In a first for the nation, the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly held a special session exclusively for female members of the house to express their opinions. Topics discussed included menstrual hygiene in rural areas, waiving of tuition fees for girls enrolled in higher education institutions, and pensions for abandoned women.
There are some female lawmakers who can articulate themselves clearly, but many more have worked in their fields and were voted to the house because of this, according to Satish Mahana, speaker of the parliament.
"And this hesitation resides not just in women, but in men too, therefore next time I will try to prepare a list of such male members too ( who are hesitant to speak) and give them an opportunity to speak," Mahana said commencing the session. CM Yogi Adityanath requested the speaker to let the legislators speak "without any rules" and boundation of time.
47 women serve as MLAs in UP, including 22 first-timers. Before the house was opened for them to voice their opinions on various topics, female legislators spoke on the agenda and asked the government questions about everything from price increases that are putting a strain on women's kitchen budgets to recent crimes against women like the rape and murder incident in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Only the Speaker of the House, Yogi Adityanath, and the leader of the opposition, Akhilesh Yadav, were given the opportunity to speak. Both praised the initiative and listed various government initiatives for the welfare of women, including Mission Shakti, Kanya Sumangla Yojana, and Samuhik Vivah Yojana. Yadav also mentioned promises made in the SP's manifesto for the empowerment and welfare of women.
"After 75 years of independence, the voices of half the population will reach 25 crore people of the state through this House...at the same time, they will get an opportunity to put forward the problems and achievements of the state and other important issues in this House. In fact, this work should have been done long ago," Adityanath said.
"There are so many issues of women that one day is not enough. Even if we discuss their issues throughout the session the issues will not be exhausted," Yadav continued by stating that incidents like Lakhimpur Kheri and Hathras could be avoided if the government, society, and opposition collaborated.
ADVICE FROM FEMALE LEGISLATORS:
While the majority of the ruling BJP members used the occasion to highlight the government's programmes for empowering women, several female opposition lawmakers criticised the administration and made recommendations to the house.
First-time MLA from SP, age 31 Ragini Sonkar, a young female opposition lawmaker from Jaunpur's Macchlishahr seat who also holds a medical degree from the AIIMS, discussed the challenges she experienced in that role. "Because we are female representatives, and especially if we are from the opposition, officials have the impression that our abilities are in question. I would want the government to take action to prevent authorities from having this kind of thinking." She also added in a letter to male authorities that while males felt it was beneath them to "follow" a woman leader, women wanted them to walk alongside them rather than behind them.
Surabhi, a 37-year-old MLA from the Apna Dal(S), a BJP ally party, suggested the government install sanitary napkin vending machines in rural schools and colleges as there was "veritable hesitation" regarding menstrual practises there. She also asked the state to build a women's college in a village in her area that had no access to any schools or colleges.
Puja, a 31-year-old Mehnagar resident, made a request to the government to remove all costs for women attending the state's central universities and to waive 50% of those expenses for women attending higher education institutions in the state.
