• Home
  • News
  • Longform
  • Life
    • Jeans
    • Madam Zeenat’s Feminist Tarot
  • Health
  • Work
  • Culture
    • Books
    • Art
    • Music
    • Fashion
    • Cinema
    • TV
  • Sports
  • Kranti
  • Vaanthi
  • The FAK
  • About
    • Submissions
  • Home
  • News
  • Longform
  • Life
    • Jeans
    • Madam Zeenat’s Feminist Tarot
  • Health
  • Work
  • Culture
    • Books
    • Art
    • Music
    • Fashion
    • Cinema
    • TV
  • Sports
  • Kranti
  • Vaanthi
  • The FAK
  • About
    • Submissions
HomeNewsWhy Should We Bother with a Cabinet Reshuffle in K ...

Why Should We Bother with a Cabinet Reshuffle in Karnataka? It’s Just Another #Manel

May 13, 2016

By Vinay Kumar

umashree
Minister Umashree, only the 7th woman cabinet minister in Karnataka in 16 years

This week the Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah announced a cabinet reshuffle. The government of Karnataka over the last decade (2006-16) has had six Chief Ministers, three elections and two instances of President’s rule. The only thing that has been consistent is the number of woman ministers in the cabinet:  none to one.

Let’s go back further and look at the number of women in the cabinet over the last 17 years (1999-2016).  The current government (2013-..) has Umashree, Minister for Women and Child Development. The last government (2008-13)  had one woman in the cabinet:Shobha Karandlaje. And Karandlaje is the only woman who has held multiple portfolios and held ones that weren’t either women and child welfare or ones the men didn’t want.  Karandlaje held the portfolio for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (2008-09), Minister for Food and Civil Supplies (2010-12), Minister for Power (2010-13).

The HDK government (2006-08) had no women on the cabinet. And before that CM Dharam Singh’s cabinet had Bhagirathi M Gowda who held  (surprise!) the Women & Child Welfare portfolio. SM Krishna would have been the model CM for the state if the four women in his cabinet held any of the vied-for portfolios beyond Women and Child Welfare or Kannada & Culture.

No Name Year Portfolio
 

1

 

Umashree

 

2013-present

Minister for Women and Child Development, Empowerment of the Differently abled and Senior Citizens, Kannada Language and Culture
 

2

 

Shobha Karandlaje

 

2008-13

Minister for Rural development and Panchayat Raj (2008-09),

Minister for Food and Civil Supplies (2010-12)

Minister for Power (2010-13)

3 Bhagirathi M Gowda 2004-06 Women & Child Welfare
4 Motamma 1999-2004 Women & Child Welfare

 

5 Suma Vasanth

 

1999-2004 Muzrai
6 Rani Satish 1999-2004 Kannada & Culture

 

7  

Nafees Fazal

 

1999-2004 Science & Technology / Indian Systems of Medicine / Homoeopathy

Let’s do the math. In the last 16 years Karnataka has had 7 women cabinet ministers. And there are no signs that indicate the number will rise in the near future.

What do we expect from this reshuffle? Best case scenario: Minister Umashree holding on to her current portfolio.

Outside of Karnataka the situation is just as bleak. The highest number of women in a cabinet is four in West Bengal. Ten states have zero female representatives in the cabinet. And don’t forget that four states are having assembly elections in 2016 and barely 10% of the political candidates are women. How about that political future? Looking rosy yet?

Tags: cabinet, government, Karnataka, manel, poli, politicians, representation

Share!
Tweet

ladiesfinger

About the author

Related Posts

What Our Response to New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Reveals about our Political Leanings

A No-Vaanthi, No-Cry Guide to Panel Discussions

Shahi Exports’ Sonam Kapoor Connection is New but their Horrific Treatment of Workers Isn’t

Get Ready for All Our Politicians Fighting for Women’s Issues. As Long As a Man Wins

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Trending

Sorry. No data so far.

Subscribe to our email newsletter!

You May Also Like

  • After Payal Tadvi’s Death Can We Allow Medical Education to Continue to Pretend to be Casteless? May 28, 2019
  • Jokha Alharthi’s Man Booker Win Reminds Us of Oman’s Recent Slave-owning Past May 24, 2019
  • In Avengers: Endgame, Black Widow is Sexy, Sterile and So Burnt By Marvel May 12, 2019
  • Let Us Admit the Sins of Atishi Marlena May 10, 2019
  • 20 Questions for SC Panel that Cleared the CJI of Sexual Harassment Charges May 9, 2019


Online Bachchi, Dil Ki Sachchi

Come on over for feminist journalism.

Politics. Pop Culture. Health. Sex. Law. Books. Work.

We write what we want to read.

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund Policy
  • About
  • Contact Us

Subscribe to our email newsletter!

Keep up with us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on E-mail

Trending

Sorry. No data so far.

Copyright © 2018 The Ladies Finger
Subscribe to our RSS/Atom feed here