Of. Poem
Lok Sabha And 33% reservation for women in Vidhansabha, if not now then when? The answer to this question can probably be found from the side of the current ruling coalition, because not only the NDA has a decisive majority in the Lok Sabha, but most of the small and big political parties, including the largest opposition party, are also in support of women’s reservation. Proper representation of women in Parliament and Legislative Assemblies cannot be possible without bringing a constitutional amendment bill for women’s reservation.
For the first time, the Women’s Reservation Bill came in 1996 during the government of the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda. Later in 1998, 1999 and 2008 also this bill was introduced. In 2008, the bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, from where it was referred to a standing committee. It was passed by the Upper House in 2010. After that it was sent to the Lok Sabha. However, this bill lapsed in 2014 with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. Four committees were formed on this issue but no action was ever taken on their reports. Had the BJP supported this bill in the Lok Sabha when it was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, it would have become a law by now.
On December 9, the central government with a huge majority of the NDA, in response to a question in the Lok Sabha, told that Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu And Telangana has less than 10 per cent women legislators. Only 8.2 percent women could become legislators in the recently held Gujarat assembly elections, while only one woman legislator has been elected this time in Himachal Pradesh. According to government data, the share of women MPs in the 17th Lok Sabha is 14.94 percent and in the Rajya Sabha is 14.05 percent, while the global average for women’s participation in politics is 25.5 percent. The picture is clear that the representation of half of the country’s population is only 14-15 percent.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, India’s performance in the Political Empowerment Index has declined and the number of women ministers has come down from 23.1 per cent in 2019 to 9.1 per cent in 2021. The gender equality gap in India is so wide that even if women’s reservation is implemented in this session, we will be able to achieve gender equality by the year 2063. The Telangana government has passed a resolution in the assembly, stating that whenever the Lok Sabha passes the Women’s Reservation Bill, the BRS will fully support it. Apart from this, the BRS government of Telangana has achieved the distinction of becoming the first state in India to provide 50 per cent reservation for women in local body elections.
About 13 lakh women representatives have been elected to panchayats and local bodies in cities. This in itself is a revolutionary step towards women empowerment. In the beginning, people raised the debate that these women would remain as ‘wife brigade’, but this apprehension did not last long. Various surveys indicate that women representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions have done commendable work in the development and overall welfare of the society in the villages. Many of them can do good work beyond the Panchayats at the Vidhansabha and Lok Sabha level as well.
It is high time that political parties show their commitment by creating adequate space for women in their internal structure as well. The Women’s Reservation Bill will also prove to be an effective tool to stop the oppression of women that has been going on for centuries. In the Supreme Court, the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice JK Maheshwari has also considered women’s reservation as ‘an issue of great importance’ in the petition filed on this issue. It is our resolve that in the current session of the Parliament, we will start the struggle from Jantar Mantar in Delhi under the banner of Bharat Jagruti Foundation with the demand of passing the Women’s Reservation Bill.
(The author is an MLC in the Telangana Legislative Assembly)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author’s own.