Lok Sabha passes Women’s Reservation Bill with two-thirds majority

On the evening of September 20, 2023, the Lok Sabha passed the Women’s Reservation Bill with more than a two-thirds majority. The Bill, named ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, was passed by the Lower House with 454 votes while two Members of Parliament voted against it.

The ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ is a woman reservation bill that will grant 33% of seats to women in the Lok Sabha as well as state assemblies. The Bill was first introduced in 1996. Since then, 6 attempts have been made to pass it but unsuccessful.

Although the bill has been passed now, opposition leaders flagged concerns about the timing of the bill’s passage as well as its eventual transition to the status of law.

The newly independent India had granted its female citizens the right to vote in an iconic decision, unlike Western democracies. Yet, the country has usually fared poorly on indices related to women’s participation in public life, the workforce, the economy and other spheres.

In 2016, Down To Earth reported that India was among the lowest-ranked in reducing the gender gap in health. Four years later in 2020, India was ranked 117th among 190 countries in empowering women.

Even when women have entered panchayats, assemblies and Parliament, several have been proxies for their male kin.

Today, several developing countries in Africa are closing the gender gap in political empowerment. In 2021, sub-Saharan Africa ranked third behind the US and Europe in terms of women’s representation in Parliament.

However, in most other regions, women are severely under-represented dropping as low as 10.1 per cent in Central and Southern Asia and 8.1 per cent in the Pacific Islands.

India also has success stories including its first Adivasi President-elect, Droupadi Murmu, who was sworn in on July 21, 2022. Her political rise from a Panchayat post to that of a Presidential candidate is a success story.

But still, much needs to be done to truly make sure women in India have the necessary power in the socio-political spaces of the country.