Preparing women for political life
SHE LEADS empowers Aspiring Women Leaders
Celebrates completion of training of their second cohort
New Delhi, February 28th, 2022: To strengthen the status of Indian women in the country’s political scene, She Leads is all geared up with a Certificate Distribution Ceremony on Monday, February 28th, 2022 at Multipurpose Hall, Kamaladevi Complex, India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi.
Even after 75 years of independence, Indian politics does not allow equal opportunities to women to represent their cause. While Panchayat reservation for women is successful, it does not justify low numbers at Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha.
She Leads is a Joint initiative of Stree Shakti - The Parallel Force, Indian School of Democracy and Shakti co-founded by Hemakshi Meghani - dynamic organizations dedicated to political empowerment. So while Indian School of Democracy is a non partisan organization with a mission to nurture principled political leaders focusing on making political representation more value driven, inclusive and equitable, Political Shakti Founder Tara Krishnaswamy is a citizen’s collective campaign for increased women’s representation as MLAs and MPs.
Although women constitute approximately half the population, worldwide figures on the representation of women in leadership and their participation in Parliaments remains low. As of November 2018, 24% of all women national parliamentarians across the world were women, a 13% increase from 1995 (11.3% women parliamentarians). India has 14 percent of elected women representatives in the national parliament, only ahead of Sri Lanka (5.3%) and Maldives (4.7%).
She Leads is a collective effort ‘of the women for the women and by the women’ where multiple talented and dedicated organizations have come together to stand up for a greater cause – Equality in Political Space. It pivots around the very need of women candidates to holistically improvise upon their overall competence on various standard processes like filing candidature, campaigning, mapping constituencies identifying local issues, using media for awareness and citizen education.
With She Leads, the member organizations seek to increase women’s representation and voice in Parliament and in State Legislative Assemblies by investing in the skills of India’s future leaders and working closely with political structures to promote and utilize women’s unique strengths and capabilities. This programme is a multi-tiered capacity-development and advocacy initiative aimed at enhancing women’s skills and ability to engage at higher levels of political leadership and creating a supportive environment for them to do so.
The idea of reserving seats for women candidates at Panchayat level (local governance system at village, block and district level) has facilitated greater engagement for women in the political process. The Ministry of the Women and Child Development estimates that this has brought more than 1.2 million women into positions of political decision making at the local level. But are these women competent enough to understand the nuances of politics and execute solutions in the best interest of their folk? This is where She Leads chimes in with a pivotal role to help in shaping up effective and inspiring leaders to advance to the state and national arenas since there are not many examples of locally elected women reaching State Assemblies or National Parliament.
The initiative takes pride in helping instill the idea of ‘Free Travel for Women’ in the states of Haryana and Punjab prominently and is determined to effectively replicate the concept in other states of the country as well.
Sharing their journey, challenges and breakthroughs in order to encourage these aspiring women leaders Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena), Sunita Duggal MP (BJP), Kumari Selja (INC), Dr. Amar Patnaik, MP (BJD) to motivate she leaders to take on their political career in an organised manner.
Rekha Mody (Founder, Stree Shakti – The Parallel Force) says, “Elected women and men leaders are welcoming this much needed support. We have waited for years for political reservation which is still a dream. Since the inception of SHE LEADS it has generated tremendous response from people across industries and spheres of life. I strongly believe that women will be the change agents in 21 century.”
Launched in February’2021, SHE LEADS successfully trained 50 women from 13 states in the first cohort, one of whom is fighting UP election from Meerut on a RLD seat. In their second cohort from February 23rd to 27th, 2022 She Leads will train another 50 aspiring women leaders from 18 states. 1st cohort, In the earlier training programme Dr. Hena Gavit BJP, Ghanshaym Tiwari SP, Rajiv Gowda, Margaret Alva INC, Archana Chitnis participated.
She Leads strongly believes that by enhancing women’s political leadership is essential to building a strong democracy and global presence for India in the 21st century. The proposed programme seeks to identify and develop women who have demonstrated leadership capacity at lower levels of the political process and facilitate their development as leaders at the state and national levels. With a goal of nurturing at least 200 such women in a span of 2 years, She Leads strives to build capacity of women leaders & prepare them for bigger contribution and higher political leadership roles. The initiative seeks to advocate for passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill, securing 33% seats for women in Parliament and State Assemblies and to document the leadership styles of women political leaders with a view to make a political case to elect more women resulting in an increased number of ladies contributing to party management and to contesting elections at all levels.
VISIONARY TEAM
Rekha Mody - Founder and President, Shree Shakti & She Leads
Rekha Mody is a social worker and activist is committed to Women Empowerment.
