Summary
Highlights
The idea of political reservation for women in India dates back to 1931, when leaders like Begum Shah Nawaz and Sarojini Naidu advocated for absolute equality of political status without preferential treatment. In 1947, freedom fighter Renuka Ray believed women's rights would be guaranteed post-independence. However, in 1971, concerns arose about declining political representation for women, leading to support for reservations in local bodies, which many states implemented.
In 1988, the National Perspective Plan recommended reservations from the panchayat level to Parliament, leading to the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments. These mandated one-third of seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies, including reservations for SC/ST women. Some states even increased this to 50%. The 2008 Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill proposed reserving one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies, with a 15-year sunset clause.
The Women's Reservation Bill was first introduced in 1996 as the 81st Amendment Bill but lapsed. It was reintroduced multiple times between 1998 and 2003, facing strong opposition and even physical tearing of the bill in Parliament. Despite support from major parties, it failed to pass. In 2008, the UPA government tabled the bill in the Rajya Sabha, where it passed in 2010 but subsequently lapsed in the Lok Sabha due to continued opposition, particularly from the RJD, JDU, and SP, who demanded quotas for backward groups within the women's reservation.
Proponents argue that affirmative action is necessary to improve the status of women in Indian society and address their underrepresentation in Parliament. Increased representation is believed to empower women to form a strong lobby and address critical issues like crimes against women, low female labor force participation, poor nutrition, and skewed sex ratios.
Opponents argue that women are not a homogeneous community like caste groups, making caste-based reservation arguments inapplicable. They also suggest that reserving seats might violate equality guarantees and diminish women's status by implying they don't compete on merit. Another argument posited that bringing women into politics could disrupt traditional family structures, given men's primary power in Indian politics.
The original idea for the Women's Reservation Bill stemmed from a 1993 Constitutional Amendment that reserved one-third of Village Council leader positions for women. The bill was conceived as a long-term plan to extend this reservation to higher legislative bodies. Opponents view this as preferential treatment. While parties like RJD and Samajwadi Party have been vocal opponents, others like the BJP, LJP's Chirag Paswan, and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik have consistently pushed for its implementation.