We must have measures to complement the Women's Reservation Bill

Political reservation for women has been a recurrent theme in Indian democracy. Reservation of seats for women in local governments was guaranteed in 1992, by the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution. However, despite repeated attempts, political reservation for women in Parliament or state assemblies remained absent. Until a few days ago.

On September 28, the historic Women's Reservation Bill received Presidential assent after being passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, respectively, with sweeping majorities. The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, also named the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, seeks to reserve ‘as nearly as may be’ 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.

The Constitution has made a commitment to prioritise equal opportunity and ensure social, economic, and political justice for its citizens. However, even after 76 years of Independence, not enough women have been able to hold proportionate political space. Even after independence and till recent times, the representation of women in legislative bodies has remained extremely low.

According to Census data from 2011, women make up approximately 48.5% of the overall population in India. The current Lok Sabha, which consists of 542 members, has 78 women members, which accounts for 14.39% of the total. The representation of women in the Rajya Sabha stands at around 10.71%, with women comprising 24 out of 224 members. According to government data presented in the Parliament last year, the representation of women MLAs in state assemblies across the nation is significantly low, accounting for only 8% on average.

Previous efforts to ensure political representation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies have been unsuccessful. However, this Bill has received unanimous support from all political parties. What contributed to this recent consensus?

The answer perhaps lies in some of these figures. Over the past decade, the gender gap in voter turnout between men and women has gradually reduced. According to data from the 2019 general elections, women voters’ participation exceeded men's by a margin of 0.17%. In addition to this, a study by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) reveals that women voters have experienced a growing sense of independence when it comes to making their electoral decisions. There is good reason for political parties across ideologies to anticipate an increase in the number of women voters, and acknowledge their impact on election outcomes. This, in all possibility, spurred parties across the floor to arrive at a consensus on this issue - to appeal to women as a constituency unto their own.

As apparent, throughout history, political participation has been the prerogative of only a few women. Besides, a considerable number of women who have attained positions in politics can be linked to influential dynasties established by prominent men. In such a situation, while the reservation of seats for women in legislatures is a welcome step, it may not be enough.

The reservation of seats for women in Panchayati Raj and municipal bodies was granted by amendments to the Constitution made in 1992. This was an experiment in using reservation to boost political participation of women. While the policy ensured women were officially represented in local bodies, the outcome has been varied.

While the constitutional amendments have been partly successful in ensuring 44.37% women representation at the local level, women representatives in local bodies have often found their political power usurped by their husbands or other male relatives. Then there are women, just like Manju Devi from Panchayat, who are pushed into local politics by their male relatives who cannot contest an election due to rotation of the seats reserved for women. These men carry out the official work of the local body, relegating women representatives to mere proxies. The political power, thus, stays with the men rendering the constitutional amendment reserving seats for women ineffective.

It is sincerely hoped that this trend does not get mirrored in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies Otherwise, politics will continue to be dominated by powerful political males, with reserved seats going to women in their families. Needless to say, this will make political participation a distant dream for women not related to political elites.

There are concerns that the reservation of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, as well as designating constituencies as reserved for women, could potentially restrict the choices available to voters. There is the unfortunate apprehension that the societal exclusion of women for being incapable of running a political office may get further perpetuated. The potential consequence could be that women legislators get reduced to mere proxies for powerful men, lacking true autonomy and representation.

The possibility of creating dual member constituencies has often been floated as a way of ensuring greater political participation for women. Simply put, under this system, a single constituency can return two members: one man and one woman. Between 1957-1960, the Kerala state assembly used to have dual member constituencies: One each for a member from the general category and a member from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. However, after the passage of the Two-member Constituencies (Abolition) Act, 1961, all constituencies were made single member constituencies.

Despite being suggested several times, it is difficult to say how foolproof dual member constituencies would be. Imagine a situation where two persons from the same party or same family return as winning candidates! That can hardly be considered truly representative! Let’s also not sideline the fact that two-member constituencies can put a huge financial and administrative burden on the exchequer.

Now that women’s reservation has become a “legislative” reality, the time is ripe to devise ways to complement the Women’s Reservation Act. Political parties must become acutely aware of their role in a thriving democracy and the need for them to ensure parity between genders. As a 2014 study by Brookings India suggests, there is a need to create a mechanism where parties abide by their constitutions to ensure proportionate representation to women within the party and make their internal structures more conducive to women. This can be achieved by parties fielding more women candidates and ensuring that women get equal opportunity to ascend within the party structure. This is what is actually required to translate women’s reservation into effective participation.

While reservation of seats for women is a noble step, we should remain cautious of the pitfalls. Without stricter regulation of political party behaviour, this Act may face a fate similar to that of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution. Whether or not the Women’s Reservation Act will bear fruit hinges on how much effective importance is given to women’s representation by political parties.

This article is authored by Mayuri Gupta, Milon K. Banerji fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.