Her House, Too

India elected an unprecedented 78 women MPs to the Lok Sabha. More than half of them are first-timers with little experience as lawmakers, but they are determined to change the lives of the people they represent. THE WEEK features 10 of them from diverse backgrounds

POWER TO US!

With each Lok Sabha, the number of women MPs has been rising. That is a good sign for democracy

BY HARSIMRAT KAUR BADAL

In my early years as member of Parliament, whenever I visited my constituency, particularly villages with women sarpanches, I would talk to them. The women would invariably point towards men, saying, “There is the sarpanch.” I would ask again, pointing out that the village had a woman sarpanch. The woman would reply that the man was her husband; that she was, in fact, a stand-in for him.

I am happy that I now find real women sarpanches in the villages of my constituency, Bathinda. This is because of the increased awareness and active participation of women.

The Shiromani Akali Dal may be a conservative party. But, when I first became MP in 2009, there were two of us as first-time women MPs from my party. It took me a while to learn how to take up issues in the Lok Sabha. One thing I knew and was confident about was that I would raise issues pertaining to women, farmers and the poor and matters related to injustices to the Sikh community. I eventually did raise them.

As a member of Parliament, I get loads of papers and books. There are debates on a wide range of issues. You have to stay connected to your people, constituency and state all the time. And you have to learn the various tools and devices available in Parliament for raising issues of utmost and immediate importance. To become a parliamentarian who matters, one has to labour really hard, work on various issues and prepare well for the next day.

Parliament is largely a gender-neutral place. Many women MPs have made their mark in this man’s world. The current Lok Sabha has more women MPs than the previous one. A woman MP, in general, instils confidence in women. Women MPs across the political divide work together to raise issues like discrimination and crimes against women.