RESERVATION for women in elected bodies has been a work in progress for the past several years. The issue was, as is usual with any major legislation, clouded by controversies with special population segments seeking a reservation within this reservation too. In a decisive push, the NDA government is now keen on introducing a legislation that would guarantee reservations for women in Parliament and state assemblies. As the issue could not be taken up during the Budget session, which had to be ended in haste due to the assembly election campaign in five provinces, the government is calling a three-day Parliament session from April 16 to take up the Women Reservation (Amendment) Bill, with special reference to timelines for its implementation etc. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has written to leaders of all parties stressing the need to speed up the legislation. However, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has sought an all-party meet by the PM for pre-legislation consultations. He has also questioned the timing of the present exercise in the midst of the assembly polls, his suspicion being that this is done to help the BJP take advantage and grab more women votes. Notably, the government is seeking to delink the legislation from the ongoing constituency delimitation process.
Significantly, the present legislation is a step forward to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023. As the PM stated, the aim is to ensure 33 per cent reservations for women by the time the next parliament and assembly elections are held three years hence. The opposition is piqued that the government has not shared matters related to the delimitation and its connection to the women bill. An argument is also that the SC-ST-BC reservations should be incorporated into the women legislation and linked to the constituency delimitation exercise. In other words, consensus would elude the women quota legislation unless the government, at this late hour, takes the opposition into confidence. This being a legislation of high national importance, a consensus will be highly appreciated and should be the way forward. Appreciably, most state governments have implemented the provisions for quota for women in local body polls; some states to the extent of 50 per cent. Since women form half the population, this is justified.
Based on the 2024 polls, the Lok Sabha has 74 elected women MPs, forming nearly 14 per cent of its total strength, while the Rajya Sabha too has 14 per cent women representation. While the bill seeks to raise these, as also their strength in state assemblies, to 33 per cent, the global average for women parliamentarians is 26 per cent. Elected women leaders acquitted themselves well in the performance of their responsibilities across the world, with notable instances in the subcontinent itself. India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka had women leaders running their nations for various periods in the past, with the strong-willed Indira Gandhi being a trend-setter. India boasted of women presidents in the form of Pratibha Patil and incumbent Droupadi Murmu. They would remain as guiding lights for future women leaders.
