Introduction to The Women's Reservation Bill and its Necessity.

The struggle for gender equality and justice has witnessed many eras. Although legally speaking, right to equality is enshrined as a fundamental the in constitution of India (Article 14) and non-discrimination based on sex (Article 15). However, the reality remains far from what is promised. The patriarchal influence in India, ranging from our day-to-day affairs up to the government bodies is not something arcane. To address this reality, the first attempt was made in 1996 when the Constitution (81st Amendment) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha. Similar attempts were made in 1998, 1999, and lastly in 2008 however the same was ineffective owing to the dissolution of the government. In this blog, we study what was proposed, the argument in favour and opposition, and a possible solution to the problems posed.

Historical Background

The Women Reservation Bill, when first proposed in 1996 had the sole objective to ensure women's representation in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies. The Bill sought to reserve one-third, i.e., 33 percent of all seats for women in both the Houses. Furthermore, one-third of the seats reserved for the SCs and STs would also be reserved for women in the Lok Sabha and the House of People. However, these seats would be allotted in rotation via a draw of lots to different constituencies while simultaneously ensuring that a seat only gets reserved once in every three consecutive general elections. As it stands, this Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 and remains pending in the Lok Sabha.

The Debate

Women have been traditionally deprived of power, resources, and privilege in society, especially in India. This gender stratification in our society requires to be addressed at the earliest. While bridging this gap may seem to be a herculean task, this Bill simply promises to aid the situation on a political level. One may argue that the politics in our country being male-dominated tends back to our age-old cultural traditions. However, in today’s modern world, where India prides itself on being the world’s largest democracy, this under-representation gets adequately addressed by the Bill.

The Indian Legislature has been keen in enacting pro-women laws, for example, The Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act 1971 or the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 etc. However, this Bill has received immense opposition. While the intent has not been disputed, it is the implementation and the consequence of the same that has been brought up as an opposition every time the Bill has been presented in the Assembly.

The arguments in favour of this Bill are quite straightforward. Having women as law makers would bring new ideas and perspectives of governance to the table. Issues relating to women could be better understood and addressed with empathy. This would also empower other women at grassroot levels.

The arguments against the Bill are wide ranging. Starting with the under-representation issue, people argue that reserving seats for women is not the only way to empower and uplift women. Apart from this, another opposition, more on a personal front, has been expressed that the existing male parliamentarians will lose their “nurtured and well-deserved” seats. This exposes the “general insecurity in menfolk” as termed by BJP leader Sh. Vajpayee. This Bill would threaten their own incumbency therefore, male MPs are willing to take shelter behind any opposing argument.

Moving on to the technical issues of the Bill, it does have some drawbacks. Firstly, the issue with reserving a seat once in 15 years is that in an evolving democracy, the politician is expected to serve and develop a constituency, establish a healthy connection with the voters. However, this process gets interrupted if a candidate cannot run for the elections because of the reservation. Secondly, elected women representatives will only be able to nurse their constituency for one term post which they are unlikely to be re-elected. This makes their reservation merely ornamental or formal. In other words, women will have a time period of one term to prove their worth to the voters against the already established candidates. Thirdly, this lottery system also eliminates the incentive for candidates to seek re-election for their constituency and promotes unaccountability. Women representatives might be brought in as proxies to preserve the party’s seat until the next election. Fourthly, parties may tend to choose women for constituencies where it’s weak thereby, conveniently circumventing the intent behind this Bill.

A few solutions have been proposed by scholars to the aforementioned flaws. One of the most empirical and basic alternatives to have been proposed is the amendment of the Representation of the People Act 1951, making it compulsory for every recognised party to nominate women contestants for election in one-third of their constituencies. To ensure the same, appropriate penalties may be levied by the Election Commission upon non-compliance. This amendment will guarantee that parties will freely choose their desired candidate and constituency. Women will pose a good competition to other male candidates which the Bill did not promise as it pitted women against other women. Therefore, the fear of unaccountability, or being used as a proxy will also cease to exist as the parties will now be investing in their women candidates with their best intentions. There will remain no need for rotation and the elected candidate will successfully be able to maintain and nurture their relationship with the voters.

The International standards

It is important to review statistics to understand the gravity of any situation. We found that in September 2021, India ranked 145th in a list of 193 countries based on the percentage of elected women representatives in their Parliament. India can learn from other countries like Rwanda where 61 percent of the parliamentary seats are held by women. Other countries like Cuba, United Arab Emirates and New Zealand also display incredible numbers of women representation.

Conclusion

The inequality faced by the women in our society is evident by the lack of legislation and the statistical evidence presented above. After the reservation of seats for women in Panchayats and Municipalities, the next logical step remains to be inclusion of women in the law making procedure of the country. While the ruling party may seem to resort to convenient excuses to avoid the discussions on the Bill, it is high time to accurately act for the cause as it’s been 15 years since the Bill was first introduced in the House.