NEW DELHI: The mailbox of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the official residence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, witnessed some unusual activity earlier this month in the form of about 5,000 letters, mostly enclosed in pink envelopes. Each one of them reminded him that it is time for 33 per cent reservation—rather than the dismal under 12 per cent—for women in Parliament and state legislatures.“The idea behind the letter campaign was to remind the PM that we should not and cannot be ignored,” says Archana Jha of Centre for Social Research, an advocacy group for women based in New Delhi. “As part of the National Alliance for Women’s Reservation Bill, we want the government to enact the Bill in the ongoing session.”
The demand got a shot in the arm when Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to the PM earlier last week saying the Bill be passed in the ongoing monsoon session.
The “unconditional support” he offered to the Bill—that has had an eventful 22-year-long journey, probably the longest in India’s parliamentary history—might be dismissed as political posturing by many in ruling party, but activists beg to differ.“If an important political issue is raised by an important political leader, what is wrong in it? The onus is definitely on the government to enact the Bill into a law and walk the talk,” said Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, which has also sent letters to Modi.
“The fact remains that representation of women in Indian politics is extremely disappointing and political parties do not have willpower to see the bill through. Many senior BJP leaders have gone on record against women’s increased participation in the executive,” she said. The 2017 Women in Politics map created by Inter-Parliamentary Union and UN Women had ranked India at an abysmal 148 out of 193 countries that were rated for representation of women in executive government. The same mapping said the country stands at 88th position in the number of women ministers, with only five or 18.5 per cent women in Union cabinet.
With a bare 11.8 per cent of women MPs, India contrasts poorly with more conservative countries like Afghanistan which is at 27.7 per cent, Pakistan at 20.7 per cent and even Saudi Arabia’s 19.9 per cent.
The National Alliance for Women’s Reservation Bill—that has over 15 organisations and several individuals as its members—feels not only political but social consensus and understanding are required for this wish to become a reality.
“For this reason, we are looking to launch an extensive holistic media campaign, including a social media campaign, to garner support from every quarters,” Jha said. “As the ruling party relies heavily on social media, we are hoping the platform will work in our favour, too.”But what is the guarantee that even after the reservation, the women who finally make it to Parliament through reserved seats will have say in the decision making and will not be guided by their proxies?Sunita Thakur of Jagori says reservation can be a powerful tool to achieve the more significant goal of political empowerment. “Numbers do matter,” Thakur stresses.
History Of Women’s Reservation Bill
The first draft of Women’s Reservation Bill was prepared in 1996.
The Bill or the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008 proposed to amend the Constitution to reserve 33 % seats for women in Lok Sabha and all state Assemblies.
The seats were proposed to be reserved in rotation and would have been determined by draw of lots in such a way that a seat would be reserved only once in three consecutive general elections.
Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on March 9, 2010. Lok Sabha never voted on the Bill which lapsed after the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.