India’s lower house votes to reserve a third of seats for women
India’s lower house of parliament has achieved a significant milestone by passing a bill that aims to substantially increase the representation of female lawmakers within its ranks. This development follows several unsuccessful attempts to enact such a measure that have spanned several decades.
The bill received strong support in the lower house, with 454 lawmakers voting in favor of it and only two voting against it. With broad political backing, the bill is expected to progress smoothly through the upper house.
This achievement comes after six earlier attempts to pass similar bills encountered obstacles and stalled since the initial introduction of the measure in 1996. The resistance to such legislation from lawmakers had at times been fervent.
Om Birla, the speaker of the Indian parliament, noted that the proposal had been passed with more than a two-thirds majority of the members present in the house. This passage represents a significant step toward enhancing gender diversity and representation in India’s legislative bodies, signaling progress in promoting women’s participation in politics and decision-making processes.
The proposed legislation aims to reserve one-third of the seats in India’s lower house of parliament and state assemblies for women once it is implemented. However, this implementation may not occur until at least the end of the decade, and there are specific prerequisites that must be met before it takes effect.
The quota system will become operational once India completes the process of redrawing its electoral boundaries. This task is contingent on conducting a nationwide census for India’s vast population, which comprises over 1.4 billion people. The last census, scheduled for 2021, was indefinitely postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As a result, the quota system will not be in place before the national elections scheduled for the coming year. Nevertheless, when it does come into effect, it will have a notable impact on India’s political landscape by significantly increasing female representation in parliament and state assemblies.
This legislative development is expected to bolster the already strong position of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in the lead-up to the upcoming national elections. India has had notable moments in its political history related to women’s leadership, including Indira Gandhi’s tenure as the world’s second female head of government in a parliamentary democracy, following Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike by six years, when she assumed office in 1966.
While India has seen some notable instances of women in leadership roles, such as two women serving in the ceremonial presidency and others holding positions as chief ministers, party leaders, and powerbrokers, these instances have not translated into broader gender representation in Indian politics.
According to government figures, just 104 out of India’s 788 Members of Parliament (MPs) were women following the last national election, representing a little over 13% of the total. These statistics highlight the significant under-representation of women in India’s political landscape.
This under-representation extends beyond politics, reflecting a broader trend of gender disparities in Indian public life. For example, government data indicates that just under a third of working-age Indian women were part of the formal labor force in the previous year.
The challenges and resistance to gender equality in Indian politics have been evident in past statements made by prominent figures, as illustrated by Mulayam Singh Yadav’s controversial comment in 2010. At that time, Yadav, who was the chief minister of India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, suggested that passing a bill to increase women’s representation in parliament would lead to men wolf-whistling at their female colleagues. Such comments underscore the need for sustained efforts to address gender disparities and promote women’s participation in Indian politics and public life.
