The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, popularly known as the Women's Reservation Bill, 2023 (IAST: Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), was introduced in Lok Sabha on 19 September 2023 during the special session of Parliament. This legislation seeks to allocate 33 percent of the seats in the directly elected Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.
The bill is the possible culmination of a legislative debate that had been ongoing for 27 years, including the lapsed Women's Reservation Bill (2010), due to the lack of consensus among political parties. The bill was the first that was considered in the new parliament building. On 20 September 2023, Lok Sabha passed the bill with 454 votes in favour and two against. The Rajya Sabha passed the bill unanimously with 214 votes in favour and none against, on 21 September 2023. President Droupadi Murmu signed the bill on 28 September 2023, and the gazette notification was also published the same day, which made it clear that the reservation will come into force soon after the first delimitation (frozen untill 2026).
History of women reservation bill
On 9 December 1946, the inaugural session of the Constituent Assembly of India was convened at the Constitution Hall, presently the Central Hall of the Old Parliament House. Notably, Sarojini Naidu was the only woman in the entire gathering, sitting in the first row of attendees facing the presidential dais. The matter of quota for women was previously deliberated upon in the years 1996, 1997, and 1998; however, it was unable to be pursued further due to the dissolution of Lok Sabha's or the absence of consensus among political parties. In recent decades, there has been growing apprehension regarding the underrepresentation of women in legislative bodies, despite their constituting more than half of the global population. This democratic deficiency poses a significant hindrance to the attainment of rapid economic development. Consequently, it becomes increasingly imperative to accord utmost importance to this issue, aiming to fortify a political decision-making process that is participatory, responsive, inclusive, equitable, and accountable. The implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill, also known as the Constitution 108th Amendment Bill of 2008, is imperative for contemporary Indian society.
This legislation has encountered six unsuccessful attempts to get cleared since its initial introduction in 1996. Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav in 2010 had suggested the Women Reservation Bill should not be enacted due to its potential implication of encouraging male parliamentarians to engage in wolf-whistling towards their female colleagues.
Statistics
The 2023 composition of the Lok Sabha reveals underrepresentation of women Members of Parliament (MPs), constituting less than 15 percent of its members. Similarly, this gender disparity is stronger in state assemblies including Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Puducherry, where the representation of women falls below 10 percent. The presence of female MPs in the Lok Sabha has exhibited a gradual enhancement, progressing from a mere 5% in the 1st Lok Sabha to an increase of 14% in the current 17th Lok Sabha. A total of 716 female candidates participated in the 2019 general election, from which 78 women Members of Parliament have been successfully elected to serve in the 17th Lok Sabha. This is about a quarter higher than for the previous election in 2014, where 62 women MPs were elected.
The bill introduced by the Union Minister of Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal on the day-one of business in the newly built Parliament House aims to increase the number of Women Parliamentarians to 181. The 2023 Lok Sabha comprises a total of 542 members, of which 78 are female members. Similarly, the present Rajya Sabha consists of 224 members, with 24 being female members. A total of 102 women parliamentarians are serving as of 2023.
On 20 September 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah informed during the discussion on the Women's Reservation Bill that census and the delimitation exercise will take place after the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
Provisions
The proposed legislation defines the 33% women reservation to continue for 15 years. Additionally, it mandates that a quota for individuals belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes be established within the reserved seats designated for women in Parliament and Legislative assembly.