India needs women lawmakers: Fast-track the enacted quota to make faster economic gains

India’s government has signalled its intent to amend the Women’s Reservation Act of 2023, also known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, to fast-track its 33% quota of seats for women in Parliament and state assemblies. The sooner it’s done, the better. It would mark a major step in a long march towards the political and economic emancipation of women in the country.Women constitute almost half the population, but various estimates suggest women contribute less than 20% to GDP—based on models that crunch data on labour force participation, earning gaps, etc, and only capture what’s on the record.

Bridging the gender gap in employment could potentially give us a significantly larger economy. Research by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that a gender-balanced labour force could increase India’s GDP by 27%. Indian women have come a long way, not only from the time of independence, but also vis-a-vis men.

Be it literacy, longevity or access to welfare schemes, emancipatory efforts by successive governments have largely come good. Women now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their male counterparts in diverse fields. Yet, women have lagged men in two important domains: participation in India’s labour force and political representation.

True economic empowerment demands political empowerment, which is what the proposed amendment aims for. Under the Act passed by Parliament, the reservation of seats for women is contingent upon a delimitation exercise—involving a reset of constituencies—to follow a fresh census. Given how contentious a seat reshuffle is likely to prove and how late the next census results will be (it begins on 1 April), that would have meant a very long wait for women.