Democracy as a system of people’s representation in governance is a half-baked idea even in its most-effectively practised nations like the US or India. The way forward is to refine the system in ways that all sections of the people get due representation in governance, rather than influential sections being allowed to scurrilously hijack the system to their advantage. The introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament on Tuesday in a major push by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is only one step forward in correcting the flaws in the system. The idea here is to provide women, who form half the population, at least 33 per cent of the seats in Parliament and state legislatures. Such an attempt had been made repeatedly since 1996, but it could not overcome the hurdles in Parliament. The present plan, based on demands in the past too, is to reserve one-third of the seats within this one-third quota to the weakest segments like the Dalits and Tribals. Likely to be passed this time, this legislation is planned to be implemented from 2026 after the constituency delimitation exercise is completed – for which the prerequisites like a new parliament house to accommodate the larger number of MPs were already addressed. Expectations are that the women’s reservation law would be in force for the 2029 parliament polls.
If the main hurdle to the passage of the bill in the past was the obstructions caused by some regional parties that insisted on reservations for SCs, STs and BCs, this issue is largely addressed in the present bill. Inclusion of BCs is likely at a later stage of the discussions on the bill. Large numbers of women from various segments of the population are already well-equipped to run the administrative systems. That a tribal like Droupadi Murmu has equipped herself with the necessary qualifications to be the President of the nation is a testimony to this fact. What they lacked were the opportunities due to the domination of more influential segments of the society that usurped the weaker segments’ rights too. It is in such situations that reforms should be introduced periodically to clean up and improve the functioning of the systems. Governments are usually slack or reticent in this respect. Collecting taxes, paying salaries and building bridges or highways are by themselves not the yardsticks to measure the effectiveness of a government. A sense of dynamism to overhaul the decadent systems and reinvigorate them with new blood is integral to the concept of good governance. It’s well appreciated that the introduction of this bill signalled the start of the first session of the parliament in the new building.
