Ever wondered who is updating the CSR Facebook page, searching for the latest statistics on crimes against women, or assisting our core team in envisioning, coordinating and facilitating our projects and programs?

We are always very proud of our enthusiastic young interns in the CSR office. Over the years we’ve had interns join us from both across the country and across the world – from Punjab, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra in India to Scotland, Germany, Canada and Georgia. They’ve worked on a variety of projects such as Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, the I Stand for Safe Delhi campaign, Human Rights Defenders training workshops and numerous research projects. We’d like to introduce you to some of our current hard working interns!

Meet Prerna Dharni, Gender Training Institute Intern at Centre for Social Research, from Chandigarh, India.

GTI Intern Prerna Dharni taking part in the I Stand for Safe Delhi campaign 2011

What led to you joining the Centre for Social Research team?

I’m a single child and grew up hearing people tell my parents it was important to have a boy to “complete” the family. It unsettled me that people still thought like that. I’ve been interested in women and gender studies since an early age but it was really during my student life that my level of interest intensified. I graduated with a Masters in International Politics from JNU in 2010.

What does your role at CSR include?

I work in the Gender Training Institute (GTI). I mainly plan and execute workshops on gender sensitisation with college students, police, teachers and government officials. I am also the intern coordinator, which involves responding to applications and interviewing prospective interns. I also write articles for the CSR blog, work on awareness campaigns, and assist with our ‘Women in Democracy’ project.

What is the most interesting thing you have learned during your internship about women in politics?

I’m interested in the role reservation has played at the Panchayat level to empower women politically. These women exhibit confidence and provide hope for a more gender-inclusive political system in India.

What do you like most about living in Delhi?

I am a foodie and a history freak so Delhi is a perfect place for me to fulfill both of those passions! I love visiting old monuments and places of historical relevance, and trying all of the food that the city has to offer.

Leading politicians, activists and academics met yesterday at a CSR-organised event entitled, “Women’s Reservation Bill: The Road Ahead,” to demand the passage of the 33% Women’s Reservation Bill and call for greater gender equality throughout India. With approximately 200 people in attendance at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, we also passed a resolution calling for the Lok Shabha to pass the Bill, which mandates that 33 percent of seats are reserved for female politicians in national and state assemblies, without delay.

At the same time, we celebrated the release of CSR Director Dr. Ranjana Kumari’s newest book, “Reign She Will,” which chronicles developments within the women’s movement since Indian independence, while also laying out key reasons why the immediate passage of the Reservation Bill is so crucial.  “While the Bill still waits,” Dr. Kumari remarked, “women will not.”

Dr. Anand Kumar, a senior sociology professor at JNU, spoke on the increasing gap between rich and poor in India, and the high levels of corruption in the Lok Shabha. The only way to save the country from this corruption, he argued, is through democratic participation of the people at the grass roots—and that means more female politicians ensuring a fair representation of India’s women in politics.

Dr. Prabha Thakur, President of the All India Mahila Congress and Member of Parliament representing Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha, described women as the backbone of society who we must respect and give their due.

Dr. Kiran Bedi, India’s first and highest ranking female Indian Police Service officer (retired in 2007), argued that since the Bill has not been passed, it’s apparent that political parties are not truly willing to support and implement the Bill despite what they say in front of the media. She also argued that those few women already inside Parliament walls are reluctant to support the Bill, fearing that more women in politics will mean less power for existing female politicians.

Dr. D. Raja, National Secretary of the Communist Party of India, proclaimed, “Unless India acknowledges the importance of gender equality and achieve it we are not a full civilization.”

On a different note, Ms. Chandresh Kumari MP, Indian National Congress Party and President, Parliamentary Committee of Empowerment and Advancement of Women, said that the passing of the Bill is tokenism, and that real mark of success is in the implementation.

View more photos of the speakers and participants at Centre for Social Research’s Flickr account.

Around 5,000 women from across India rallied near Jantar Mantar in India with the slogan, “We’re not begging: We are demanding our rights” as a part of a rally to pass the 33 percent Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha. The Bill, which will ensure that one-third of the entire Parliament is reserved for women, was recently passed in the Rajya Sabha, the lower Parliamentary house.

A delegation representing 350 women’s and civil society groups from all over India met President Pratibha Patil and appealed to use her power to get the Bill passed in this session of Parliament. The delegation presented a memorandum signed by thousands of women and men to President Patil which noted that the “passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha has been a significant step, but the Bill does not become law unless it is passed in the Lok Sabha and endorsed by at least 15 state assemblies.”

