ET Women’s Forum: Countries that dealt with Covid-19 more efficiently have women leaders, says Mahua Moitra

MUMBAI: The pandemic has shattered a common myth that women only bring soft skills to the table, said parliamentarian Mahua Moitra. “Women’s leadership during the Covid-19 crisis and their ability to deal with black swan events have shown that hard skills are an integral part as well,” the Trinamool Congress lawmaker from West Bengal said at The Economic Times Women’s Forum.

“Post-Covid, we can change the narrative on women’s leadership from soft skills to hard skills,” she said. Speaking on the topic ‘Do women make better leaders from the Covid-19 perspective’, Moitra said countries that have dealt with Covid more efficiently score better on social progress index and have women leaders.

“Norway, Denmark, Finland, Germany, New Zealand and Iceland are top-tier in the social progress index,” said Moitra. Participation of women in politics in these countries is above 40% compared with the global average of 25%.


“The number in the Lok Sabha is about 14% and in the Rajya Sabha 10.7%,” she said.

In village elections, more than a third of seats is reserved for women. “But because there is no women’s reservation Bill, nothing has forced parties to give a certain amount of tickets to women,” she said. “There are only two parties today in the Lok Sabha that have greater than 40% women. One is the Trinamool Congress, which I belong to, and the other is the Biju Janata Dal from Odisha, and we have done it without a bill.”

She said to bring women to the forefront is not always required by legislation. “The Covid crisis has shown that the benefits of having invested in bringing half the population to the forefront is not only improving GDP, but improving social indicators across the board,” Moitra said.

Women can also play a critical role in building back better from the impact of the pandemic. “There is going to be no recovery without equality,” she said.