Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
According to the Constitution 108th Women Reservation Bill, 2008, women should be given a third (33%) of the seats in state legislative assemblies and the Parliament. One-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies. Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Amendment Act.
Women Reservation Bill
According to sources, Several BJP ministers and MPs have been urged to bring female voters to Parliament in the next few days. BJP President JP Nadda met with several of them. The adoption of the Women Reservation Bill, which ensures a 33% quota in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, has been sought by a number of figures. At its meeting in Hyderabad.
Key Issues and Analysis
- There are divergent views on the reservation policy. Proponents stress the necessity of affirmative action to improve the condition of women. Some recent studies on panchayats have shown the positive effect of reservation on the empowerment of women and on the allocation of resources.
- Opponents argue that it would perpetuate the unequal status of women since they would not be perceived to be competing on merit. They also contend that this policy diverts attention from the larger issues of electoral reform such as criminalisation of politics and inner-party democracy.
- The reservation of seats in Parliament restricts the choice of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts have suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual-member constituencies.
- Rotation of reserved constituencies in every election may reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency.
- The report examining the 1996 Women’s Reservation Bill recommended that reservations be provided for women of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) once the Constitution was amended to allow for reservations for OBCs. It also recommended that reservation be extended to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Councils. Neither of these recommendations has been incorporated into the Bill.
Why is It important?
- Caste groups – Any plan for women’s reservation must adhere to constitutional principles and take caste diversity into consideration.
- Gender quota – Women’s representation would remain minimal without a gender quota, severely undermining our democracy.
- Panchayats – Recent research on panchayats has shown the beneficial impact of reservation on the distribution of resources and the empowerment of women.
- Vote share – Despite an increase in the percentage of women voting, there are still not enough women in positions of authority.
Why is the Bill hard to pass?
The current electoral system, which employs the single transferable vote technique, is one of the main obstacles to the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha. Votes are allocated to favored candidates under this method, making it difficult to reserve seats for certain groups.
There are now no reservations for SCs and STs in the Rajya Sabha, and any move to add them would need to change the voting process under the constitution.
The status of Women’s Reservations in India?
- National average – The proportion of women in state legislatures nationwide is still at 8%.
- Rankings – According to a survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India is ranked 144th out of 193 nations in terms of the representation of women in parliament.
Why did the parliament fail to pass the bill?
- Heated debates & sexist taunts – The WRB has seen some contentious discussions and a fair amount of misogyny.
- Quota within quota – The 1996 committee advocated a quota for OBC women under the Bill’s one-third reservation for women, however, this recommendation was never implemented.
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