Reserving for her, getting a bit closer
GoI has tabled the Women's Reservation Bill to provide a 33% quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. While the Bill is likely to have a smooth passage, it's unlikely to come into force until the next census (2027) and delimitation exercise are completed. Better late than never.
The issue of women's quota in politics has had an interesting trajectory. The Constituent Assembly debates show that women members did not demand reserved seats, quotas or separate electorates. The demand for reservations gained traction in the 1970s when women felt parties imbibed the biases women faced in society at large.
Congress governments, and BJP administrations later, pushed the Bill. But it failed to get the required support.
But as the debate continued, the situation on the ground changed. Today, women have become an electoral force that no party can dismiss.
Several states like Bihar, West Bengal and Odisha have introduced quotas, and the ruling parties have reaped the benefits. Data show that an increasing number of countries, 40 in the last count, have also introduced some affirmative action for women in public office. Do gender quotas work? Yes, they do.
A study in Nepal, which has reserved 33% of parliamentary seats for women, shows that political quotas have strengthened women's capital, allowing them to improve their position in their families and society. Several other studies show that countries that elect more women are likely to have better outcomes when it comes to social welfare and women's empowerment.
Yet, to make an electoral mechanism effective, a law alone won't do. Political parties must introduce robust internal gender policies and explore better ways of attracting, engaging as well as promoting women
