Photo: Prakhar Pandey
The recently held elections to the Haryana Legislative Assembly witnessed a salient positive trend that portends well for the future. In an otherwise male-dominated scenario, women voters turned out in large numbers this time - and Gurgaon was no exception. As per the Election Commission’s draft figures, women (almost 5 lakhs) accounted for 48% of those who voted. While the Administration had taken many measures to enlighten the classes as well as the masses to exercise their electoral franchise, something else seems to have led to the big change this time. For the women, the home-makers in particular, a major topic has always been the prices of essential commodities of daily use. However, the increasing rate of crime against women, and of women’s (especially girls’) safety in general, has become a matter of great and grave concern. And women are no longer willing to be silent on this, especially as they are now ‘out of home’ a lot more. What better outlet for this than a vote for or against a person or a party or a system? It is this feeling that seems to have prompted a good turn out by female voters. Commenting on these developments, social activist Poonam Bhatnagar says, “Women have now well understood their worth and the value of their own votes. In this male-dominating conservative society, by and large the women have followed their husbands blindly. But this time you could see the changes. Women came out in large numbers from their kitchens and stood in front of the polling booths. Large groups also offer good moral support.” She also agreed that the increasing rate of crime in Gurgaon was one of the major reasons that had influenced the female voters. “I would definitely say that the media had been very helpful for this awareness. Of course the price-rise has always been a ‘hygienic’ motivation,” she adds. Reshmi Biwi, from Tikli village, says, “I learnt about this voting process from my daughter, who is studying in Class 12. I was surprised that she is aware of the voting system. Honestly, I had never voted earlier; I voted for the first time in the just held elections. I tried to understand the situation and then voted for change.” Dayawati, who works as a domestic help in Sector 56, laments that the previous government seemed to care the least for the economically backward society. “It was very tough for a daily wage earner to even afford two square meals a day. Me and my husband’s joint earnings are around 7,000 rupees a month, which hardly suffices to survive, after paying a hefty rent of 1,200 rupees a month for a jhuggi. So I and many ladies like me wanted a change, and we took the lead in casting our votes,” Dayawati says. Bhatnagar concurs, and says that the economically weaker sections of society have been neglected by the last government. “Many schemes for the weaker sections were regularly publicized, but they mostly remained on paper. Further, the education system really needs to be developed in Haryana; we are far behind other States. Being associated with an NGO, where we work for the welfare and development of the weaker sections of the society, I am well aware of the ground realities,” she says. To cite an instance of mass ignorance about govt. ‘schemes’, Bhatnagar adds, “Many of the poor folk don’t even know that they do not have to pay any charges in the maternity or labour ward of any government hospital, particularly when a female baby is delivered. Such is the state of affairs in Haryana, which is anyway well-known for its skewed sex-ratio.” Another housewife, who wished to not be named, says, “The Congress party ruled Government had not been helpful to us as well as to the society. And this time everybody wanted a change. There are high hopes. That’s why we, all the ladies in our neighborhood, took the lead in casting our votes.” Mrs. Krishna Gupta, who resides near Galleria Market, admits, “It was really unmanageable for the middle class - although it is hard to define the word ‘middle class’ in Gurgaon, where the cost of living is skyrocketing. For me this was one of the important reasons to vote; I needed to see a change. I do believe that unemployment and corruption are critical aspects to be addressed; and I am glad that the youth too were alert of this aspect.” The youth – clearly Including girls and women - too played a crucial role in ensuring an encouraging response at the various polling booths. Despite rapid urbanization and scores of industries and offices coming up in Gurgaon, the prolonged unemployment has also been another prime factor that motivated the youth (and there are many women workers now) to come out in large numbers - to vote for a change. Rohini Yadav, a college student, who was quite shattered by the education system and crimes against women, says that, ‘I was very much exited, as I had just crossed my 18th birthday and could vote for the very first time. I believe that an election is not about winning a throne. Whoever comes in power should be responsive and look after our problems. I tried to be observant during the election, and saw that it was basically about a power-game and money. All our citizens need to be educated, if we want to really see a change.” A few other things that had made many women come forward to vote, were: education, public transport and traffic. While the turnout by the women at the polling stations in the Millennium City was encouraging, the real change seems to have taken place in the ‘hinterland’. The scorecard of the eves in Bhiwani, Jind, Mahendragarh and Kurukshetra was even better. If this is the shape of things to come, it can only be right for women.
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