parity would have arrived in society.
"It is relatively easy for men. When they leave home they know that when they return, there will be food and a warm cup of tea ready. But when women leave their home and children and return, they know that they still have to work," the National Women's Commission chairperson said at the event.
"When we speak of changes in the scenario for women today, men have to change their mindset too and prepare and offer a cup of tea to their wives when they return from work. Only then will be moving towards a complete change," Sharma also said.
Sharma also singled out the poor representation of women in Goa's legislative assembly -- out of 40 MLAs only two women representatives namely Alina Saldanha and Jennifer Monserrate -- while calling for a push for reservation of women in state assemblies and in Parliament to enable more representation.
"There are very few (women) MLAs here," she said, adding that whenever a woman's name is proposed for a ticket to an assembly seat, questions about winnability immediately follow.
"In most States there are 50 percent women in panchayat bodies, most states also have 50 percent reservation (for women). But there is no reservation in assemblies yet. You have to raise the issue and your voice so that the Centre can hear it," Sharma said.
She also said that a mere 30 percent reservation for women in State assemblies and Parliament simply won't do, because women account for 50 percent of the country's population.
"If reservation is done across assemblies and Parliament, there should be 50 (percent) not thirty percent reservation. We are fifty percent of the population, we should not be satisfied at 30 percent. If there is reservation, women could then enter assemblies and Parliament," Sharma said.
Currently, only 14.6 percent of the MPs in the country's highest lawmaking body are women, she said.
Speaking about the impact of 50 percent reservation for women in local bodies like village panchayats, Sharma said that gone are the days when husbands used to interfere in panchayat affairs through their wives, who were elected in reserved wards.
"I can say that in the early days (of reservation) husbands used to interfere a lot, but the second and the third time and fourth time when women won, they realised their role in gram panchayats, they started managing their responsibilities well," she said.
"Now their husbands are managing the homes and the women run panchayats. This is how it should happen," Sharma added.
Sharma also said that men find it easier to find mentors in professional spaces, rather than women because "women themselves are hesitant to support each other".
