Earlier this week there were media reports that 56 female housekeeping staff of an Institute of Fashion Technology in Hyderabad were sacked allegedly after they complained of sexual harassment by a male employee. The man continues to work in the institute while 56 women housekeeping staff were sacked. After protests and media scrutiny, the 56 women were reinstated in their jobs and an Internal complaints committee is looking into the matter. The same week also saw a record number of women enter India's parliament. The 17th Lok Sabha has the highest number of women MPs elected in the 2019 polls. There are a record 78 women MPs in the new Lok Sabha - but even that is a trifling 14 per cent only . We are asking what does this mean on the ground for Indian women? Will gender issues start getting some of the prominence it deserves? Does having more women in positions of leadership change anything on the ground? What does this mean for equal representation that goes beyond tokenism?