She is the founder of Divya Chaya Trust established in 1984, Habiart Foundation 1987, Stree Shakti - The Parallel Force 1998. She feels that women all over the world are interconnected on various underlying gender issues. Rekha Mody is an art
collector and had launched Kolkata’s first FM Radio in 1994.
Abha Maryada Banerjee - Subject Matter Expert
Abha Maryada Banerjee is India’s first woman motivational speaker of international acclaim. She is a pioneer of the human potential industry in India, law & leadership author/educator and advocate at the Supreme Court of India.
Tabassum Khan - Researcher
Tabassum Khan is an Educator, a social worker, and an aspiring politician. She is a
researcher and member in Stree Shakti - the Parallel Force.
Deepshikha Sangwan - Researcher
Deepshikha Sangwan is a graduate in Political Science (Honours) from Miranda
House, University of Delhi. She went on to pursue a Bachelor's in Education
from CBLU University, Haryana, and a Master's degree in Political Science
at IGNOU. She has co-initiated the School of Nature, a social change
programme for young adults.
A Programme for Strengthening Women’s Political Leadership in India
Enhancing women’s political leadership is essential to building a strong democracy and global presence for India in the 21st century. Studies show that the higher level of women’s political participation and representation raise attention to women’s issues in general.
Women in high leadership positions in governments across the globe have demonstrated to have positive impacts in many areas of development resulting in lower levels of inequality and increased confidence in national governments. The World Economic Forum found that woman’s political leadership correlates to wider economic impacts and that the advancement on gender equity has positive economic outcomes for all. The key impacts of women in elected offices are higher educational attainment for women and girls, increased labor force participation and wages.
They have also demonstrated to have positive outcomes in improving health and civil rights. So, equal participation and representation of women in politics and decision making bodies is not just a demand for democracy but a necessary pre-condition for bringing women’s interests in the forefront.
Some countries are leading the path towards a higher number of women in Parliament. According to the data published by Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Rwanda, Cuba and UAE are on the top of the list with more women in Parliament than men, while Sweden ranks number seventh (46.1%). India is at the 148th position among 193 countries ranked on the basis of the percentage of women members in National Parliament. Among the SAARC countries also India ranks in the lower positions, only ahead of Sri Lanka and Maldives.
In India, gender has emerged as a fundamental axis of democracy, alongside caste, class, region, religion and ethnicity. In the general elections of 2019, 67.18% of women electorate in India voted, showing an improvement from 59.4% in 2014. However, the increased female voter turnout did not automatically translate into women’s increased representation in the country’s Parliament and State Assemblies. Of the 8,049 women contestants, only 78 of them were sworn as members of the 17th Lok Sabha. This is the highest number of women MPs in India thus far.
While the low representation of women in Parliament and other decision-making bodies is compromising India’s development, the increase in women candidates in Parliament over last two decades also indicates the growing enthusiasm of women to enter the politics. There is a need for a comprehensive approach to women’s leadership that not only benefits communities but also leads to improved quality of discussion and outcomes in terms of legislations, policies and budgets. In several countries quotas have been used to increase the number of women in the Parliament. In India, Women’s Reservation Bill seeking increased representation of women in the Parliament is pending since 1996.
Some of the common myths around women not entering politics are lack of willingness and competence, but the fact remains that they don’t have sufficient access to the political spaces. Women need to be encouraged, empowered and supported in becoming strong political leaders. In this backdrop, She Leads programme has been conceptualized to help women become authentic and effective leaders and to increase their engagement and impact at higher levels of governance.
Events
Training Programme for Leadership in Women organized by She Leads on 23rd June 2023
Kolkata She leads group 15-16 June 2023
She Leads holds brainstorming session on women empowerment at Kashmir
TRAINING OF YOUNG WOMEN AT KURUKSHETRA UNIVERSITY, 2021
She Leads, in association with Kurukshetra University, conducted a two-day training
programme for young women at the University campus, on November 16-17, 2021. The Chief guest of the occasion was Professor Neera Verma, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences and Ms. Monika Singh, IRS, Government of India was the keynote speaker
at the inaugural session.
The keynote address was delivered by Ms. Monika Singh, IRS, Additional Commissioner of Income Tax, Panipat , Haryana. Three sessions were conducted that explored several critical themes, including, identities and biases, women in politics-reality and challenges, pathways into politics, and why women need to be in politics. The programme ended with a certificate distribution ceremony and vote of thanks to all the attendees.
