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The gender game

V. S. Jayaraman, e-mail

Promises notwithstanding, the NDA Government at the Centre has done nothing to match its words for deeds -- the Bill to reserve seats for women in Parliament and the State Assemblies still hangs fire. Though the demand for a quota for the OBC and Muslim women is said to be the main reason for the fix the Government is in, it does not seem so, considering the majority the Bill enjoys.

In the recently concluded Sydney Olympic Games, Karnam Malleswari proved that `weight' was not a problem for women. She won the country a medal and shattered the `myth' of weight-lifting being a male domain. So it is ununderstandable why women should sti ll pin their hopes on the Bill.

Under the circumstances, women would do well to stand on a common platform, form their own political organisations and contest the polls, thus offsetting the gender imbalance now visible in Parliament and the State Assemblies.