A golden opportunity missed

The number of women voters in elections in India has generally been increasing. The high participation of women in the Kerala Assembly election held on April 9 is an example of this trend. However, this strong presence in voting is not reflected in the representation of women in legislative bodies. In fact, there is a clear gap. In state assemblies, women’s representation is only about 9 percent. In the Lok Sabha, it is around 14 to 15 percent, even though women make up nearly 49 percent of the total population. When the Constituent Assembly was formed in 1946, only 15 out of 389 members were women. From there, the country has slowly improved to the current situation, though the progress is still limited. In the past two to three decades, more women have become active in politics. However, they are still not getting enough representation in lawmaking bodies. In this context, the failure of the bill proposing 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha needs to be examined.

The bill aimed to increase the strength of the Lok Sabha from 543 to 850 seats and reserve 33 percent of them for women. While 298 members supported the bill, 230 opposed it. A total of 352 votes were needed for it to pass. The opposition, which claims unity in defeating the bill, may not have considered the loss of representation this caused. The idea of women’s reservation was introduced years ago under the leadership of Congress. However, when it appeared that the proposal might become a reality, they themselves took the lead in opposing it for political reasons. It should also be remembered that in 2023, the law was passed with widespread support, even though it has not been implemented. Those who strongly speak about giving equal rights to women in all fields took a contradictory stand when the opportunity actually came, effectively blocking the progress at a crucial moment.

If the number of seats had increased to 850, about 273 seats would have been reserved for women. The bill also included provisions to increase seats in Union Territories, which could benefit regions like Kashmir in the future. This was an issue that required a broad and cooperative approach in the national interest. Earlier, during Rajiv Gandhi’s time, the Panchayati Raj reforms helped significantly increase women’s participation in local governance, bringing positive social changes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged all members to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill amendment and vote according to their conscience, keeping in mind the millions of women in the country. He also said that MPs should not make decisions that hurt the sentiments of women. According to him, passing the amendment unanimously would empower women and strengthen democracy. Increasing the number of seats would also have improved representation for women from SC and ST communities. However, this important opportunity has now been missed.