Gender, Religion and Caste
Women's political representation
Explain the state of women's representation and the case for reservation.
Why more women in power? Everyone knows about these problems, yet women's issues get too little attention. So many feminists concluded: unless women hold power, their problems will not be taken seriously. One way is to elect more women.
India's numbers are low.
- Lok Sabha: women's share touched 14.36 per cent for the first time in 2019.
- State assemblies: less than 5 per cent.
- Cabinets are mostly all-male, even when a woman is Chief Minister or Prime Minister.
India is in the bottom group of nations, behind many developing countries of Africa and Latin America.
Compare the world (October 2018). Women's share of seats in national parliaments: Nordic countries 42.3 per cent, the Americas 29.5, Europe 26.4. The world average was 24; India was at 11.8.
Reservation works. One fix is a law guaranteeing women a fair share of seats. Panchayati Raj did this: one-third of seats in panchayats and municipalities are reserved for women. There are now more than 10 lakh elected women in rural and urban local bodies.
The Women's Reservation Act, 2023. Women's groups demanded at least one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies too; the bill waited in Parliament for decades. In 2023 the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed. It will reserve 33 per cent of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and the Delhi Assembly.
The big lesson. Gender shows that some social divisions need to be raised in politics. Disadvantaged groups gain when their problem becomes a political issue. Could women have won these gains if nobody had made their unequal treatment political?
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