The Women’s Reservation Bill, introduced in the Indian parliament by the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2008 as the 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill, aims to reserve one-third (33%) of the seats in Lok Sabha (lower house) and all State Legislative Assemblies for women. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha (upper house) on 9 March 2010, but remains pending at the Lok Sabha (lower house).
The Bill was first presented in the parliament by the HD Deve Gowda-led United Front (UF) government on 12 September 1996. Successive governments have tried to pass the draft law in both houses of the parliament in vain.
Under this, the fair allocation of reserved seats is to be under the supervision of the then-existing authority as ratified by the parliament. The seats will be held on a rotational basis and a draw of lots would determine the seats in a way that a seat would be reserved only once in each three sequential general elections.
One-third of the total number of seats is to be reserved for women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The existence of the reservation of seats for women is to cease to exist 15 years after the implementation of the law.
Why reserve seats for women?
Reservation of seats in parliament is a potent tool to empower the womenfolk in society and encourage them to participate in political and parliamentary issues. Women should have rights at par to men to enter the parliament and a sense of such equality is maintained by reserving seats. This sort of uniformity sense makes a significant impact on India’s respect for women at a worldwide level.
There is little doubt that women have to bear the bulk of the injustices and discrimination in a society. Hence, if they enter the political arena in right numbers, these issues can be managed well. Reservation of seats for women can change the social structure of our country.
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More women inside parliament can be a strong motivation for other women outside the parliament, nudging them to recognise that they are too can be powerful. In this regard, reservations for women can infuse a strong sense of gender equality in society. They can facilitate a wider acknowledgement that women are not only successful at managing projects and financial matters, but can be equally good at contributing to national politico-economic growth. Women’s participation in decision-making processes can certainly bring about qualitative changes in the administration of a country or society.
As BR Ambedkar said, the primary method of estimating the advancement and progress of a community in a nation is to assess the progress and development of women in that community. That, for him, is genuine and real progress of the nation. Thus, there is never a better time for the Indian government to push for the Bill to include more women in the parliament through reservations.
Limited criticism
The main concern over this Bill is that gender reservation in politics would nullify the prevailing merit-based selection policy, which could also encourage corruption. It would be arguably unfair to the voters of a constituency who might be forced to choose candidates from a single gender during elections. They might want to choose another candidate, but would be forced to choose from only one gender.
The right and option to freely choose one’s leaders are fundamental and inherent to democracy. The allegation is that reservation for women in parliament would be the end of democracy.
But this is a dilemma that can be fixed. If political parties want to root for greater gender inclusion and simultaneously, not snatch away the voters’ fundamental right to choose one’s leader, the Election Commission can make rules for the recognised national parties to give tickets a certain fixed percentage of the tickets to women.
That would guarantee the opportunity of selection to the common public, and if the candidate has proved her ability to cope well with difficulties, she will be elected fairly. India throws up several examples of women in parliament who have done impeccable work, and have been elected repeatedly.
The global context
The Global Gender Gap Report 2019 claims that the widest gender gap is in the field of political empowerment. As per the Inter-Parliamentary Union 2019 report, women legislators account for hardly 24.3% of parliamentarians around the world.
The first country in the entire world to introduce a gender quota by law was Argentina in 1991. Others have adopted similar policies, either reserving seats for women in parliament, as in China, Pakistan, and many other Arab countries, or by political parties adopting quotas for women, as in Sweden, France, Canada and the UK. Rwanda has 30% reservation for women in politics, while Nepal and Afghanistan have 29% and 28%, respectively.
As per the Inter-Parliamentary report of February 2019, only three countries globally have 50% or more inclusion of women in parliament in single or lower houses – Rwanda with 61.3%, Cuba with 53.2% and Bolivia with 53.1%. Spain, France and Canada all have at least as many women as men.
Till, February 2019, only 24.3% of all national parliamentarians were women and as of June 2019, only 12 women are serving as Head of Government and only 11 women are performing as Head of State. There are a total of 27 states globally in which women occupy less than 10% of parliamentarians in a single or lower house.
Continuing lack of women’s representation in India
India, once governed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, continues to fall back on women’s representation in the parliament.
Out of the 724 women candidates who contested in the Lok Sabha elections of 2019, only 78 women have been chosen as Members of Parliament, which is 14.40% of the house. This ratio is higher than the 2014 Lok Sabha election where only 62 women reached the Lok Sabha.
As per the Inter-Parliamentary Union 2019 report, India ranks 149 out of 193 countries in women’s representation in politics, lagging behind not just countries like France, the US and the UK, but also neighbours like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
Reservations are intended to promote the idea that “equivalent chance” may not be a mirage to those historically subordinated by social structures, such as caste, gender, and race. The idea of equal women’s participation in politics is not new. In 1993, the 73rd and 74th amendment of the constitution promoted local self-governance, while actively empowering women as decision-makers, with one-third of the seats reserved for women.
In the present scenario, 20 states in India have even more than 50% representation of women in Panchayati Raj institutions.
In a global context, India performs far worse as compared to the global average of 24.3% (as of 2019), with only 14% women in its the national assembly (2019-24). India now has the opportunity to fix these dismal stats. Indian political parties need to understand their critical role as gatekeepers in women’s political participation. A political will and sense of urgency are needed to push the Bill through the parliament, just like how equal participation was ensured in the Panchayati Raj institutions.
An urgent imperative
The Bill could be favourable if the reservation policy is framed according to the culture, socioeconomic status, geographical location, education and the quantum of political development. The socioeconomic status of women in society has a direct impact on their involvement in politics. The financial freedom and economic empowerment of women could increase the chances for women to think beyond the limits of the household for active participation in national political affairs.
The active participation and support of women in all sectors and divisions must be the ultimate objective of the lawmaking process. Women have the power and ability to change various aspects of society, and sometimes they deal much better with certain issues. Grassroots-level participation of women in local electoral bodies should be guaranteed to boost their confidence and ease them into sharing their experience.
The Women’s Reservation Bill, thus, is an absolute necessity for India – not just to improve the statistics, but also to ensure uniform participation of women in elections and critical decision-making structures. Large-scale entry of women in politics can go a long way in smashing the glass ceiling of a male-dominated and male-centric society.
Views expressed are the authors’ own.
Astutya Prakhar is a law student at the National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi.
Prachi Shikha is a law student at the ICFAI Law School, Dehradun.
Featured image: Photo by Tom Chen on Unsplash
