India's first-ever dedicated women's party— the National Women's Party (NWP)— has decided to contest 283 of the total 545 Lok Sabha seats.
The NWP also strongly reiterated the demand of giving 50% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha.
Headed by a doctor and social activist, Dr Swetha Shetty, the NWP was formally launched in Mumbai on Monday.
"Our party is a historic step in mission to guarantee equal representation in the Parliament. The ideology behind formation of this party is to remove gender disparity in politics and thus creating equal importance for females in the patriarchal society," Dr Swetha told a news conference in Mumbai.
"The battle to get a reservation in the parliament has been for over 20 years now. The grueling fact is that we live in a society where most of the political decisions are governed by the males and not having an equal say in the Parliament just narrows the possibility of empowering women," she added.
With this party’s initiative, the NWP aims to create an environment for development of women that enables them to realize their full potential and help in achieving empowerment goals.
Talking about future plans, the NWP will soon launch a mobile app called Mahila Rakshak (Safety App) which aims to provide assistance to women during an emergency.
When in danger, the app requires its user to shake the phone or say 'HELP' multiple times which in turn sends an SMS alert to 3 friends and relatives.
"Women’s safety is of utmost importance considering the rise in cases of crimes in the recent times. Through these initiatives, I strongly wish that every girl should be able to live wholesome life and step out of home without any danger," she added.
The NWP also plans to open a Youth Parliament— a political school for women— in every state to provide practical and academic training so as to encourage women to involve in the political process.
