Evescape

Leading the Swedish way I met Annika Skogar, a young political science student from Lund, Sweden in the January of 2013. Lund, she informed me, is situated in the south of  Sweden, some 40 minutes away from Copenhagen, the capital city of Denmark. She worked for the student's magazine at Lund University and was also involved in Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She was in Goa on a scholarship from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and was researching on women issues, gender equality in politics and engaged in meeting politicians, activists, government officials and other stakeholders since the summer of 2012. This was when she came across Evescape (the women's magazine I had launched that year) and wanted to meet me. That was also the year when the BJP led Goa Government under chief minister Manohar Parrikar had launched the Laadli Laxmi scheme, as a response to the skewed male-female ratio. Evescape believed that a solution to the...

A Political Rock Star On January 27, I was glued to the television set watching the live telecast of the inauguration of the third Mandovi Bridge named Atal Setu . Termed as an engineering marvel, this bridge is the third longest cable-stayed bridge in India with a total length of 5.1 kilometers. Apart from the razzle-dazzle of the event, I was paying keen attention to the demeanor of the ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, popularly referred to as Bhayi (older brother). It was his first public appearance after several months and as the camera focused on him, it was obvious that the ailment has taken a toll on the leader. However, despite the physical weakness, a never say die spirit was writ large on his face and the sheer enthusiasm (which his critics termed as 'hunger for power') was inspiring to say the least. He appeared unperturbed by the trials (personal and political) while trying to inspire confidence in others. As he cheered the gathering asking, ...

Affirmative Action on Gender Equity  is the Most Urgent Task  Since the March of 2017, I have been deligently working on creating a document encapsulating all that I’ve learned while running campaigns to garner women support in politics. Among other things the document aims to chart practical measures to chip away at the barriers that keep women away. It underlines the need to promote parity in the party's internal structures, include equal representation at party events and conferences, appoint women and men equally to party decision-making positions, provide women members with a platform to voice their questions and place these issues onto the policy agenda at the highest levels of party leadership.  Additionally, this document which can serve as a manual, aims to build discussion platforms to allow women to create networks with other women leaders and their supporters. The challenge is two-fold: 1. sustain our own engagement with the political process on ba...