Women’s Reservation Bill (WRB)

• The Bill will reserve one-third of the total number of seats in state Assemblies and Parliament for women.

• Reservation for a period of 15 years;

• Including reservation in cases where the state has less than three seats in LS;

• Including reservation for the Delhi assembly; and

• Changing “not less than one-third” to “as nearly as may be, one-third”, etc.

Two recommendations, which became major sticking points –

• Regarding reservation for OBC women (quota within a quota)

• Reservation for women in the Rajya Sabha and legislative council

• The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008, was introduced in Parliament.

• The last attempt was made in 2010 when the WBR Bill was passed in the RS but the LS never voted on it.

The demand for reservation for women in legislative bodies

• It is seen as a logical extension of the 72nd and 73rd constitutional amendments (1992,1993), which reserved one-third of all seats and chairperson posts for women in rural and urban local governments.

• However, there has never been a political consensus on the issue.

• Just 14% of 17th LS MPs are women (78 in total). Women make up roughly 11% of the RS.

• While the number has increased significantly since the 1st LS (5%), it is still far lower than in many countries.

• According to PRS data, Rwanda (61%), South Africa (43%), and even Bangladesh (21%) are ahead of India.

• According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s latest report, India ranks 144 out of 193 countries in the representation of women in Parliament.

Need for greater representation for women in legislative bodies

Proponents

• Affirmative action → reservation in panchayats → empowerment of women

• Gender-sensitive laws increased responsiveness

• Decriminalise politics – fewer criminal charges

• Political participation is a human right regardless of its instrumental value

Opponents

• Perpetuate unequal status of women → would not be perceived to be competing on merit.

• Diverts attention from the larger electoral reform such as the criminalization of politics, inner party democracy, etc.

• Restricts choice of voters to women candidates.

• Rotation of reserved constituencies may reduce the incentive for an MP to work.

Conclusion

• Until consensus is reached on the Women’s Reservation Bill alternate methods such as reservation in political parties, and increasing women voters’ turnout, must be undertaken.