Women's Reservation Bill 2023

Introduction 

The 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill will always be remembered as an important Amendment in India when the Parliament took a stride towards achieving gender equality by passing the Women's Reservation Bill²  on September 21, 2023.This bill guarantees a reservation of thirty-three percent³ for women in the Lok Sabha⁴ and other state legislatures.

With two opposing votes this bill stands as a triumph for women's rights and female advocates who have tirelessly fought for this change over several decades. The enactment of this law ensures increased participation of women in decision making bodies thereby influencing policies and representation, across levels of government. This Bill will also apply to the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Background of the Bill

• The discussion upon the Women’s Reservation Bill has been prevalent since the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1996.
• In the inaugural session on 9 December 1946 of the Constituent Assembly of India was called upon at the Constitution Hall, presently the Central Hall for the Old Parliament House. Most importantly, Sarojini Naidu⁵ was the one and only woman in the entire gathering, sitting in the very first row of attendees facing the presidential platform.
• This matter of quota or reservation for women was previously considered in the years 1996, 1997, and 1998; however, it was not possible to continue this issue any further due to the termination of Lok Sabha's or the lack of agreement among political parties.
• Over the years there has been a growth in understanding the issue that is underrepresentation of women in legislative bodies, despite them amounting to more than half of the global population.
• This democratic insufficiency poses a consequential barrier in attaining a rapid economic development. Consequently, this became an alarming issue and thus resulted in implementation of the Women's Reservation Bill, also known as the Constitution 108th Amendment Bill of 2008, which is imperative for contemporary Indian society⁶.
• ⁷In 2010, Mulayam Singh Yadav did however recommend that this Women’s Reservation Bill should not be implemented as it may result in male parliamentarians to engage in wolf-whistling towards their female colleagues⁸.

Need of the Bill

• There are eighty-two women members of Parliaments in Lok Sabha (15.2%) and  hirty-one women in Rajya Sabha(13%).
• While the number has increased remarkably since the 1st Lok Sabha (5%), it  is still far lower than compared to many other countries.
• According to recent United Nations Women data, Rwanda (61%), Cuba (53%), Nicaragua (52%) are the top three countries in women representation. Bangladesh (21%) and Pakistan (20%) also surpassed  India when it comes to representation of female candidates.

Salient features of the 2023 Bill

• The Bill guarantees a permanent reservation to one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly in Delhi⁹.
• The reservation will be effective for a period of 15 years, but it shall continue until the date which will be confirmed by the law made by Parliament.
• Seats which are reserved for women will be alternated after each delimitation, as confirmed by a law made by Parliament.

Issues to be taken into account

The reservation issues of seats for women in legislatures can be studied from three viewpoint: 

1. Whether the reservation policy for women can perform as a successful instrument for their promotion?
2. Whether different procedures for growing women representation in legislatures are practical or not? 
3. Whether there are any other issues with the suggested ways for reservation in the Bill¹⁰.

Important changes between Bill introduced in 2008 and 2023 Bill

Arguments for the Bill

• Women representation in politics is a vital step towards gender equality and India is lacking in this front that is why this Bill is the need of the hour, so that women can be represented in a better manner in this country.
• Historically women have always been under-represented in India. Although there has been an increase in the number of women MPs¹¹  from 5% in the first Lok Sabha to 15% in the 17th Lok Sabha; but this number continues to be quite low.
• Moreover, the Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice (2009) had recorded that the reservation of seats especially for women in various local bodies has enabled them to make relevant contributions.
• If a particular group is not represented properly in the political system, their ability to influence policy-making is limited. Hence, women’s right to Self-representation and Self-determination on the larger scale is needed.
• Diverse legislature is what India is all about but a diverse legislature that includes a decent number of women can bring a wide and different range of perspectives to the various decision-making processes.

Arguments against the Bill

• Women are not a homogeneous community like, for example, a caste group. Hence, the arguments that are made for caste-based reservations can’t be made for women.
• Opposition claims that reserving seats violates the Constitution's guarantee of equality¹². Due to this reservation, women won't be competing on merit, which could possibly decrease their status in the society.
• There are also some male MPs that argue whether this reservation can bring it the deserving candidates and if seats are reserved for women what will happen to the backward class communities.

Problems relating to the Women Reservation Bill

• One of the main problems of this 2023 bill is that women cannot be categorized as a homogeneous group like a caste can be.
• Many think that reserving seats for women can result in going against the Constitution’s right to guarantee equality and moreover there can be a chance that women will not be able to compete based on merits and unfair competition would arise.
• This bill may result in gender inconsistency as it suggests that women will not be judged based on their qualifications.
• This strategy to reserve seats for women may result in shifting the focus away from more serious electoral reform matters¹³.
• This 2023 bill that promises to reserve parliamentary seats for women may result in limiting the voters choice. 
• Change in reserved constituencies at each election can result in reducing the incentives for MPs to work for their constituencies.
• This bill primarily only focuses on the women representation in Lok Sabha, it does not talk about whether and how women will be represented in Rajya Sabha and other committees.
• Different members worries that this reservation will result in a prevention to reserve seats for the Rajya Sabha¹⁴.

Result: This bill has lapsed four times between 1998 and 2003 and finally in 2023 with a majority vote it was implemented successfully. 
But will the political parties succeed in meeting this challenge before 2029, both at the national and state level, is the million-dollar question?¹⁵ 

About author

Greetings everyone!
My name is Isha Tripathi, currently interning at Judicial Disha. I am a 5th year BALLB program student at Amity University (Lucknow). I have keen interest in writing legal blogs and legal content writing. I am always looking forward to learn new skills and to pursue my interest in legal writing, i have written several articles and research papers. I always look up to the famous dialogue of Aamir Khan in 3 idiots, "Success ke peeche mat bhaago, Excellence ka peecha karo, Success jhak mar ke tumhare peeche ayegi" it inspires me to seek excellence in everything i do.

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1[The Constitution (One Hundred Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023]
2the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam
3181 seats out of a total of 543 in the Lok Sabha
4the Lower house of Parliament
5Former Governor of Uttar Pradesh
6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_Sixth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_India
7Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh
8https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Hundred_and_Sixth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_India
9National capital of India
10This is based on 2008 Bill
11Member of Parliament
12Article 14 of Indian Constitution
13For example- the criminalisation of politics and the state of inner-party democracy
14The Upper House of Parliament
15https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/blunt-frank/women-reservation-bill-2023-a-view-point/