The delegates told President Patil that this is a now-or-never moment for the country. Passing the Bill would be a historic step, not just for India, but also for the world. President Patil expressed her full and unequivocal support for the Women’s Reservation Bill. Speaking to a delegation representing the Alliance for 33%, she said, “I am with you, as my speech to Parliament indicated. Women’s reservation is good for the country.”

Even as the delegates were meeting the president, a mammoth rally of thousands of men, women and children was taking place outside Parliament. The delegates presented the President with a special cap and umbrella, which had the campaign message emblazoned on them. They told the president that it was symbolic of the demand of all the rally’s participants, including notable personalities like Sharmila Tagore, Shabana Azmi, Javed Akhtar, and prominent parliamentarians like Jayanthi Natarajan, Brinda Karat, D. Raja, and Christine Lazarus.

Everyone at Centre for Social Research is celebrating the successful passage of the much-awaited Women’s Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha! We’re still optimistic about it potentially clearing in Lok Sabha later today.

The Bill was finally passed yesterday in the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Indian National Parliament) after going through a lot of chaotic debate on Monday. The Bill is expected to help bring more women into the political mainstream and give them more tangible political and economic power. This is undoubtedly a historic achievement for everyone in the biggest democracy of the world.

“Although this legislature is finally passing after years of toil jumping over hundreds of hurdles, we are elated to see it getting passed in the Upper House, and are hopeful for its passage in Lok Sabha, too,” said our Director Dr. Ranjana Kumari. “We thank the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the opposition party and all other political parties who have supported and ensured the passage of the bill.”

The practise of reserving seats for women in the local bodies started with the Panchayati Raj Act of 1992 and granted no less then 33% reservation to the women in Panchayati Raj (a political system advocating for villages to administer their affairs through separate, decentralized governments) institutions and local bodies. However, successive governments since 1996 have been promising and trying to reserve 33% seats for women in Parliament with little headway being achieved until today.

Countless rallies, marches, petitions, campaigns, media cooperation and press conferences have been organised in the last five years to mount pressure on policy makers and garner support from women from different parts of the country.

CSR Director Dr. Ranjana Kumari on this historic moment

An alliance of nearly 35 of India’s most influential women’s organizations held a demand meeting today to pressurize parliamentarians to pass the much delayed Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha. Nearly 1,000 activists participated in the meeting to lend impetus to the women’s struggle towards political equality.

The alliance included Centre for Social Research, WomenPowerConnect, Stree Shakti, Action India, All India Women’s Conference and Mahila Congress.

Some of the most prominent meeting attendees included Smt. Girija Vyas, Chairperson, National Commission of Women; Smt. Chandresh Kumari, Member of Parliament (MP); Dr. Ranjana Kumari, President, Women Power Connect ; Director, Centre for Social Research; Mr. Madhu Yakshi (MP); Shivanand Tiwari (MP) and Ms. Prabha Thakur, President, Mahila Congress.

“The Bill has been facing strong opposition from the Yadav trio. Our meeting will bring together the collective voices of women who want political equality. We will continue to mount pressure and garner support from parliamentarians to ensure that the Bill gets passed in Lok Sabha,” said our own Dr. Ranjana Kumari.

The bill has evoked sharp opposition from the Yadav trio, who’ve demanded a quota within the quota for women from backward communities and minorities. Mulayam Singh and Lalu Prasad have threatened to withdraw support if the government signs the Bill in its present form.

The passage of the Bill in Rajya Sabha (Council of States) in March 2010 was a historic moment when the major national parties reached a political consensus. Despite the vast political differences between each party, all supported the Congress-led bill, including the BJP and the Left who were in the opposition.

Efforts to mobilise support for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill received a major boost today when the President of India, Pratibha Patil, noticed our online signature campaign! Our web-based petition received a response letter from the Presidents’ office acknowledging the initiative and promising a recommendation.

Since the online petitionlaunched, hundreds of letters supporting the bill from different parts of the country have been received at the President’s office through CSR. The Women’s Reservation Bill will help bring women into the political mainstream and give them tangible political and economic power.

Despite a female President, attempts to increase the presence of women representatives in Parliament and state bodies have failed miserably thus far. Our Director, Dr. Ranjana Kumari says, “Indian women crossed a measly 10 percent mark in the last general elections, and have never occupied more seats than that. Our record for sending women to Parliament is among the worst in the world. Out of 135 countries, India is number 105. The level of political empowerment is an important influence on the status of gender equity in any nation.”

In the United Nations Development Programme’s Gender Gap Rankings, New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Finland, the UK and Germany rank at the top while India comes in at number 24 in gender equality. During the last 15 years, around 50 countries have introduced legal quotas inscribed in constitutional or electoral rules, ensuring a stipulated minimum representation of women in the decision-making body.

Sign the petition to voice your support for putting more women in politics!