Training Report
Strengthening Women's Political Leadership in India - Report of the training of the first cohort (February - March, 2021)
Click to Download
Programme Overview
Cohort Size - 50
The programme will equip women with the practical and multidimensional skills in political and social sphere, for them to play multiple roles as representatives of their constituencies. Topics that will be covered during the programme include:
- Women in Politics and mapping power structures
- Leadership
- Constituency mapping and management
- Communications and Media handling
- Campaign tools and strategy
- Resource management (team and ethical fund raising)
Training Schedule
Duration of the training programme - 5 Days
Dates - 23rd – 27th February’ 2022
Timings- 9 am to 1:30 pm every day, with sufficient breaks in-between
Application Process
Launch of application form - 3rd January 2022
Deadline for submission of application - 5th February’2022
Who can Apply ?
This training programme is for women leaders who are aspiring to contest election at state or national level. In addition, they have to meet one of the following criteria:
- Prior experience of public life including social work
- Contested elections for a political office at some level (college, municipality, panchayat etc.)
Other Criteria
Educational Qualification - Minimum 12th Standard
Age group - 25-55years
Fluent in Hindi or English in addition to the local language
Selection Process
The selection process entails the following steps:
Step 1 - Submitting the application online by 20th January 2023
Step 2 - Informal video interview with the applicant from 15th Jan to 10th February 2023
Step 3 - Confirmation to the selected candidates from 5th Feb to 15th February 2023
A laptop with a good internet connection is essential for attending the programme.
Political Experts
In addition to the online training, need-based mentorship support will be provided by experienced political leaders, media experts and social thinkers.
MENTORS
Sumitra Mahajan - Ex Speaker Lok Sabha
She started her political career as a corporator in the ;Indore Municipal Corporation in 1982. She is the second woman to be elected as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. She represented the Indore constituency of Madhya Pradesh ;from 1989 to 2019 as a longest serving Woman Member of Parliament.
Kumari Selja
Ex MP, INC
She entered the political fray in 1990 as the President of Mahila Congress. She was the cabinet minister at the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in the UPA government. She is currently the President of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee
Amee Yagnik
MP, Rajya Sabja, INC
She is a practicing lawyer and significant part of her legal practice has been on gender justice related work which includes pro bono legal aid for women and legal awareness campaigns for women and their legal rights at grass roots level. She is one of the founder members and immediate Past President of All India Federation of Women Lawyers, a national organization that works with women lawyers for the betterment of women and children.
Neerja Chowdhury
Senior Journalist and Political Commentator
She is recipient of several media awards and has covered all the major Political Parties, as also Parliament and elections state and national for the last 30 years. She was political editor of the Indian Express for ten years and of the Economic Times. Currently she is doing regular columns for the Times of India, Economic Times, The Scroll and Amar Ujala.
Kumkum Chadha
Political journalist and an author
She has written extensively on prison systems and prisoners in India and gender issues, and served as member, national committee on conditions of women prisoners. She has been conferred national awards for political and investigative journalism.
SPEAKERS
M.V. Rajeev Gowda
Ex MP, INC
An academician and a former Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, he is a national spokesperson for the Indian National Congress. He also currently serves as Chairman of the ‘Congress Research Department’.
Dr. Heena Gavit
MP, BJP
A medical doctor by profession, she is one of the youngest Members of the Parliament in Lok Sabha. She has worked in tribal areas on social issues like malnutrition and anaemia amongst women.
Margaret Alva
Ex-Governor and Ex MP, INC
A senior politician and an advocate by profession, she has been Governor of Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Goa. She has served in both the houses of Parliament, and has had several portfolios as Union Minister of State.
Ghanshyam Tiwari
National Spokesperson, Samajwadi Party
He has served as the advisor to the JD (U) government in Bihar from 2010 to 2015. He was also the communication advisor to the CM and party spokesperson until 2016. He earned a master's degree in public administration and public policy from Harvard Kennedy School.
Tara Krishnaswamy
Co-Founder of Shakti and Citizens for Bengaluru
A software director at a MNC, Tara is a Co-founder of Shakti, a pan-India, non-partisan citizens pressure group working to get more women into State Assemblies & Parliament, pressure MPs to table the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament, and the Election Commission to discipline parties towards gender equitable nominations.
Bandana Kumari
MLA, AAP
She has served as Deputy Speaker of Delhi Legislative Assembly and has been former president of women's wing of the party, Aam Aadmi Party Mahila Shakti.
Ex-Cohorts for 2021, 2022 & 2023
With support of Chevening Alumni Project Fund (CAPF), the first cohort of ‘She Leads – Political Leadership Programme for Women’ will be trained by Stree Shakti, The Parallel Force in collaboration with Indian School of Democracy (ISD) and Shakti.
