RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh has a favourable sex ratio of 991 females for every 1,000 males, compared to the national average of 943, according to the 2011 census. The state shows better political participation but has never seen women assume top administrative or judiciary positions.
During the past 25 years, after Chhattisgarh was carved out as a separate state from undivided Madhya Pradesh, there has been a long list of top bureaucrats and chief justices. Still, no woman has ever been seen assuming the seniormost position. For instance, of the 15 chief justices the high court has had, no women have held that position. Currently, the court has 16 judges, with Justice Rajni Dubey being the only woman judge.
Similarly, the state has yet to see a woman chief secretary or director general of police (DGP). In the last 25 years, there have been 12 chief secretaries and 12 DGPs in the state.
Women’s political participation is often a fundamental prerequisite for gender equality and genuine democracy. Chhattisgarh sustained an increase in women’s political engagement.
In the country, the state Assembly currently has the highest percentage of women MLAs, 21.11% among the total lawmakers, with 19 legislators in the 90-member House. Three out of the 11 Lok Sabha members are women from the state.
Though political parties often talk about greater representation of women, no woman has ever had a chance to become Speaker or LoP in the State Assembly.
Interestingly, with women playing a significant role in their choice as voters in elections, the political parties believed they had a strong impact on the overall poll results.
The state witnessed the conspicuous active participation of women, who outnumbered men as voters, in the electoral processes during the 2023 Assembly polls.
The women voters are 1.03 crore, while men are 1.01 crore out of the 2.05 crore electorates in the tenth largest state of the country. Kiran Kaushal was the first woman from Chhattisgarh to qualify UPSC exams and become IAS in 2009, and later, Ankita Sharma was the first woman to become IPS in the year 2018. Both are from Durg district.