We've been asking Indian voters to tell us what they want a new government to address . For the country's women, education and safety from sexual violence are paramount

One summer afternoon in 2011, I found myself at Surpur, a Dalit village in Rajasthan's Alwar district, 200km from Delhi. Surpur is a bare, no-frills village: a cluster of haphazardly built, single-storey, unpainted, bricks-and-mortar houses. These are home to 50 families, mainly landless, daily wage labourers. There are no concrete roads, transportation facilities or public health centres. The only state largesse that the village seemed to have was a two-room primary school and two hand pumps for drinking water. I remember two things from that trip: the energy-sapping heat and my meeting with Rajbala, a vibrant 16-year-old girl.

Rajbala was a celebrity of sorts in Surpur: she was the first girl of the village to pass her school-leaving exams. "My parents wanted me to work in our fields … but I wanted to study," she told me that afternoon, adding that her aim was to go to a college in Jaipur, the state capital, 170km south of Alwar, to study further. "But my plans may not work out," Rajbala said quietly, half expecting – I think – to hear some encouraging words from her mother. There were none.



Education



I remembered Rajbala when I met 20-year-old Rashida Khan, a college student, at Seoni in Madhya Pradesh, in March this year.



When I asked Rashida what she wants from India's new government, she said in a flash: "Better education facilities for women and a safe environment." Some of her classmates agree. It's not surprising why they focus on these two issues: the young girls have career dreams but are staring at an uncertain future, because the provincial town they live in doesn't have the opportunities to match their ambitions, and relocating to a bigger city may not be feasible. "I would like to go to the state capital, Bhopal, to study further. But that would mean renting a place to stay, food and transportation costs ... My parents cannot pay for all this because my father is a farmer with limited income," one of Rashida's classmates explained.

Better security and educational opportunities for women Young student Rashida Khan of Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, wants the new government to safeguard women's rights, end violence against women and improve educational facilities for women

There are plenty of courageous young girls like Rajbala and Rashida out there, waiting for a chance to change their lives. They are part of the 49% of female voters, a big enough group that is pushing political parties to take them seriously.



Voter Pledges Voter pledges have been facilitated and undertaken by women, anganwadi workers and ASHA workers so as to contribute to ethical voting processes. Across villages in a rural district in Madhya Pradesh, pledges are a way to ensure that people would cast their votes effectively and without any prejudices thus contributing to fair and free elections.

The BJP has promised to help girls continue and complete school education and improve the higher education structure, while the Congress party has promised to improve the quality of secondary education. AAP has also promised special educational provisions for girls.

According to Unicef, the proportion of girls who attend school remains low in comparison with boys of their age. Only around 70% of girls between the age of six and 10 attend primary school, as opposed to 76% boys in the same age group. The situation is a lot worse at the upper primary level where only 40% of girls attend school. There are many factors behind this disparity: poverty, social and cultural beliefs that discriminate against girls – outlined here in the Power of 49 manifesto. Also there's the distance of secondary schools, lack of toilets in schools and, more importantly, lack of safety.

A combination of these factors put a question mark over Rajbala's ambition to move to Jaipur. But there are some who have managed to follow their dreams. Some months ago I met Divya, a chartered accountancy student, on the Delhi Metro: "I am from Jhajjar. My parents are semi-literate farmers." Jhajjar in Haryana has the dubious distinction of having the worst sex ratio in the country. "I did not want to stay there … it was suffocating and, in any case, the most one could dream of was becoming a teacher," she said. She is lucky; her parents supported her. “I want to be as successful as the Ambanis [a leading Indian business family] one day,” she told me with quiet confidence. Her parents have only one worry, she added: her safety. "My mother worries a lot … Jhajjar is not safe, but Delhi is hardly better." Incidentally the Delhi metro has a women-only coach – a huge comment, I think, on the safety issue.

Women's safety and sexual violence

The threat of violence against women is real and it's not surprising that we have received many contributions on this important issue.



Rape Survivor made victim to patriarchy and caste She belongs to a Dalit family in Rajasthan. She was raped when she was 16 years old by boys from her village's dominating caste. She dropped out of school. Her sister studying in the same school dropped out of school. Her family was ostracised by their own community and made to pay a fine of INR 11,000. ActionAid India's partner NGO put pressure on the police to register an FIR and ensure medical care for her. We demand One Stop Crisis Centres for rape survivors are set up in each panchayat for quick support to the girls and women at a time when they are most vulnerable. We demand faster resolution of cases higher conviction rates for this horrible crime. Photo credit: Vasso Balou/ActionAid

The data is disturbing: about 70% of women in India experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime. After the dreadful gang rape of a paramedic in Delhi, large-scale protests forced the government to pass the stringent Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill in 2013. "The new law is rigorous … but it can't change patriarchal mindsets … The change has to begin at home," Karishma Datta, who works in an ad agency, told me. "I work late and then drive back home. My parents are usually awake till I reach home."

