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| The writer is the Director of Manav Rachna International University |
Thank you for talking of women. Women empowerment has suddenly become the 'holy
grail' word. Everyone is talking about how the budget is women empowering. The
smile on Soniaji's face has become the mascot of your budget and also the
media.
As a woman needing to feel empowered I read and re- read and then played
your budget speech over and over again but I did not feel
empowered. There must be something amiss here and with me.
Your magnanimous proposal to set up a special Public Sector Unit bank solely
for women, to support businesses run by women and a whooping Rs 1000-crore
initial capital for the bank made me perplexed and confused. How is an
all women bank going to help me? Will it give me loans at a
cheaper interest rate (though I would prefer interest free); will this bank
give me higher rates on my savings account? Will this bank not ask for
collaterals and documents from the rural women and those with nothing to offer
against loans? How many branches will you set up so that women from all over
the country can avail of the facilities? And the answer to all these is NO.
But don't lose heart here Sir, your bank will contribute to the research as now
we can do a comparative analysis of 'Women Banks vs Men Banks' and prove that
being a man or a woman will affect banking. . The second contribution it will
make is in terms of safety, instead of men pushing women in bank lines, women
will be pushing women.
Sir, let me give you a shortcut...gender sensitization training of your bank
employees and increasing the quota of women employees will work just as well,
you can increase the interest on savings for women account holders, decrease
the interest rates for women on loans, increase the quota for business loans to
women entrepreneurs by lower interest rates. Give incentives to women, lower
the tax returns for women, etc, etc.
Sir, you said, "Recent incidents have cast a long, dark shadow on our
liberal and progressive credentials. As more women enter public spaces - for
education or work or access to services or leisure - there are more reports of
violence against them. We stand in solidarity with our girl children and women."
And therefore, you proposed to set up 'Nirbhaya Fund' and allocated Rs 1,000
crore to it. You also proposed to provide an additional sum of 200 crore to
Ministry of Women and Child Development to design schemes for women belonging
to vulnerable groups.
I almost
clapped at the performance which seemed so real. Only Sir, how is it going to
be used? Over the years the money has been allocated to the department and
neither children nor women are better off. We all know who has benefited and
who is safe!
Maybe
Sir, you could consider allocating money for safety of women through investing
more in the security of women, and training and recruitment of women in the
police force. Maybe Sir, you can allocate extra funds for the health and
education of women and children. Maybe Sir, you can provide more employment
avenues for women in the rural areas. Maybe Sir, you can consider allocating
more funds to encourage women for higher education and skill development. And maybe Sir, you can
think that LPG is not only a commodity for earning but it is the only way most
people can cook food.
Yours truly
Not So Empowered Women
* PS Sir, gold and women are synonyms.
The writer is the Director of Manav Rachna International University
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