UP: Women winning fewer elections, losing deposits in larger numbers
Tuesday - February 14, 2017 3:00 pm ,
Category : OPINION & INTERVIEW
Poor, populous Uttar Pradesh was the first state to have a female Chief Minister -- Sucheta Kriplani from 1963 to 1967 -- but this pioneering effort has not improved prospects for women in elections.
Poor, populous Uttar Pradesh (UP) was the first Indian state to have a female chief minister–Sucheta Kriplani from 1963 to 1967–but this pioneering effort has not improved prospects for women in elections.
As voter turnout has risen, more competitors have stood against women candidates, fewer women have won and a growing number have lost their deposits, according to an IndiaSpend and Swaniti Initiative analysis of electoral data of the last three state elections in UP since 2002.
The only exception was for the seats reserved for scheduled caste (SC) candidates. The proportion of women winning SC seats was more than double that of those winning general seats.
All this happened over a period when women in India’s most populous state became healthier and better educated, reinforcing the point that there is no correlation between these indicators and better political representation of women.
States with the worst sex ratios have more women members of legislative assemblies (MLAs), as IndiaSpend reported in September 2015.
Roughly over the same period of our study, female literacy in UP grew from 42.2% in 2001 to 59.3% in 2011, and the sex ratio improved from 898 to 908, according to census data compiled by the NITI Aayog.
Women also became less anaemic and had fewer chances of dying during childbirth. UP’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR)–an indicator of general health progress–declined from 440 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004-06 to 285 in 2011-13.
As more women contest elections, growing number forfeit deposits
In general, there appears to be a surge in women contestants in elections, as IndiaSpend reported in May 2016, but we found that a growing number in UP are forfeiting deposits, which means they could not garner a sixth of valid votes polled in their constituencies.
This is used as an excuse by political parties to field fewer women candidates, which further reduces their political opportunities.
How does this work?
To answer the question, we analysed data from the previous three assembly elections by: Comparing the percentage of female candidates who had to forfeit their deposits in general and reserved seats for scheduled castes; and the proportion of victorious women candidates from general and reserved seats.
We sought to explore if a higher voter turnout jeopardises the chances of women candidates in seats of both categories.IANS
Poor, populous Uttar Pradesh (UP) was the first Indian state to have a female chief minister–Sucheta Kriplani from 1963 to 1967–but this pioneering effort has not improved prospects for women in elections.
As voter turnout has risen, more competitors have stood against women candidates, fewer women have won and a growing number have lost their deposits, according to an IndiaSpend and Swaniti Initiative analysis of electoral data of the last three state elections in UP since 2002.
The only exception was for the seats reserved for scheduled caste (SC) candidates. The proportion of women winning SC seats was more than double that of those winning general seats.
All this happened over a period when women in India’s most populous state became healthier and better educated, reinforcing the point that there is no correlation between these indicators and better political representation of women.
States with the worst sex ratios have more women members of legislative assemblies (MLAs), as IndiaSpend reported in September 2015.
Roughly over the same period of our study, female literacy in UP grew from 42.2% in 2001 to 59.3% in 2011, and the sex ratio improved from 898 to 908, according to census data compiled by the NITI Aayog.
Women also became less anaemic and had fewer chances of dying during childbirth. UP’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR)–an indicator of general health progress–declined from 440 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2004-06 to 285 in 2011-13.
As more women contest elections, growing number forfeit deposits
In general, there appears to be a surge in women contestants in elections, as IndiaSpend reported in May 2016, but we found that a growing number in UP are forfeiting deposits, which means they could not garner a sixth of valid votes polled in their constituencies.
This is used as an excuse by political parties to field fewer women candidates, which further reduces their political opportunities.
How does this work?
To answer the question, we analysed data from the previous three assembly elections by: Comparing the percentage of female candidates who had to forfeit their deposits in general and reserved seats for scheduled castes; and the proportion of victorious women candidates from general and reserved seats.
We sought to explore if a higher voter turnout jeopardises the chances of women candidates in seats of both categories.IANS
