Aam Aadmi Party’s work in schools and mohalla clinics, free bus rides for women and subsidies for electricity and water was a major draw. But if Kejriwal really wants to be a game-changer, he might want to end an old bias against including women in the cabinet. Creative Commons/joegoauk70 Following his party’s triumph in the Delhi elections, the swearing in of Arvind Kejriwal’s new cabinet had the stale whiff of an old exclusion: No women in the team. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia’s explanation that there was “nothing wrong in repeating the same cabinet” doesn’t wash. Repeating a past omission…

Lt Col Seema Singh and Lt Col Sandhya Yadav tell me how 11 officers fought tirelessly from 2008 to make history for women in the army. Their behind-the-scenes account includes tales of chocolate, congeniality and chai. A few good women: (from left) Lt Cols Sonia Sehgal, Maninder Virdi, Sandhya Yadav, Seema Singh, Anupama Munshi/Pic courtesy Maninder Singh When 11 women Army officers first filed a petition in the Delhi High Court in December 2008 to challenge a policy that restricted them to short service commissions, Lt Col Seema Singh’s daughter Garima was just eight or nine years old. “She used…

In a landmark judgment, India’s Supreme Court has ruled that women army officers have a right to command posts. Dismissing arguments made by the central government against giving women command appointments in the army on grounds of their ‘physiological limitations’ and domestic responsibilities, the Supreme Court ruled that the exclusion of women is illegal. The landmark judgment is a victory for gender equality guaranteed by Article 14 of the Constitution. “Implicit in the guarantee of equality is that where the action of the State does not differentiate between two classes of persons, it does not differentiate them in an unreasonable…

In a slum in New Delhi, a group of young women and men are making their city safer Playing together teaches the team respect for each other. It breaks stereotypes. And it teaches the players that public spaces belong to all.(NAMITA BHANDARE) A quiet revolution brews in a narrow lane in one of Delhi’s most unsafe localities. In Mangolpuri, a locality that registers the most number of police cases, a group of young men and women have taken charge of making their neighbourhood safer. Do streetlights work? Are there enough CCTVs? How do you rid the community park of drug…

In a New Delhi slum in New Delhi, a group of young women and men play together and, in the process, make their city safer. Pic courtesy: Plan India A quiet revolution brews in a narrow lane in one of Delhi’s most unsafe localities. In Mangolpuri, a locality that registers the most number of police cases, a group of young men and women have taken charge of making their neighbourhood safer. Do streetlights work? Are there enough CCTVs? How do you rid the community park of drug addicts and gamblers who gather here after sundown? Supported by a set of…

Care work is highly gendered and a barrier to women’s participation in the paid economy. It’s time we changed that Suvarna Santosh Ghate, a 38-year-old housewife who has never held a job, is learning to drive a two-wheeler at a skilling centre in Mumbai where I met her some months ago. It’s an ambitious endeavour for someone whose day begins at 5 am with an unvarying routine of chopping-cooking-cleaning-washing. She cooks twice a day, because, well, her family can’t eat “stale” food. But between 2 and 4 in the afternoon, her “rest” time, she is able to slip away for…

The job of cooking, cleaning, caring for children and the elderly invariably falls to women. This impacts women’s participation in the paid economy. It’s time to change that. Not funny: Women continue to bear a disproportionate burden of household chores. Suvarna Santosh Ghate, a 38-year-old housewife who has never held a job, is learning to drive a two-wheeler at a skilling centre in Mumbai where I met her some months ago. It’s an ambitious endeavour for someone whose day begins at 5 am with an unvarying routine of chopping-cooking-cleaning-washing. She cooks twice a day, because, well, her family can’t eat…

Women have their own perspective based on their struggles to ascension. To exclude them from crucial meetings is to shut out the voices of nearly half of our population Prime Minister Narendra Modi poses for a group photo with Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata, Business tycoon Anand Mahindra and others during an interaction with business stalwarts .(PTI) They flank the prime minister, six on one side, five on the other, dressed in sombre suits to discuss serious matters. The photograph was taken on January 6 when the 11 — variously described as “telecom czar”, “richest…

Women have their own perspective based on their struggles to ascension. To exclude them from crucial meetings is to shut out the voices of nearly half of our population. Spot the women They flank the prime minister, six on one side, five on the other, dressed in sombre suits to discuss serious matters. The photograph was taken on January 6 when the 11 — variously described as “telecom czar”, “richest Indian”, and even “patriarch” — met with Narendra Modi ahead of the budget. No “czarinas”. No “matriarchs”. Just an all-boys-club meeting to weigh in on the economy, talk about the…

The photographs emerging from the Jamia protest — not just the iconic video featuring the four but also women breaking stereotypes in all— women protests, offering roses to police, giving clear soundbytes, or just claiming their place on the streets — show courage and tenacity, clarity and commitment. More important, they tell us that women belong and, yes, they can lead. Members of Women India Movement display placards and raise slogans during a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Register of Citizenship (NRC) and National Population Register (NPR), in Bengaluru, December 26(PTI) Akhtarista Ansari is not new to…

Women are at the forefront of the recent protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act Photo courtesy: Akhtarista Ansari Akhtarista Ansari is not new to protest. In 2017, she marched against discriminatory hostel timings at Jamia Millia Islamia where she studies. Earlier, she was part of a demonstration to demand that the university set up a gender sensitisation committee against sexual harassment. So, it seemed natural for the 19-year-old Sociology (hons) student to participate in a march led by women against Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens on December 12. “It was the first protest led by…

We’ve done the easy part — brought in tough laws, sanctioned fast-track courts, reduced the age of juveniles, and raised the age of consent. Now comes the hard part of mindset change, of demonstrating the will to stamp out violence against women, of realising there are no short-cuts or half-measures Change begins at home. Media campaigns can help change parenting norms so that daughters are brought up with the sort of rights that sons enjoy, and sons are taught that their gender does not entitle them to be waited on and served by women(Sonu Mehta/HT)’ A week after an “encounter”…