Why the empowerment of women is necessary? What are the ways to empower them?

(a) (i) Necessity in a democracy : In a democracy, decisions are taken by the elected representatives. The number of women in the elected bodies is very low in comparison to men who still dominate these bodies. Men do not pay adequate attention to women’s problems. Unless women have adequate representation, their problems cannot be solved.
(ii) Inadequate representation : In India at present the representation of women as elected representatives in the legislatures is very low. The percentage of elected women members in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies has been less than 10 per cent and. 5 percent respectively. The percentage of women in our national parliament is 8.3 against the 40 in the Nordic countries and the world average of 16.8. In view of the above, there is need for more representation of women as elected representatives. In this way women will be empowered and other problems will get adequate attention.
(b) Representation can be increased by reservation of at least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women. One-third of seats in Panchayats and municipalities have been reserved for women. A bill proposing similar reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies has been pending before the Parliament for the last one decade but it could not be passed due to lack of consensus among the political parties.