Written by: Suraj Dev, 3rd Year Law Student, Mumbai University.
INTRODUCTION
India is the largest democratic and most populous country in the world, and women constitute nearly half of its population. Several constitutional provisions, such as equality before the law under Article 14, gender equality under Article 15, equality of opportunity under Article 16, right to vote under Article 326, etc., guarantee equality to women along with their male counterparts, but in practical terms, the participation of women in politics is very low.
In the first Lok Sabha, women’s representation was merely 4.4%, and now, after 75 years of independence, it is just 15%. According to a report published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 144 out of 190 countries in the representation of women in the Parliament.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam – The Constitutional (128th amendment) Bill 2023 commonly known as the Women Reservation Bill has been passed in both houses of the Parliament. This bill aims to increase the political participation of women at the state and national level.
The bill states that as nearly as may be one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha by amending Article 330, the legislative assembly of every state by amending Article 332, the legislative assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi by amending Article 239AA, to be reserved for women. The enactment of the bill is contingent on the census and the delimitation exercise.
HISTORY OF THE BILL
In the year, 1971 the Government of India acting at the request of the United Nations, appointed a committee called Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) to examine the constitutional, legal, and administrative provisions that had bearing on the social status of women. The CSWI report Towards Equality came to the conclusion that there was an increase in the marginalization of women in society and state machinery has failed in its constitutional responsibility to provide gender equality.
In May 1989, then Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi raised the issue of reserved seats for women in the legislation for the first time. He introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to reserve one-third of seats for women in urban and rural local bodies. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha but due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, the Bill lapsed.
In 1992, the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led government reintroduced it as the 72nd and 73rd constitutional amendment bill to reserve one-third of all seats and chairperson posts for women in urban and rural local government bodies. The Bills were passed by both houses of parliament and became the law of the nation. Now there are more than 44% elected women representatives in the rural and urban local government bodies.
In the logical extension of the 72nd and 73rd constitutional amendments (1992,1993), the H.D. Deve Gowda led United Front government in September 1996, introduced the 81st amendment bill in the Lok Sabha to reserve a one-third seat in the Lok Sabha and all the state legislative assemblies. After the bill could not garner support in the Lok Sabha, it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary committee.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee recommended that “as nearly as may be one-third” seats should be reserved for 15 years. The committee also recommended that a sub-quota should be given to Other Backward Caste women within the quota and reservation should to the Rajya Sabha and all state legislative councils. The Bill did not proceed further and lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
In the 12th Lok Sabha, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government introduced the bill in 1998 but again with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha the bill lapsed. It was reintroduced in 1999,2002 and 2003, by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government but it never been a political consensus in the parliament.
On 6th May 2008, the Dr. Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government included a Common Minimum Programme and introduced the 108th Constitutional Amendment (2008) Bill in the Rajya Sabha. In this bill five of the seven recommendations made by the Geeta Mukherjee committee of 1996 was included.
The Bill was sent to the standing committee. On 17th December 2009, the committee presented its report. On 28 February 2010, the legislation was approved by the Union Cabinet. The legislation finally passed in the Rajya Sabha on 9th March 2010. However, the legislation was never introduced in the Lok Sabha due to the lack of political consensus among the allies of UPA, and eventually, the Lok Sabha dissolved in 2014.
OBCS IN QUOTA WITHIN QUOTA
One of the recommendations of the Geeta Mukherjee Committee was that the Women Reservation Bill should reserve seats for women from other backward classes. This recommendation was excluded from the bill for the first time. Some regional parties such as Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), and Samajwadi Party wanted the bill to be more inclusive by incorporating the Geeta Mukherjee Committee recommendation of quota within quota for the women from Other Backward Classes.
They stated that they strongly support the Women`s Reservation Bill and women`s empowerment, and they are not against it. They firmly believe in the principle of gender equality. That is why they demand quotas within the quota for women from disadvantaged communities to uplift and empower them.
On March 8, 1999, during the discussion on the 84th Constitutional Amendment Bill of Women reservation Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said “Our stand is clear that passing the legislation its present form would lead to continued inequality and further marginalization of women from Other Backward Classes, Dalit and minority communities within our country. Our longstanding view is that the current legislation should not be passed unit it includes a reservation for the women from Other Backward Classes, Dalit and minorities.“
As the legislation passed in the Upper House of the Parliament on March 9, 2010, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav said “We will not oppose the legislation. We stick to our longstanding position of reservation within the reservation. We want legislation inclusive of women from Other Backward Classes, Dalit and minorities.”
On May 5, 2009, Janata Dal (United) leader Sharad Yadav said “It is possible that we may not have the required numbers, I say, Socrates died alone after consuming poison, we will also die in the parliament after consuming poison. But the truth is that 90-95% of the people of India do not allow the bill to pass, even if we have to cut their throats.
Who talks about women`s reservations? We say, do it 100% but will you do it, leaving aside the reality of the nation? The women of this era were enslaved due to the caste system. It is because the right to vote is in the hands of the poor, backward and Dalit, people from every section of the society have come here in the parliament. So are you here trying to pass this bill to reduce their numbers.”
These leaders were of the view that every woman in the society does not have the same identity. Women from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes face dual discrimination. They are discriminated against and eliminated based on both their castes as well as their gender. To ensure a wide representation of women, it is necessary to reach out to women from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Communities.