Governance and Social Justice (Vulnerable Sections) by Abhishiekh Saxena

Model Answer

Question #1. Gender sensitivity and participation of women in the judiciary still remains inadequate. Analyze. Suggest measures to improve the representation of women in the judiciary in India. 10 marks (150 words)

Approach:

• Contextual Introduction of the Women in the Judiciary
• Inadequacy in the women’s participation in the Judiciary
• The Reasons for the inadequate representation
• Way forward
• Conclusion

Hints:

The President has unprecedently approved all the nine names of judges, recommended by the Collegium, for the Supreme Court. Out of these, three are the women judges and Justice BV Nagarathna is in line to become the first woman Chief Justice of India in the year 2027. As per the data from the Union Ministry of law, out of 1079 judges in the High Courts, we have 82 women judges in our higher judiciary. 

This is one facet of the inadequacy in the genderization of justice. Having a lesser number of female judges in the judiciary is a matter of concern, but what is more important is, the lack of gender sensitivity among the judges. This aspect of the problem was given due regard by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal in his written submissions in a Special Leave Petition filed by women lawyers against Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order. In this case, the accused, arrested on charges of molestation, was granted bail on the condition of getting a ‘Rakhi’ tied by the victim. 

Inadequacy in the women’s participation in the Judiciary: 

• The popular discourse in India takes place on case backlog, inadequate number of judges, and predominance of caste or religion-based appointments of judges but not on having an inclusive judiciary with an equal gender representative character. Justice Indu Malhotra, in her farewell speech in March 2021, stated in this regard, “society benefits when gender diversity is found on the bench”.
• The legal profession still has to welcome women into its fold since a majority of women advocates struggled within the profession. The Chief Justice of Indian Justice NV Ramana has called for the 50% representation of women in the judiciary at all levels. But we could make out the representation of women judges in the total working strength to a mere 12%. 
• The constitutional courts were earlier, impenetrable for women due to multifarious social and educational reasons; however, now with equal access to education, the number of women opting for the legal profession is on a rise. Even after 75 years of independence, we have not yet reached the level of gender parity in this profession. 

The Reasons for the inadequate representation of women’s participation in the Judiciary:

1. Gender Stereotype: The gender stereotypes create an occupational barrier for women lawyers thus, indulging in an alienation of women from the profession. 
2. Yardstick of Appointment: The issue lies not with the number but with the outlook and the yardstick with which women are being judged for the higher judicial posts. The real problem lies in how the legal fraternity accepts and appreciates the talent of women. 
3. Lesser Representation from Lower Judiciary: There are around 28% of judges in the lower judiciary are females, which is higher than the average in the higher courts. Judicial officers are not often the preferred choice for higher courts judgeship.
4. Societal Perception: There is a lack of faith and belief in the abilities of women that is still rooted in society that prevents women from breaking the glass ceiling. The authenticity of the judgments is judged on the basis of the gender of the judges given those rulings. 
5. Lack of Promotion of Legal Profession: The number of female students as compared to male students in law schools and colleges in India at the undergraduate level is also not at par. The students enrolled in the law stream are about 4 lakh out of which 2.5-3 lakh are males. There have to be some reasons as to why women are being represented at a dwindling rate. 

Measures to be taken:

