In September 2023, the Lok Sabha (LS) and Rajya Sabha (RS) passed Women's Reservation Bill 2023 (128th Constitutional Amendment Bill) or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. The Women Reservation Bill in India reserves one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies and the Delhi assembly. This Women's Reservation Bill will also apply to the seats reserved for SCs (Scheduled Castes) and STs (Scheduled Tribes) in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures.
What is the Need for the Women Reservation in India?
The discussion upon the reservation of women reservation bill is prevalent since the tenure of Former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996. As the then Government lacked a majority, the Bill could not have been approved.
Here are some earlier attempts at reserving seats for women:
- 1996: First Women Reservation Bill was introduced in the Parliament.
- 1998 – 2003: Government tabled the Bill on 4 occasions but failed.
- 2009: Government tables the bill amid protests.
- 2010: The Union Cabinet passes the Bill and RS passes it.
- 2014: The Bill was expected to be tabled in LS.
But the question is why this Bill, when there is a talk of gender equality all around? Accordingly to expects, these are key reasons:
- Under Representation of Women in Indian Parliament: There are 82 women Member of Parliaments in Lok Sabha (15.2%) and 31 women in Rajya Sabha (13%).
- According to recent UN Women data, Rwanda (61%), Cuba (53%), Nicaragua (52%) are the top three countries in women representation.
- Even Bangladesh (21%) and Pakistan (20%) as well are ahead of India in case of female representation.
Table 1: Country data on political representation of women (as of September 2023)
|
Country
|
% of elected women
|
Quota in Parliament
|
Quota in political parties
|
|
Sweden
|
46%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Norway
|
46%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
South Africa
|
45%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Australia
|
38%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
France
|
38%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Germany
|
35%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
UK House of Commons
|
35%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Canada
|
31%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
US House of Representatives
|
29%
|
No
|
No
|
|
US Senate
|
25%
|
No
|
No
|
|
Bangladesh
|
21%
|
Yes
|
No
|
|
Brazil
|
18%
|
No
|
Yes
|
|
Japan
|
10%
|
No
|
No
|
Table 2: shows the share of women members in the Lok Sabha over time (in %).
|
Year
|
Percentage
|
|
1952
|
4.9%
|
|
1957
|
4.5%
|
|
1962
|
6.3%
|
|
1967
|
5.6%
|
|
1971
|
5.6%
|
|
1977
|
3.5%
|
|
1880
|
5.3%
|
|
1984
|
8.2%
|
|
1985
|
3.7%
|
|
1984-85
|
7.9%
|
|
1989
|
5.5%
|
|
1991-92
|
7.3%
|
|
1996
|
7.4%
|
|
1998
|
7.9%
|
|
1999
|
9%
|
|
2004
|
8.3%
|
|
2009
|
10.9%
|
|
2014
|
11.4%
|
|
2019
|
14.4%
|
What are the Key Highlights of the Bill?
Here are some key features and highlights of the bill. This will bring home why is women reservation bill important and what is the status of women’s reservations in India
1. Women Reservation in Lok Sabha
The Bill provided for inserting Article 330A to the constitution, which borrows from the provisions of Article 330, which provides for reservation of seats to SCs/STs in the Lok Sabha. The Bill provided that reserved seats for women may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in states or Union Territories. In the seats reserved for SCs/STs, the Bill sought to provide one-third of the seats to be reserved for women on rotational basis.
2. Reservation for Women in State Legislative Assemblies:
The Bill introduces Article 332A, which mandates the reservation of seats for women in every state Legislative Assembly. Additionally, one-third of the seats reserved for SCs and STs must be allocated for women, and one-third of the total seats filled through direct elections to the Legislative Assemblies shall also be reserved for women.
3. Reservation for Women in NCT of Delhi (New clause in 239AA):
Article 239AA to the constitution grants special status to the Union Territory of Delhi as national capital with regards to its administrative and legislative functioning.
Article 239AA(2)(b) was amended by the bill accordingly to add that the laws framed by parliament shall apply to the National Capital territory of Delhi.
4. Commencement of Reservation (New article - 334A):
The reservation will be effective after the census conducted after the commencement of this Bill has been published. Based on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women.
The reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years. However, it shall continue till such date as determined by a law made by Parliament.
5. Rotation of Seats:
Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law made by Parliament.
Arguments Against the Bill?
Key Issues and Analysis of the Women’s Reservation Bill reflect that the Bill merely reads that it shall come into effect “after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first Census taken after commencement of the Bill is undertaken.” It doesn’t specify the cycle of elections from which women will get their due share.
The current women reservation Bill does not provide women’s reservation in the Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Councils. The Rajya Sabha currently has lower representation of women than the Lok Sabha. Representation is an ideal that must be reflected in both the Lower and Upper Houses.
