Equal participation of Dalit women in policy-making emphasized

Kathmandu: The Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) has demanded equal participation of Dalit women in all state apparatuses based on their population.

At a programme organised to mark the 31st anniversary of the organisation of Dalit women here on Tuesday, FEDO’s founding Chairperson, Durga Sob, called for ensuring the equal participation of Dalit women in all State organs, including the federal parliament, government, judiciary, and constitutional bodies, based on their population.

She pointed out the need to increase their representation through policy intervention and legal provisions. She was of the view that although Dalit women had been striving for more than eight decades, they have remained socially, economically and politically backwards and are dismally represented in the key bodies of the State- executive, legislative and judiciary. According to her, Dalit women had been at the receiving end of multiple layers of discrimination. They have been fighting for their rights since 2003 BS, she argued.

At present, there is no representation of Dalit women in the National Assembly (NA).

There were 24 Dalit women in first Constituent Assembly in 2064 BS but declined to 22 in 2070 BS. Their representation further decreased to 14 in the House of Representatives (HoR) in 2074 BS.

Currently, the HoR has only eight Dalit women MP with none in the NA.

Also speaking at the programme, General-Secretary of FEDO, Renu Sijapati acknowledged that there has been some representation of Dalit women in the State organs compared to the past but, it is still far from adequate.

She attributed the representation of Dalit women to the State organs to the contributions of political parties, social organizations and FEDO among others and emphasized the need for more legislations and their effective enforcement to increase their representation.

Statistically, among 550 members of seven Province Assemblies, only 24 Dalit women were elected in 2074 BS while their number slightly rose to 27 in the Province Assemblies in 2079 BS, it was informed.

Furthermore, it was shared that no Dalit woman has ever been appointed as a full minister in the federal government. Kalawati Paswan made the history in 2066 BS as the first Dalit woman appointed Minister of State for Physical Infrastructure and Construction.

Six other women have assumed the role of State Ministers since then. At the provincial level, Sita Nepali became the Minister for Internal Affairs and Law in 2078 BS and Sita Kumari Sundas assumed the role of Minister for Economic Affairs in 2079 BS.

So far, only four Dalit women have served as provincial State Minister.

Dalit women’s representation at local level has also declined over the years. In 2074 BS, 21 Dalit women were elected as Deputy Mayor or Vice-Chairpersons. By 2079 BS, that number dropped to 12.