The Use of ICT by Elected Representatives: A Study of Women MPs

As Abraham Lincoln has said, democracy is government of the people, for the people and by the people. Citizens elect their representative for governing them, and for making suitable policies for the development of the country. Earlier, the involvement of the citizens in the democracy was limited because of insufficiency of the means for connecting with their representatives. But with the emergence of new communication technologies, democracy has gained a new dimension – the participation of the citizens has increased. They can comment on, criticize or support their representatives, their parties and the policies of the government. The use of mobile phone, new apps, internet and social networking sites has been increasing exponentially in India. New platforms have become available for people to voice their opinions. And with this new communication technology politicians can connect with their voters or supports. Out of 1.29 billion population women constitute more than 625 million which means almost 50% of the total population. The level of participation of women in the politics is important to build sustainable democracy. They should get fair representation only then democracy can deliver for all of its citizens. They have capacity and potential to shape the society. With this belief woman politicians have more responsibility. They can bring different views and perspectives to many issues by voicing their opinions on available platforms. It may help to generate gender sensitivity towards many issues and views. Researcher believes that the existence of women on different platforms like radio, television, print and social networking sites, is more likely to provide positive role models for girls to join different fields including politics and gain the confidence. The new tools of communication have made one-on-one interaction easier, cheaper and less time consuming, and therefore so much more extensive and effective. But the larger question here is, how aware are our elected representatives of these tools? In other words, do they use new communication technologies? Do they have their own websites? Do they use social networking sites to interact with their voters or member of the constituency? Do they respond to emails? What is their opinion about the new media? This is an attempt to find out answers to all the above questions. Out of 543 elected MPs there are 66 women Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha 2014. In case of Maharashtra out of 48, there are five women MPs. This is a case study of the usage of new communication technology by all the women MPs. This study hopes to examine women MP‟s attitude towards the communication technology. Effective use of new media can enhance communication between the citizens and their representatives. This will lead to a better and healthier democracy