Parity postponed?

Three path-breaking events have made India proud in the last two months. The landing on the south pole of the moon demonstrated the scientific and technological power of the country. It was followed by a successful G-20 conference which showcased to the world the culture, ethos and values of the Indian civilisation and projected India as a leader of the global south. The third was the immensely significant adoption of the Women’s Reservation Bill in our parliament with the support of all political parties. This bill heralds the beginning of a new era of gender equality with its political, economic and social implications.

The Women’s Reservation Bill proposes to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women. Currently, the representation of women is only about 14 per cent. Raising this to 33 per cent would make the Indian political scene more inclusive and diverse, besides empowering the women. As many as 64 countries around the world have some reservation for women in their parliament. In India, several governments in the past thirty years had attempted to reserve seats for women in the parliament but due to lack of majority and also differences of opinion they could not do so. It is heartening that though the opposition parties have suggested modifications to the bill, they have supported it.

The major objection is that the reservation bill does not have a separate reservation for women from the backward castes and minorities. There is already a provision for reservation for women from scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The reasoning is that if the women from backward castes are not given representation, then they will not be able to take advantage of the 33 per cent reservation for women, which could be dominated by the socially and economically better off sections of society. This apprehension is not misplaced, and merits serious consideration if the Women’s Reservation Bill is to fully meet its goal of upliftment of women across all sections of society. There are issues in doing this but if the will is there, then this is very much possible.

The second objection is regarding the time frame of implementation, which is abnormally long and linked to the delimitation of constituencies, which itself is dependent on the census. For one reason or the other, the census operations which were scheduled for 2021 have got delayed, and with the elections round the corner, the census operations are not likely to be completed before 2025. This means that the delimitation exercise is not likely to be done before 2026. If everything goes well and according to schedule, then the Women’s Reservation Bill can be implemented earliest before the 2029 general elections. However, the reason for linking women’s reservation with delimitation is not clear, and also makes one skeptical about the actual implementation because delimitation will be extremely difficult to implement. The delimitation exercise is based on population figures, and the southern states are already raising their voice against it. They feel that they would be penalised by reduced representation because of the positive work that they have done in reducing the population rate of growth. They have a genuine cause for concern, and it is for this reason that the delimitation exercise had been put on hold twice in the past. Many leading women thinkers and organisations have also expressed their apprehensions, saying this may cause indefinite delay in the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill. Some have even gone to the extent of doubting the intention behind this linkage. I feel that the issue of women’s reservation should not be allowed to remain pending indefinitely, and it should not be made contingent upon the delimitation exercise.

In any case, the upcoming General Elections of 2024 are a litmus test for the commitment of political parties to this very important reform. Nothing stops them from putting up women candidates in the election fray. If not 33 per cent, then at least 20 per cent or more women candidates should be put up by all political parties to declare their intent and commitment to the cause. So far the record of political parties in this regard has not been very edifying. The exceptions are the BJD in Odisha and the TMC in West Bengal. Moreover, to prepare women for their political role, at least 33 per cent of the posts in the party organisations can be given to women.

More than 30 years ago, 33 per cent reservation was provided for women in the local bodies. I remember that initially the women used to be proxy candidates, with their husband doing all the work and exercising all the powers. In fact, I used to be amused when, during my stint in the districts as DM, I would get visiting cards of men calling themselves as ‘Pradhan Patis’ (Husband of the Pradhan). Many People wondered at that time whether the reservation would make any difference to the status of women, considering the social realities of rural India. However, over the years, I noticed a big change, and now Pradhans have become pro-active and full of self-confidence. They are performing their roles as well as their male counterparts, if not better. It has also been found that the women Pradhans have focused much more on the relevant issues of health, education and nutrition. This only goes on to show that once women get their due in the parliament and state assemblies, they will contribute in a big way to social and economic development of the country. The 64 countries around the world where there is reservation for women in the parliament have shown that women in leadership positions have positively impacted the delivery of public policy and improved the quality of life of the communities.

It must be pointed out that women’s reservation in the parliament is not the panacea for all the issues faced by women. At the moment, more and more women are going for higher education, but even now they comprise 40 per cent of the country’s graduate population and about 30 per cent of total post graduates. The level of illiteracy in women is much higher than men. This indicates that a lot of work needs to be done to make women literate and enable them to access higher education. Without doing this, it would be difficult for women, particularly from rural areas, to participate effectively in the governance of the country.

More than half of the women in the country are homemakers presently, and even amongst those who are working, the earning is much higher than that of women. In addition, the level of participation of women in the labour force is only about 25 per cent, much less than that of men. Enabling social and economic environments is required to increase the labor force participation of women, which has a direct impact on the rate of growth of the economy.

The Women's Reservation Bill is an idea whose time has come, and there should be no conditions imposed that delay this idea becoming a reality. It is a commitment to empower women. However, to genuinely bring about women-led sustainable and inclusive development, much more work needs to be done at the ground level to improve their social and economic statuses. A major step in the right direction has been taken but it should be implemented fast, and to make it a transformative experience, all aspects of development of women should be prioritised in policymaking. There has to be a genuine commitment to make women equal partners in the process of development.

The writer is an ex-Chief Secretary, Govt of Uttar Pradesh. Views expressed are personal