The Power of 49 manifesto has demanded a women-specific agenda in political manifestos, report cards on women's safety in cities, a fund for acid attack survivors (more on this later) and a women’s tribunal. While the main three parties have tried to court female voters, promising to take strong measures to ensure safety, some other national parties – they could become coalition partners at the national level once the results are out – have only angered the 49%.

Recently, the Samajwadi party (SP) chief, Mulayam Singh Yadav, suggested that the new law is too harsh for those convicted of rape. Yadav and many like him who have made rape a political issue in a negative way are out of sync with the voters, though; an opinion poll by the Pew Research Centre found 90% of Indians consider rape a very big problem in the country, while just 3% called it a small one. Most people, 82%, also considered the situation to be getting worse. Almost as many, 78%, said law enforcement is not tough enough towards rapists, while 74% said the laws themselves were not tough enough.



Yet, politicians like Yadav know their constituency well and in those rural pocket boroughs the law has not managed to change attitudes. Interestingly, the SP’s candidate in one of the constituencies in urban Mumbai quickly condemned the comment.



This lack of basic amenities also makes women vulnerable to sexual violence. This video, submitted by Anshuman Gupta, shows interesting links between availability of water and toilets and women’s safety. The women are discussing how going out in the dark to relieve themselves and trudging kilometres for water can become a safety issue.

What the women want This small interaction with some forward thinking women of Surajpur, Chattisgarh shows that their immediate concern is provision of the most basic facilities like drinking water and sanitation. They also expect the Government to provide them with better livelihood opportunities which would make them self dependent.

Since the gang rape in Delhi in 2012, women's safety has become an important issue for Indians, but for some reason, acid attack victims often get forgotten in the wider public debate. Victims of acid violence are attacked for many reasons: sometimes they result from domestic or land disputes, dowry demands or revenge. In many cases they are a form of gender-based violence, perhaps because a young girl or woman spurned sexual advances or rejected a marriage proposal. This important issue has been raised by Suneet Shukla.

Regulation of acid sale at the point of production We have been campaigning against acid attacks for over a year to highlight the gruesome crime. Last year the Supreme Court in India regulated the sale of acid in the open market, but the attacks go on and acid continues to be easily available. The Indian government, as a rational measure, can regulate the sale of acid at the points of production. The production and distribution of acid needs to be controlled with a sincere effort that stops harmful acid from reaching into the market. Also, the compensation scheme should be re-evaluated, and made easy to access in case of an acid attack. The facilities at the burns ward of government hospitals needs to be revamped throughout the country.

Though there was lot of discussion in the media when the supreme court regulated the sale of acid, it's campaigners like Laxmi, from the Stop Acid Attacks movement, who try to change public attitudes. "People stare at me. Initially children in my area would run away when they saw me. I am used to it now," she told me, as we sat down at a coffee shop for coffee and sandwiches. "I want the government to provide better medical facilities and compensation for acid attack victims." Today, she, with the help of other members at SAA, is crowdsourcing funds to build a shelter for acid attack victims in Delhi. Laxmi was also awarded the International Women of Courage Award by Michelle Obama.



There are no official figures for acid attacks in India but it's estimated that there are up to 1,000 a year. But from this year, thanks to the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill in 2013, the National Crime Records Bureau will start keeping a separate record for acid attack victims.



Political participation



To ensure that these issues stay at the top of the government's agenda it's important that women come out in large numbers and vote for the right candidates. This is the issue Meena Bokre, a second semester economics student, has highlighted.

'Women must come out in large numbers to vote' Meena Bokre, a second semester economics student, says that women, especially those from rural parts India, must come out in large numbers to vote. "Only if women come out and exercise their choice, we can hope for clean and good candidates", she says. "And also ensure that women get more economic opportunities".

Many feel that issues related to women would get a greater push if they were better representation in parliament. There is already a 33% quota for female village leaders in India, which changed perceptions of women’s abilities, improved women’s electoral chances and raised aspirations and educational attainment for adolescent girls. But as Parvinda Singh outlines, at the national level, India’s MPs have been unable to pass the women’s reservation bill despite commitments from mainstream political parties.



Female candidates are only 7% among 3,355 candidates in the first five phases of the nine-stage election, says Delhi-based public interest organisation the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

This lack of real support – and not just lip service – from the political parties means that the passage of the bill will not be easy and female voters know it. Unsurprisingly, many like Jyotsna Chatterji (Joint Women's Programme), feel that this election women have lost, despite being 49% of the electorate.



It's not surprising that Chatterji feels that way. As we near the last lap of the election (two of the nine phases are left), unfortunately what one hears is not debates on issues such as those mentioned above but leaders engaging in vicious personal attacks against each other. I am not even optimistic that the important issues raised by the contributors here will be tackled very soon. I say this because by the time the next government gets down to work, it will have to deal with a sagging economy, a weak monsoon and possibly a tricky coalition.

However, giving up is just not an option. And the only way to keep the issues alive is to stay involved in the political process and push as much as we can. After all, 49% is no mean figure.



Many thanks to everyone for their contributions so far. You can see all of them and submit the issues you care about via GuardianWitness. We're particularly interested in hearing from India's young people for our next blog.