Lady luck may shine on those who deliver safety, toilets, affordable transport — and check prices

New Delhi: Once women were marginalised voices, their decisions dictated by the men in their lives. Now, they are pivotal players in the political landscape of the country. Their significance lies not only in their sheer numbers but in their diverse perspectives, priorities and experiences. In Delhi, they are active voters, and though they constitute slightly less than 46% of the total electorate, their turnout in the last couple of elections has almost reached the level of the male turnout.

According to the Election Commission of India data, in the five years since 2019, 5.5 lakh women registered as new voters against 3.4 lakh new male voters. Women’s emergence as an influential voting bloc has prompted political parties to woo them through women-centric initiatives such as Aam Aadmi Party’s Mahila Samman Yojana of a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000 all women above 18 years and BJP’s Lakhpati Didi programme that aims at making women financially self-reliant.

Ahead of the May 25 polling in the capital, TOI spoke to women voters who talked of issues such as women’s security, lack of public toilets, safe and affordable transport, inflation and employment.

To the casual observer, Trilokpuri is a labyrinth of cramped alleyways, tenements and lively bazaars. Yet, for Guddi, 50, it’s a psychological chart determined by her survival instincts — which lane offers a shorter route for work and which of these lanes have no streetlights and should be avoided even if shorter to save herself from menacing groups.

But if Trilokpuri’s Guddi worries about safety in her downmarket locality, Namrata Sood, 60, who lives in an affluent south Delhi area, isn’t complacent about women’s security either. “Even in this time and age and in the country’s capital, we still lack safe and secure public spaces for women, especially after sundown,” said Sood. “I worry about my daughter returning late from work even when she takes her own vehicle. We keep reading about crimes against women continuing despite all the promises to secure their safety.”

Pushp Vihar resident Komal Devi, 40, who commutes on a DTC bus every day, has mastered her own defence mechanism: double buckling her bag to avoid thefts and draping herself with her dupatta to evade unwanted touches. Her big woe is that even though buses offer free travel to women now, the vehicles often don’t halt for them. This was confirmed in an October 2023 Greenpeace India survey, which reported that around 80.2% of women bus users surveyed said buses did not halt for them at the designated stops.

Although AAP's free transport has empowered someone like Vaishali, 27, who admitted travelling in DTC buses for over seven years now, she said, “It’s time for politicians in the capital to offer more to women than limiting their demands to safety measure. Women now demand job security, better healthcare and financial empowerment.”

There is now a growing demand for more economic opportunities for women. A native of UP, Pooja, who has completed her BBA course, currently works as a domestic worker in Vasant Kunj. In a country where women constitute a mere 37% of the workforce, the 23-year-old seeks a better employment opportunity. “We lost our father at an early age and after much difficulty, my mother got my graduation completed. However, after completing my studies, I couldn’t find a job, due to which I am working as a house help.”

Homemakers, often referred to as the domestic finance ministers, also worry about how far they can stretch the rupee. Inflation, therefore, is a major issue for them. South Delhi’s Sood said that the govt of the day needs to take a relook at the taxation policy. “Women are the primary buyers in any family. Something as basic as a set-up box has a GST charge to it. GST also increases the price of essential items for the household,” she said. “Ironically, diamonds have a lower GST rate than some of the daily necessities we buy, whose prices anyway have been increasing.”

Public toilets for women is a pressing matter for women of both disadvantaged and affluent sections. Sunita, 42, who lives in a Sakurpur Basti slum, said women there are forced to defecate in the open, risking their safety, because of the lack of public toilets. Anupama, 55, who runs a beauty parlour in Kamla Nagar market, talked of an identical lack in completely different environs. “Often women shoppers rush to our stores to ask where they can find a toilet. We have to either ask them to use a toilet at a nearby mall or sometimes even let them use our private washrooms,” said Anupama.

Reforms to boost girls’ access to quality education also resonate strongly among the voters. The women have asked political parties to prioritise women’s issues on their agendas. Many advocated policies to bring down gender disparities in education, healthcare, employment and representation.