NOB- New Delhi news: These days women are making strides in fields that are thought to be possible only for men, but they are not getting enough representation in politics these days.
Because of this, women who constitute half of the society remain a vote bank standing in queues and voting. Instead of creating a situation where there is no such thing as gender discrimination and providing women with a proportionate share of the population, we are stuck in a situation where we are unable to provide at least 33 percent and have to fight for reservations. In the context of the special session of the Parliament, the Women’s Reservation Bill has once again come to the fore.
Women make up 48.5 percent of the total population of the country, though there are fluctuations in some states. There are 110 women MPs out of 70 crore women population. Even if it is not said that the population should be proportionally half. Anyone can understand that this is not a reasonable ratio at all. In these circumstances, if 33 percent reservation is provided, a situation will inevitably arise in which adequate representation of women in politics will be provided through the Women’s Reservation Bill. As the gazette notification has been issued to hold a special session of the Parliament from September 18th to 22nd 2023, there are rumors and speculations that the Women’s Reservation Bill may be brought and passed in these five-day sessions.
The Women’s Reservation Bill is technically a Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill. Through this amendment, 33 percent i.e. one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and all state legislatures will be reserved for women. In history, in the present, men continue to dominate the heads of state. Although women are gaining prominence in politics around the world, they still do not seem to be adequately represented. According to the United Nations, by September 19th 2022, 30 women are serving as heads of government in 28 different countries. Not just being the head of state, they are getting praise for showing their efficiency in that role. India currently has Draupadi Murmu as the President and Mamata Banerjee as the Chief Minister of West Bengal while Anandi Ben Patel and Anasuya Ooke are the Governors. According to government statistics as of 2022, women’s representation in parliament as well as state assemblies across the country is less than 15 percent. In 19 state legislatures, women legislators are less than 10 percent. States with more than 10 percent women legislators are Bihar (10.70 percent), Chhattisgarh (14.44 percent), Haryana (10 percent), Jharkhand (12.35 percent), Punjab (11.11 percent), Rajasthan (12 percent), Uttarakhand (11.43 percent), Uttar Pradesh (11.66 percent), West Bengal (13.70 percent), and Delhi (11.43 percent). Representation of women MPs in Lok Sabha is 14.94 per cent and in Rajya Sabha it is 14.05 per cent. The current Lok Sabha has 78 women members out of 542 members, while the Rajya Sabha has 224 members, including 32 women members. If the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed into law, the number of women MPs in the Lok Sabha will reach 179.
There has been a long-standing demand to introduce a Women’s Bill to eliminate gender inequality in politics and to include women in the administrative decision-making process in the country. During the UPA government, the bill was drafted and introduced and debated but failed to get the approval of both the Houses. The Women’s Reservation Bill remains a hot topic of discussion in Indian politics, but is yet to become a law. Political parties that try to attract women voters who make up almost half of the country’s population are counting on women to provide adequate representation. Voters in the country were about 17 crores in 1951. Now that number has crossed 94 crores. In 2019, the highest voter turnout in the Lok Sabha elections was 67.4 percent. Women have the highest percentage of votes cast. Around 7,334 men contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections while 715 women candidates contested. Compared to the total number of candidates, women candidates are only 9 percent. But even this 9 percent represents a significant increase compared to the last election. However, from the first Lok Sabha elections in 1952 to 2019, the proportion of women MPs in Parliament has remained low compared to men.
According to reports, Mamata Banerjee’s All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) has fielded the highest percentage (41 percent) of women candidates in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, while Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has come second with 33 percent tickets to women. Congress has also fielded maximum number of women candidates with 54 while BJP has fielded 53 candidates. Interestingly, out of 303 seats won by the BJP in 2019, 41 women candidates won. Sonia Gandhi was the only one from the Congress. BJP is the party elected with the largest number of women representatives. 222 women contested the elections as independent candidates but only two of them managed to win.
There are many obstacles in the way of women’s reservation. There is also an argument that giving special quota to women when everyone is equal before the constitution is against the fundamental principle of the constitution. It challenges the right to equality which is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. According to the right of equality, gender, language and region should be treated without discrimination. Although caste-based reservations are implemented, women’s reservations are not caste-based. It is argued that this is definitely a violation of the right to equality as it is given with gender bias in mind.
Keeping women voters in mind, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led central government has undertaken programs such as Ujjwala for gas connections, Purity for women’s sanitation facilities and Jal-Jeevan Mission for piped drinking water in homes. It also brought legal changes like triple talaq to turn Muslim women towards them. It seems that the central government is taking steps to provide reservation for women without matching it with government schemes and welfare programs. It is expected to go a long way in wooing women, who make up half of the country’s electoral rolls. Even though the BJP brought it up as a political move, the parties opposing the BJP were unable to support and oppose the Women’s Bill.