1. Gender Inclusivity: More the diversity more is the empowerment. This empowerment is not about women alone but for men as well. Diversity does not lie in alienation but in the inclusiveness of the genders. What is the need of the hour is to train the judicial officers and judges for gender inclusivity, and broadening their perspective towards gender. 
2. Gender Sensitization: We often criticize the judgments for their stereotypical approach. At the same time, we have been given progressive judgments by the Benches, where the majority was male members. For instance, Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (recognition and enforcement of unenumerated rights of women at workplace); Sabrimala Judgment (breaking the gender stereotype in the society); Ministry of Defence vs. BabitaPuniya (granting permanent commission to women in armed forces), etc. 
   We need to appreciate these instances; at the same time, there is a need to imbibe the gender sensitization approach in the judges at the lower judiciary. 
3. Diversity in the Benches: The diverse bench signifies a basic component of the judiciary that is of being fair, equal, and impartial and that leads to the fourth point, which induces public confidence in the judiciary. It gives a voice to all the section of society. 
4. Appointment from the Bar: There are many women in the bar, who have been doing a remarkable job for the establishment of an egalitarian and inclusive society. There is a need to raise them at the Bench for enhancing the court’s representativeness. 
5. Promoting female judges from lower judiciary: We have a fair number of participation of women in subordinate courts, which are not only working at the grass-roots level but setting a direct example before the society. They should be appreciated for their role in the judiciary by way of promoting them, on the basis of their merits, in the higher judiciary. 
6. Promotion of Legal Education: The presence of more women judges would encourage active mentoring of young graduates, both men, and women. It will also trigger younger women to seek and aspire to flourish in the profession and improve the gender balance therein. This has a probability of actively reducing the instances of gender stereotyping. 

Conclusion:

The presence of women in the judiciary symbolizes participatory democracy, diversity of opinions gives an inclusive characteristic to the judiciary and signals equality of opportunity for all. Striving for improving gender parity in Courts is an important objective and a positive outlook towards this goal, if not absolute dedication, would go a long way in the general upliftment of women in India.

Question #2. Performance of welfare schemes that are implemented for vulnerable sections is not so effective due to absence of their awareness and active involvement at all stages of policy process - Discuss. 15 marks (250 words)

Approach:

1. Give a brief introduction about the welfare schemes implemented for vulnerable sections.
2. Briefly discuss the why performance of welfare schemes is not effective.
3. Discuss the various stages of policy process and the impact of participation during those processes.
4. Conclusion.

Hints:

The government schemes are carried out for the welfare of the vulnerable sections. The vulnerable sections include SC, ST, OBCs, backward classes, women, senior citizens, children, Divyang, third gender, minorities. The welfare includes the overall human, social, political, economic development of these sections with a view to achieve dignity and liberty of individuals by enhancing choices and offering avenues of Growth.

Absence of their awareness and active involvement at all stages of policy process

There are mainly 5 stages of policy process, where non involvement and lack of awareness leads to Inefficient and Ineffective performance:

• Identification of the problem - At the time of identification the people for whom the scheme is carried out do not know about the scheme. The people needed to be involved in the policy making process so that their valuable inputs can enhance the process.
• Formation – While policy formulation takes place, it is really important to involve people. If the people are not aware then that might affect the better targeting of the policy. The policy may lose sight of the target population and hence become ineffective.
• Grievance redressal mechanism: No administration can claim to be accountable, responsive and user-friendly unless it has established an efficient and effective grievance redress mechanism.
• Solution adopting – While adopting solution the people’s wisdom can contribute to the enhance of democratic and participatory process and Bottom-Top approach of solving problems by taking view of people’s views and recommendations. If lacking then policy might not achieve its objectives.
• Implementation – At the level of implementation if people are not aware then implementing is merely in letter and not in spirit. Thus people’s participation is also necessary for the transparent processes and procedures. The people will themselves act as check on inefficiencies.
• Evaluation and Monitoring – The people’s involvement can pave for the better accountability. Thereby the processes, outcomes of the schemes can be monitored and evaluated effectively.
• Planning and Coordination: Though schemes provide broader guidelines, yet at gross root level planning is required for implementing of scheme taking various parameters of development into account.
• Structural discrimination directly impedes equal access to health services by way of exclusion.

For example a scheme aimed at skill development of minorities in Jammu and Kashmir will not give results without the social awareness of the people and the active involvement of the people at grassroots level. The technology, media, existing democratic structures at local, state levels, civil society, NGOs, private players can be used to raise awareness and involve people.

Conclusion

Hence, Participatory and collaborative approach enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of the welfare schemes and can lead to better targeting and outcomes. After all the people’s participation is very much necessary to carry out Good Governance. This good governance is reflected in the performance of various welfare schemes aimed at the welfare and development of the vulnerable sections of the society.