Women need to be in decision making bodies: NCW chief Rekha Sharma

Stressing the need for presenceof women in decision making bodies,National Commission forWomen NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma on Tuesdaysaid politicalparties offered them tickets for elections only if they haveconnections witha male politician.Women need to get into decision making bodies andParliament and legislatures, she said in her keynote addressvirtuallyin a webinar on Awareness Campaign for EliminatingGender based Violence organised by the Centre for WomenStudies of Maulana Azad National Urdu University MANUU here.Otherwise, we will just be playing lip service...

Stressing the need for presenceof women in decision making bodies,National Commission forWomen (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma on Tuesdaysaid politicalparties offered them tickets for elections only if they have'connections' witha male politician.

Women need to get into decision making bodies andParliament and legislatures, she said in her keynote addressvirtuallyin a webinar on 'Awareness Campaign for EliminatingGender based Violence organised by the Centre for WomenStudies of Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) here.

''Otherwise, we will just be playing lip service... Yes,there are women who are in the good Ministries, but they arevery few,'' she added.

The NCW chief said parties would not want to give ticketsto women as they fear women will lose in elections.

''But they can give (ticket to) a person who doesnt havea good standing in society... a man who has got chargesagainst him and they can give tickets to them but not awoman,'' she said.

Even if a woman managed to get a party ticket, she hadto be connected to a man in politics so that her face would bethere but somebody else would be doing the work on her behalf,Sharma lamented.

Referring to the long pending women's reservation bill,which seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in Parliament andstate legislature for women, she said political parties speakabout the quota but it was yet to materialise.

''No party has given us 33 per cent (reservation). We are50 per cent mind you and still for 33 per cent we arebegging,'' she said.

Sharma said gender equality can be achievedonlywhenwomenwere madeaware of their rights.

''There are many laws forsafeguarding women, however,theyare not going to change society unless we bring change in ourown family, she said.

MANUUs Incharge Vice-Chancellor Prof S M Rahmatullahsaidincidents of gender based violence were still happening.

''weare compelledtoconductawareness programmes,this is ashame for us.

He advised women to assert their rightsand alsoemphasised on inclusion of values in the curriculum,a releasefrom MANUU said.