Women’s Reservation Bill: Jharkhand Women Tribal Leaders Are Hoping For A Change

In 1980, Rose Kerketta, a prominent tribal writer, activist and educationist, had contested election as an independent candidate from Kolebira Legislative Assembly of Simdega district in Jharkhand. Being a tribal woman, she had to face many challenges. Vandana Tete, her 54-year-old daughter, mentions: “She was fighting two battles—first, fighting as an independent candidate, and second, battling the prevalent patriarchal mindset. She had many supporters, but it was unfortunate when her election symbol was changed the day before the election. This can be seen either as a conspiracy or a power play that has been preventing women to register their presence in politics as well as assembly.”

Kerketta once said in an interview: “Democracy and election have become the games of men folk, which they try to play on their own terms. They do not want women to participate in elections. They are trying their level best to stop women from entering politics. The presence of women in politics will not only make our democracy violence-free but also help in achieving its true purpose and help retain the dignity.”

Tete, who is also a writer, says that Kerketta’s statement on women’s representation has a wider connotation. Though people are trying to interpret the statement as per their own convenience today, Kerketta has empathy towards those tribal women who are symbolically presented on the platform for political interests, but are not sent to Parliament or the Assembly.

Tete says no matter how much we talk about giving reservation to women; there is a big difference between saying things and making them happen. She is of the opinion that the party neither gives ticket to tribal women nor the status that they deserve in the party. She feels that despite the provision of 33 per cent reservation for women in Vidhan Sabha, nothing much should be expected. 

The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2023 was passed recently but its implementation will take long. However, what must be taken into consideration is that matters relating to political representation of tribals, especially tribal women, are often not debated. 

Out of 8,049 candidates, 724 women contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, constituting only 9 per cent of the total. Seats are reserved for SC and ST candidates in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly of States. At present, there are 543 seats in Lok Sabha. In 2019, 78 women were elected for Lok Sabha, which constituted 17 per cent of the total number of seats. 

After the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill, 181 seats will be reserved for women in Lok Sabha. At present, women constitute only half of this figure in Lok Sabha. One hundred and thirty one seats have been reserved for SC (84) and ST (47). If the Women's Reservation Bill is considered, out of the 47 seats meant for tribals, 15.5 per cent seats should be reserved for tribal women. Presently, only 10 tribal women are MPs in Lok Sabha.

According to the analysis of the data, the number of tribal women reaching Lok Sabha from the ticket distribution stage is only symbolic.  

The indifferent attitude of political parties can be seen in the state Assembly. Forty-eight-year old Sita Soren from Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) is an MP from Jama seat of Santhal Pargana. JMM is not only the largest party in Jharkhand, but also the largest party of the tribals. Soren is the wife of late Durga Soren, son of Central Chairman, JMM, Shibu Soren. She is the eldest daughter-in-law of the family and sister-in-law of Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren. She has won the Jama seat on the JMMs ticket, but could not a place in the Soren cabinet.

(Sita) Soren attacks her own party and the governent. Her rebellious attitude has many a times become a cause of worry for the Soren government. Soren has also been vocal about the issues of women. On August 24, she had sent a letter to President Draupadi Murmu on women reservation and other issues.  She feels that in Jharkhand, political parties do not want to give tribal women tickets for Assembly elections.

“No party wants women as leaders. Tribal women are used for seeking votes. They are considered to be goddesses. There are conversations around women empowerment but they are not given representation. One can see the number of women in Legislative Assembly (Vidhan Sabha) and Parliament. One or two present there are due to circumstances. Why tribal women are kept out of the system? There are so many laws and rights. Even then, they are made to suffer,” says Soren.

She feels though women from tribal communities are educated and empowered, they are not given their due preference and the tendency is to suppress tribal women. Though she is happy about the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, she is not sure when it will get implemented.

In Jharkhand’s Legislative Assembly, 28 seats are reserved for ST and nine for SC. An analysis of 2019 Legislative Assembly elections show that tribal women voted more than tribal men. A total of 76 lakh men and 74 lakh women had voted. The participation of tribal men and tribal women remained 21.67 lakh and 21.70 lakh, respectively. In this election, there were only 127 female candidates as against 1,088 male candidates.

In the 2019 Legislative Assembly election, JMM (43 seats), Congress (33 seats) and RJD (seven seats) had jointly contested elections. The JMM and Congress gave six women each a chance to contest the election. While there were two tribal women candidates in the JMM list, the Congress did not give a chance to any tribal woman. In this election, the BJP gave a chance to 79 candidates and three tribal women out seven women candidates. 

Geetashree was an MLA from the Congress in 2009 at the Sisai Legislative Assembly in Gumla district. She was the education minister under the UPA Government. She lost in 2014. The Congress party did not give her a ticket in 2019. Instead, the seat was allotted to the JMM under the alliance. The JMM gave the ticket to a male tribal candidate. Although Oraon expressed her displeasure to the Congress high command, she did not contest the election against the party. Later, she resigned from the Congress.

Oraon says: “Whether it’s about saving water, forest, land; or any movement; even in big movements like Pathalgadi, tribal women have been at the forefront and always remain so. However, they are not represented in the Legislative Assembly. When women participate in social movements, they should be given a fair chance in politics, too. Today, women are taken very casually in political parties. Party leaders feel it is necessary to have women in the party, but it is not necessary to strengthen them by giving them a chance in the Assembly.”

She feels that it is very important to have women representation in the House in order to seek their advice while formulating policies related to them. No policy should be made without having their representation. This will only be possible once political parties send them to the House. Oraon also demands that just like the Women's Reservation Bill, all political parties should provide reservation to women in both posts and tickets within the party.  

Generally, if women candidates are not able to win in the Assembly or Lok Sabha election, they are rarely given a second chance. Like (Geetashree) Oraon, Sundari Tirkey, too, was not given ticket for the second time by Congress from Khijri Legislative Assembly seat of Ranchi.  A tribal male candidate got the ticket instead. Tirki, 52, has been serving Congress since the past 15 years. Tirki, who is the Jharkhand Mahila Congress General Secretary, says: “Tribal women are honest and capable of taking to the streets and also voicing their opinion in Parliament. Political parties ignore them. I was not given ticket again after I lost the election once. I had complained about this to Sonia Gandhi. We constitute half of the population. So we should be given tickets equally. We want reservation of seats for women in Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha so that political parties don’t have the option to not give women tickets.” 

In several states of the country, a total of 558 seats have been reserved for tribals. In the 81-strong Legislative Assembly of Jharkhand, out of 11 women MLA, three are tribals. Only one tribal woman from Jharkhand, Geeta Koda, is an MP. From the year 1962 to 2014, when Bihar was undivided, a total of 231 tribal women have contested the Assembly elections at the party level (135) and independently (96), of which only 22 have won. Similarly, from 1952 to 2014, in 16 Lok Sabha elections, 41 tribal women have become MPs.

(Translated by Kaveri Mishra)