Under this Sikkim Succession Bill daughters will have an equal right to claim the share of the property of her parent and what is more, even divorced  and abandoned wives having subject holders can claim the equal share of her husband’s property. However, if a Sikkimese woman is married to non-Sikkimese then she will be deprived of this right. Likewise, in the Sikkim Municipalities Bill 40 % seats are reserved for women. This will have a great impact on Sikkimese women as it will make them actively involved in the decision making in the local self government body.
Mahatma Gandhi, the father of nation, once wrote a letter to Raj Kumari Amrit Kaur, an eminent Gandhian and freedom fighter, from Wardha on 21 October, 1936 “If you women would only realize your dignity and privilege, and make full use of it for mankind, you will make it much better than it is. But man has delighted in enslaving you and you have proved willing slaves till the slaves and slave holders have become one in the crime of degrading humanity. My special function from childhood, you might say, has been to make women realize their dignity. I was once a slave holder myself but Ba proved an unwilling slave and thus opened my eyes to my mission. Her task was finished. Now I am in search of a woman who would realize her mission. Are you that woman, will you be one?” Gandhi wanted to remove the fetter of women by giving good education and here in Sikkim it seems Chamling also is looking for the women who no longer want to sit back meekly but want to struggle for their rights.  There are still many reports of dowry deaths that are  read about in Newspapers. According to an article in Time magazine, deaths in India related to dowry demands have increased 15 fold since the mid-1980s from 400 a year to around 5,800 a year by the middle of the 1990s. In 1995, the national Crime Bureau of the Government of India reported about 6,000 dowry deaths every year. Recently a program of Directorate of Statistic and survey, Government of India, was held in Gangtok. One of the speakers Dr. Gopal Lama, South district medical officer, said that with the increase of educational status, the higher educated mothers are mostly adopting the practice of sex selection for the birth of sons and as a result of this the sex ratio is decreasing day by day in India. He also mentioned that the sex ratio in villages is not so poor compared to towns, as less educated or uneducated mothers do not have the know-how of such practices thus,  the sex ratio has not affected in the villages. Another important point is superstition and wrong conception have taken root from time immemorial so suddenly this conservative culture and mode of thinking cannot be uprooted from the society. Gradually, it can be checked by generating awareness. More importantly, the government should always come to the forefront to discourage such sex discrimination practices. Property right is an important right for women by which women can stand on her own feet and can be self sustained. It is also suggested that for the encouragement of adoption of daughters there is a need to introduce scholarship and different government schemes of higher education for girl students.  Pawan Chamling government has given 40% reservation to women in panchayat election and 30% for job reservation and now 40 % reservation in municipality. These are the  acts to empower women and effort to involve them in decision making. It is another bold step of Mr. Chamling because Hindu women’s right to property act, 1937 introduced by Dr. B.R.Ambedkar, do not cover Sikkim as it has a maximum population of tribals. But now the new act will extend the rights to women of the state. North Eastern states, if to say, have not any such prejudice on women as in tribal community man and women are equally treated by the society. So, the new act would be another step for the community to facilitate the women more empowered.

D.B.Rai