Women Reservation

The Women’s Reservation Act or the Nari Shakti Vandan Act was passed as 106th Amendment to the Constitution of India in 2023. It is a historic step towards reducing gender disparity and ensuring equal participation of women in politics and government. The Act aims to reserve one-third of the seats of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for a period of 15 years or a period prescribed by the Parliament. However, the reservation will only come into effect after the Census and Delimitation of seats. There are debates about its impact on voter freedom of choice and issue of seat rotation post-delimitation.

Pre-independence: under the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms women were given the Right to vote. However, this Right to Vote for women was not under universal adult suffrage. Instead the Right to vote of Women was restricted to a group of people who were classified on the basis of education, property and taxes paid as eligible voters. Thereafter, under the Government of India Act of 1935 provided for a separate electorate for depressed/backward classes which included Scheduled Castes and women. This enabled reservation of seats for women in the legislature. Therefore, the Government of India Act of 1935 provided for the reservation of seats for women along with other depressed and backward classes for the first time.

Post independence: The history of the issue of reservation for women goes back to the days of the Constituent Assembly which had just 15 women out of the 389 members, where the need for reservation of seats of Women was deliberated but never implemented. In 1949, concerns arose about the decreasing representation of Women in politics, leading to the demands for reservation of seats for women. Then attempts were made in 1996, 1998, 2003 and in 2014 to introduce 33% reservation for women, but the bills lapsed everytime. In 2021 a demand to reintroduce the Women’s Reservation Bill was raised again.

The Nari Shakti Vandan Act (“the Act”) provides for inserting Article 330A to reserve one-third of the total number of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women on rotational basis. The bill was passed with a majority vote of 454 and just 2 votes against it. This is significant as it will enable greater participation of women in policymaking and equitable governance at state and national levels.

• Reservation for Women: The Act reserves nearly one-third of all the seats for women in Lok Sabha, State legislative Assemblies and the Legislative Assembly of the NCT of Delhi.
  • However, it is important to note that the Act will not affect the seat distribution in Rajya Sabha (currently women members are only 13% in the Rajya Sabha).
• Reservation of Seats for women in NCT of Delhi (Article 239AA): the Act inserts a new sub-section (Article 239AA (b)) which provides for reservation of One-Third seats for Women in the Legislative assembly of the NCT of Delhi
• Sub-Reservation: It will affect the number of seats reserved for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as within the reservation quota there will be sub-reservation for SC, STs and the Anglo-Indian Communities
• Post Delimitation Implementation (Article 334A): even after becoming an act, the reservation will come into effect later after conclusion of the Delimitation exercise which is to be done after the next census. After the Delimitation, seat will be reserved for Women by the Delimitation Commission
  • Delimitation: it is the exercise of redrawing boundaries of the State Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies, it is done in order to accommodate the increase in population in a parliamentary constituency. It is done by the Delimitation Commission which is constituted by the Government from time to time.
• Period of Reservation: After being implemented the law will remain in effect for 15 years, or for a period as determined by the Parliament.
• Rotation of Seats: seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation as per law made by parliament.

• Fulfilment of International Obligations: If a group is not adequately represented in the political system, its ability to influence policy-making is diminished greatly. India has international commitments and also a domestic resolve to achieve gender equality in every sphere.
  • Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women of 1979 (“CEDAW”): India is a signatory to it. It mandates the eradication of gender based discrimination in political and public spheres. The enactment of the Women Reservation Act, is a landmark step in eradication of discrimination against women in political and public spheres.
  • Sustainable Development Goals of UN: the passing of the Women Reservation Act marks a win for India, in achieving the sustainable Development Goals, particularly Sustainable Development Goal No. 5.5 which talks of equal participation of women in politics, economics and public life.
• Corrects under representation of Women: The progress of participation of women in politics and particularly legislature since India’s Independence has been painfully slow. The present Lok Sabha has a total of 542 members out of which only 78 are female members and out of the 224 Members of the Rajya Sabha only 24 members are female.
• Effective Worldwide: Over 64 countries have enacted laws calling for reservation of women in Parliament. Rwanda in 2003 enacted a law setting a 30% quota for women in elected positions. By 2013 it was considered the world leader for gender equality in the political sphere with women occupying 64% of the Parliamentary seats.
• Socio-economic aspect: in order to correct the under representation of Women in Legislature the Women Reservation Act play a huge role. The problems faced by women like poor nutrition levels and low participation in the workforce can only be addressed through the proper representation of women in the decision making process.

1. Reservation would restrict choice of Vote: Restrict the choice of voters to only women candidates.
2. Compromises Meritorious Democracy: Perpetuate unequal status of women since their seats would be reserved and they would not be competing on merit.
3. Disincentive Productive Work: Rotation of reserved seats will occur almost every 10 years after 2026. This may reduce the incentive of the concerned candidate to work for his/her constituency as they could become ineligible for reelection for rotation of seats.
   1. A Ministry of Panchayati Raj study advised discontinuing constituency rotation at the panchayat level. The recommendation stemmed from the fact that about 85% of women were new to the position, with only 15% managing re-election due to the de-reservation of their initially elected seats.

addressing the issues and criticisms related to the Women’s reservation act requires a holistic approach, which should include the following:

• Intra-Party Reservation: it is suggested that the idea of reservation should be implemented within the political parties rather than the Parliament. As this would promote Intra-Party Democracy.
• Setting up dual-member constituencies: this can enable the Constituencies to have two elected representatives, who can work together for the betterment of the respective constituency.
• Raising awareness and education: starting broad awareness campaigns to educate women about their rights and the importance of participating in politics actively.
• Strengthening Women’s Self-help Groups: Support and fortify women’s self-help groups at the grassroots level to identify and nurture potential women candidates for political roles

As per the Global Gender Gap Index 2023 India ranks at 127 out of 146 nations. The Women's Reservation Act of 2023 is a landmark step towards achieving gender equality and improving condition of women in Indian politics. By reserving one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, the Act has the potential to significantly increase female representation and participation in decision-making at national and state levels. This aligns with India's international obligations under CEDAW to eradicate gender discrimination in the public sphere.

While concerns exist regarding voter choice, meritocracy, and rotation of seats, the Act's potential benefits outweigh these concerns. Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice has stated in its 2009 report that reservation for women in local bodies has enabled them to make meaningful contributions and that the concerns regarding women being proxies to men in the local bodies have turned out to be baseless. Moreover, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (an International Body) has observed that legislative quotas have been a decisive factor in women’s representation.

The Act holds the promise of a more inclusive and equitable political system, where women's voices are heard and their needs are addressed. This will bring new leaders into our society. It will lead to improved governance and inclusive governance.