Free Soup Kitchen in A Five Star Hotel

Few days ago, I came across the site that talked about the Empowerment of Women. The Proposed Bill succinctly said wants to increase the representation of Women in Lok sabha, Rajya Sabha and other such hallowed political circles.

Have a read for it yourselves at and then proceed into rest of this blog.

The Women (Empowerment for equal participation) Bill, 2005

Somewhere within the bowels of the document (page 4), you will discover something. For sakeof convenience, let us call it the ______ (something) that hides in the DETAIL.
It reads and I quote
Women despite being nearly half of the country's population, still remain socially neglected and economically dependent on others who may be parents, husband or children, are educationally backward and an exploited lot. Majority of them are confined to their houses looking after their children and household chores. Many of them are still superstitious, orthodox and backward because literacy among them and more so in rural areas is very low. Now only more awakening has begun amongst women and they have started playing a vital role in the polity of the nation right from village Panchayat to Parliament of the nation.

Regardless of whether you browse, sprint, scroll or read character by character, you will realise that the above mentioned ______ (something) that hides in the DETAIL. is the justification presented for the need of the bill ...

Inspite of being just an ordinary mortal, I am hazarding a guess that I will not be the only one that finds the justification baseless, completely vague and filled with ambigious statements.

Let us take the hazardous route and start dissecting the article, Shall we?

The very first thing that you (and every one) ought to realise is that the women for whom the reservation are purportedly being proposed fall into at least one of these categories

• Educationally backward
• Economically Dependent
• Socially Neglected
• Confined to house
• Looking after Children & domestic chores.

You are free to imagine any everyday Indian women who would be able to survive past any one of these criterions:
Lets start at the low end, say a woman with very little Economical Standing and who does have a man in her life on whom she can fall back upon. Lets take the Zaaduwali bai in your building. To keep the example simple, let us endow her with marriage but no children yet.

Do you honestly believe that when the Zaaduwali bai is informed of this reservation made for people in her category, will jump up and down in a thrilled state and then run off to grab her entitlement?

I can't possibly imagine. NO!

All right, Ok, let us keep climbing up the economic ladder. How about the barely literate Salesgirl with lousy English at the corner shop who sold you your television set?

Will She be happy with the reservation and join the queue to grab her entitlement?

I can't possibly imagine. NO!

Ok, let us keep improving the woman of our imaginations who will fit the above categories and still be willing to run for the Rajya Sabha? Let us fast forward

How about a Doctor with first class Medical Degree currently having 3 kids aged 18, 16 and 12? Kids are not too old, not too young and can be expected to manage on their own for few hours. She does have a Servant to help her with domestic chores. Such a lady happens to be my aunt and is considered very ambitious and as such well endowed. She likes to express her opinions loudly, firmly and then stick to her guns. She could possibly do well as a Politician.

She ain't exactly Educationally Backward. She was confined to her house because of the children although she can now be considered somewhat free. She is well off in average Mumbai terms. She runs a good practice but not exactly thriving so she may be economically dependent on her husband for the major part. She is not Socially Neglected.

I asked her to consider this proposal of reservation and she told me a reply that actually summed up the whole problem very neatly for me (and us)
No, If I wanted to do good for society and freed up from all of my ties, I'd rather go and work in a hospital or a Jail as a Doctor rather than deal with politicians.

She is happy to deal with Convicts in a prison or impoverished in a hospital rather than politicians.

I give up, folks!!!

I cannot imagine a woman who will fall into any of the above categories and still be willing to fill such a position can express such exploited state?

Let us reverse the situation. Let us imagine a woman who would want to take advantage of this roles. These role may bring in certain amount of power and so strive upon power hungry men and women.

Clearly the women who will be queing up to get those seats will fall in neither of the categores above. Maybe they will be mothers but they will certainly not confined to the house because of the children or household chores.

As it stands, the DEVIL is indeed inside the Detail

It is like throwing up a Free Soup Kitchen inside a Five Star hotel.

For those who are unaware with the phrase soup kitchen, it is usually a community run service that gives bowl of hot nutritious(?) soup with a loaf of bread to all those people in society who'd starve otherwise as they cannot afford to pay for it on their own. Soup and bread are normally given for free.

No beggars or truly impoverished will be allowed inside the five star hotel anyway.
Those who can afford or even think of entering the hotel and do partake free soup and bread will certainly be able to pay for it at a five star rates.

The one thing that is, at the time of writing this unanswered is that what happens to unreserved positions. Are only men allowed on remaining unallocated seats?If No, What measures are present within the bill to prevent all-female Rajya Sabha or Lok Sabha?.