The Committee on the Status of Women in India set up in 1971, commented on the declining political representation of women in India.
The issue of reservation for women in politics can be traced back to the Indian national movement. In 1931, in their letter to the British Prime Minister, leaders Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu wrote, “To seek any form of preferential treatment would be to violate the integrity of the universal demand of Indian women for absolute equality of political status.” The issue of women’s reservation came up in Constituent Assembly debates as well, but it was rejected as being unnecessary.
The Committee on the Status of Women in India set up in 1971, commented on the declining political representation of women in India. Though a majority within the Committee continued to be against reservation for women in legislative bodies, all of them supported reservation for women in local bodies.
The National Perspective Plan for Women recommended in 1988 that reservation be provided to women's rights from the level of the panchayat to that of Parliament. These recommendations paved the way for the historic enactment of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution which mandate all State governments to reserve one-third of the seats for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions and one-third of the offices of the chairperson at all levels of the Panchayati Raj Institutions, and in urban local bodies, respectively. Within these seats, one-third are reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe women.
In 2008, the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government tabled the Bill in the Rajya Sabha and it was passed with 186-1 votes on March 9, 2010. However, the Bill was never taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
After a span of a 13 long year wait, on the Auspicious Day of Ganesha Chaturthi, The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 19, 2023. The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. This is indeed a historic day in Indian History that the Hon’ble Prime Minister paved the way forward for the women of this country who constitute half of India’s population. Better Late than Never! Kudos to him and his team!
The Bill will soon be an Act after it receives the assent of the President but what causes me worry is the implementation of the Act. I see this only as a bait to woo women voters because firstly the Act is for a period of 15 years and according to the amendment to Art 334 A which says the bill will come into effect after delimitation or redrawing of the constituencies after the relevant figures for the first census is taken after the Act has been published. The census should have been carried out in 2021 according to the amendment of Article 82 in the year 2002 but due to Covid could not be carried out. So, the Census will be carried out in the year 2026 followed by delimitation. Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies to represent changes in population. The justification for carrying out the census was decided because the government thought that a uniform population growth rate would be achieved throughout the country in the year 2026. This condition is very unreasonable and unjustified for lack of logic. Probably if these conditions are removed immediately then I would Applaud the Government for putting their words into action.
I also do not subscribe to the view that there must be separate reservations for SC, ST, Tribes, and OBC. There must be 50% reservation for women across the board irrespective of religion, caste, creed, or community. Emphasis should be laid on literate women who can read and write, basically having a minimum qualification of 12th pass and who are bold enough to take a correct stand and make the right decisions keeping the interest of the nation at large and who believe in serving our Country.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article are of the author, and are not associated with DNA English.
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 "Mahalakshmi Pavani (File Photo)")
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