Historical Women’s Reservation Bill Passed by the Parliament

In India, approximately 90% of legislators are male, reflecting women’s disadvantaged social status. Since gaining independence, there have been assurances that democracy would facilitate a more balanced representation of both genders in politics. The introduction of reservations in the 1990s enabled women’s participation in local government. Since then, significant political parties have endorsed a proposal to extend reservations to the Lok Sabha, the lower House of the Indian Parliament, and state legislatures. However, it has never been enacted into law.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill of 2023, which grants 33% reservation to women in both Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies nationwide, has been successfully passed by Parliament. While the Central government has received praise for this landmark step toward women’s political participation, the opposition has highlighted that it could still be several years before the Bill is implemented and takes full effect. After three decades of stagnation, the Women’s Reservation Bill was finally passed. The question now is when it will begin to yield tangible results.

The women’s reservation bill, named; “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,” was passed in the Parliament on Thursday, the last day of the special session. In September 1996, they passed a comparable bill,  and successive Indian governments have attempted to pass it into law over the years, only to encounter strong opposition from conservative regional parties. In 2010, for example, Mulayam Singh Yadav, a leader of the socialist Samajwadi Party, expressed the view that they were not against women but advocated for reservations to be extended first to women from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds. This stance resulted in a voting deadlock for a similar bill.

After a 27-year journey, the Women’s Reservation Bill achieved near-unanimous approval in the Lower House on Wednesday and cleared the Upper House soon afterward. The final step for the Bill to become law is the President’s signature. Furthermore, the U.N. Women applauded the Bill. They called it one of the most progressive and transformative pieces of legislation to bring women into the highest decision-making bodies. The Bill would also ensure parity to some extent.

Article 334A of the Women’s Reservation Bill stipulates that they will enforce the provisions of the Constitution related to reserving seats for women in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi following a process of delimitation. This delimitation will be conducted for this specific purpose after the pertinent data from the first Census taken after the commencement of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act of 2023 has been published.

• Reserving One-Third of Seats: The Bill reserves approximately one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi for women. This reservation also extends to seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (S.C.s) and Scheduled Tribes (S.T.s) in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures.
• Effective Commencement: The reservation will come into effect following the publication of the Census conducted after the Bill’s commencement. Delimitation will be carried out based on this Census to allocate seats for women. The reservation will be in effect for 15 years, but it may continue beyond that period if determined by a law enacted by Parliament.
• Rotation of Seats: Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law passed by Parliament. This ensures a fair and periodic redistribution of reserved seats among different constituencies.

The effectiveness of the Women’s Reservation Bill hinges on two crucial processes: the delimitation exercise and the Census.

The delimitation exercise involves demarcating boundaries for territorial constituencies in a country. In simpler terms, it redraws the boundaries of Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies based on the latest population data, resulting in an adjustment of the number of constituencies. This process is essential to balance the number of constituencies and the population and provide equitable representation, including reserved seats for specific categories such as women. This applies to the general population and Scheduled Castes (S.C.s) and Tribes (S.T.s).

In India, the delimitation exercise has been conducted only four times, following the Delimitation Commission Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972, and 2002. It’s important to note that the Census 2021 was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With the Lok Sabha election scheduled for 2024, the Women’s Reservation Bill may only come into effect before the 2029 general elections, contingent on completing a delimitation process aligned with the Census findings.

However, the opposition argues that the Women’s Reservation Bill should not require a caste census and delimitation to be implemented and should take effect shortly after being passed by Parliament.

The journey towards providing reservation for women in Indian politics has faced numerous challenges and setbacks. The introduction of articles 243D and 243T in the Constitution via the Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act, 1992 and the Constitution (74th Amendment) Act, 1992, respectively, marked the first step towards women’s reservation in Panchayats and Municipalities.

The next significant step was the introduction of the Constitution (81st Amendment) Bill, 1996, which aimed to reserve at least one-third of the total seats filled by direct election in the House of the People and State Legislative Assemblies for women. The Joint Committee of Parliament strengthened some provisions of the Bill, including extending reservation even in cases where the number of seats was less than three in a State or Union territory. However, this Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 11th Lok Sabha.

Subsequent attempts to provide reservation for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies were made with the Constitution (84th Amendment) Bill, 1998, and the Constitution (85th Amendment) Bill, 1999. Unfortunately, these efforts also faced challenges and did not result in the passage of the Bills due to a lack of consensus among political parties. The most recent attempt was in 2008 when the Manmohan Singh government introduced the Bill in Rajya Sabha, where they passed it in 2010. However, it could not be passed in Lok Sabha and ultimately lapsed with the dissolution of the House. This history illustrates the long and challenging path toward achieving gender parity in Indian politics.

According to Reuters, women currently hold around 15% of seats in the lower House, accounting for 82 out of 550 seats. The representation of women in the upper House is even lower, with 31 out of 250 seats occupied by women, equating to about 12%. A 2015 Report on the Status of Women in India by the Ministry of Women and Child Development highlighted the dismal state of women’s representation in both parliament and state assemblies, particularly in senior decision-making roles.

Apart from Parliament, India has had only one woman Prime Minister and two female Presidents since gaining independence in 1947. Additionally, there have been only 15 female Chief Ministers in the country’s history. These statistics place India, often referred to as the world’s largest democracy, at the lower end of the global rankings for gender parity in legislatures. The country ranked 141st out of 185 nations in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Report.

The Women’s Reservation Bill coincides with a period when women in India have become increasingly active as voters. Women now make up nearly half of India’s 950 million registered voters, which has grown steadily in each election over the past two decades. Studies have demonstrated that women tend to vote differently from men. For instance, an analysis of a closely contested election in 2005 in northern Bihar revealed that women played a significant role in electing new candidates. The government has stated that the Women’s Reservation Bill intends to facilitate increased involvement of women in policymaking at both the state and national levels.

The reservation policy for women in Indian politics generates a range of opinions and perspectives. Proponents emphasize the need for affirmative action to uplift the status of women. Recent studies on panchayats have indicated the positive impact of reservation on women’s empowerment and resource allocation. Opponents argue that such reservations may perpetuate the perception that women are not competing on merit, potentially undermining their status. They also contend that this policy could divert attention from broader electoral reforms, including addressing issues like the criminalization of politics and promoting inner-party democracy. Some experts suggest alternative methods, such as reserving seats within political parties and implementing dual-member constituencies, to achieve gender parity in politics.

The Women’s Reservation Bill is crucial as it seeks to provide more excellent gender representation in India’s political landscape, offering women opportunities to participate in policymaking at the national and state levels. By reserving one-third of parliamentary and assembly seats for women, the Bill aims to address gender inequality in politics, where women are significantly underrepresented. This legislation acknowledges the importance of women’s voices in decision-making processes and reflects a commitment to gender equality. It builds upon the success of similar reservations at the local level, promoting political empowerment and helping India move closer to achieving greater gender parity in its democratic institutions.

It signals India’s commitment to inclusive democracy and recognizes that diverse perspectives in governance lead to more comprehensive and equitable policies. Ultimately, this legislation is crucial for India’s progress toward greater gender representation in its democratic institutions.