Meira Kumar : Effecting A Long Awaited Transformation
The first decade of 21st century has uncannily sprung up many surprises for India. The millennium woke up to new realities of globalization, trying hard to shake off the primordial vestiges of traditionalism and coming to terms with never-there-before changes. The IT revolution, arguably, not only catapulted India into instant global stardom but also redefined and reconfigured the dynamics of gender equations. Women empowerment and its allied subjects which had long been thrown to winds suddenly resurfaced out of blue. It was getting increasingly apparent that the female of the species had finally won her battle against male supremacy and that the theory of ‘this is men’s world’ got muted to ‘this is no more men’s world’.
More than six decades on, we have made many
strides, taking ourselves onto the verge of becoming a superpower. Still one question that we feel embarrassed to answer is: have we really realized the long cherished dreams of the all those who made the so called ‘India Independent’ possible. Are women really empowered? Has Mahatma’s theory of women freedom been achieved? Perhaps, 21st century has a persuasive answer.
The commander in chief of Indian Armed Forces happens to be a woman, the president of the party ruling the country happens to be woman, the chief minister of the most populous and most representative state is a woman and now, the speaker of the lower house of world’s largest democracy’s law making body also happens to be a woman.
Miera Kumar, perhaps would better be related as the daughter of former deputy prime minister and political stalwart Jagjivan Ram, is the present speaker of the Lok Sabha. Though she is not a new face in the country’s highest legislative body (a five-time member of the parliament), her elevation to the prestigious post boasts of two firsts, she happens to be the first woman speaker and the first to be elected unopposed.
Early life and Education
Born in Patna to the former deputy Prime Minister, prominent dalit leader and freedom fighter, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Indrani Devi. She did her M.A., LL.B, from Delhi University.
In 1973, she joined the Indian Foreign Service
and served at embassies in Spain, United Kingdom and Mauritius. She also served as a member of the India-Mauritius Joint Commission. While being in IFS, she also worked in Embassy of India in Madrid from 1976 to 1977. She was at the High Commission of India in London from 1977 to 1979 and served at Ministry of External Affairs from 1980 to 1985.
Tryst with politics
It was the election year of 1984. One year into the assassination of Indira Gandhi, the country was in a leadership crisis, Rajiv Gandhi had taken on the mantle of the caretaker prime minister of India. Indian National Congress, following the brutal killing of Mrs. Gandhi at the hands of her own bodyguards, had the sympathy of the whole nation. Nonetheless, Kumar’s foray (a congress party’s candidate) into politics was not an easy one. She had to take on no less than the heavyweights like Ram Vilas Paswan and Mayawati, two powerful dalit leaders. She emerged victorious from Bijnor in Uttar Pradesh. Her political landscape spanned two states and one union territory, Utter Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. She was a member of the eighth, eleventh and twelfth Lok Sabha in Delhi.
She entered the Union Cabinet of Ministers in 2004. She served in the Congress-led government as the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment from till 2009. In 2009, she was briefly inducted into cabinet as Union Minister for Water Resources, but she submitted her resignation three days after assuming the ministerial office, following her nomination to the position of the Speaker of the 15th Lok Sabha, thereby becoming the first woman speaker of the country.
Personal Life
Meira Kumar is married to Manjul Kumar, a
Supreme Court lawyer and mother to three children, Anshul, Swati and Devangna. She loves sports and holds several medals for rifle shooting. She loves poetry and writes poems.
The Road Ahead
History allows the unprecedented to happen with a lot conditions; for a big transformation is a colossal liability. Anticipation and expectations demand instant results. Kumar hopes to bring in a new perspective to the functioning of the law making body, at the ground level, as the presiding officer. She believes her primary agenda would not be guided by gender or community-specific parameters. The Lok Sabha is the embodiment of the aspirations of the people of a nation. She also believes that the issues of the people have to be addressed in the true spirit of the principles laid down in the constitution. She wants to continue the initiatives to bring about greater transparency in the functioning of the Lok Sabha and is evolving concrete steps in this direction.
Is just elevating a few women to top positions or certain percentage of reservation all the essence of woman empowerment. We have had a woman prime minister, women IPS officers, bureaucrats, business leaders, technocrats, but has it made any worthwhile difference. Empowerment of a section of society is not a free lunch. It comes with huge responsibilities. It demands sacrifice, and holds out a long and deep wait to see the real and genuine transformation.