By Charu Malhotra and Amitoj Gill
A democracy places power in the hands of people. For it to be representative, it must represent the interests of all people across the range of socio-economics, geographic backgrounds, and genders. India has been making efforts to promote women’s representation in government from as early as 1955 when a committee proposed 10% reservation for women in Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies and subsequent efforts continued but dissenting votes prevented the women’s representation bill to be passed. As we witness this historic bill take shape in the new parliament heralding new beginnings, the enactment of this bill risks a fuzzy implementation given inconsistencies that dot the balloting landscape. Solving these may well need a magical formula given our complex pluralist structure. Here, we throw up some questions and likely answers.
While women’s representation has been growing at all levels of governance – it has a long way to go before it reaches the half mark as women contribute to half the population. 15% of Lok Sabha MPs are currently women, with parties fielding around 8 to 9% of women candidates for elections – suggesting a relatively high ‘success rate’ for women in elections. That said, considering the proportion of female Lok Sabha MPs, India ranks 140th in the world. 53 countries have more than one-third representation of women in the Lower House of Parliament (or in their unicameral legislature as the case may be), with 6 countries having over 50% representation (Rwanda, Cuba, Nicaragua, Mexico, New Zealand, and UAE).
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By far, the biggest inroads have been made in the Panchayati Raj ecosystem with Article 243D of the Constitution requiring not less than one-third reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI), with more than 20 States having made provision for 50% reservation of women. This has brought over 14.5 lakh women into local leadership positions, with 46% of PRI representatives being women. Interestingly, in several states such as Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, more than 50% of PRI representatives are women, indicating that women are being elected in seats that are not reserved for them.
In the backdrop of the dialogue on ‘women led development’ the imperative for this bill is to allow women representatives to bring a progressive lens on gender questions, and it may be said – more than would be ordinarily expected of men. However, experience from reservation in PRIs suggests that representation of women in legislature is more likely to bring forth policy that directly affects the concerns of not just women, but also development needs of their communities more broadly. Research has found that Elected Women Representatives invest more in areas of development / community priorities such drinking water and sanitation, health, schools, and irrigation, amongst others. That said, challenges around the implementation of women’s reservation in PRIs remain, with several women being de-facto representatives of their husbands, or otherwise not considered effective leaders by their communities.
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When considering implementation of Women’s Reservation in national or state legislatures, the implementation challenges become more complex. Simply bringing in reservation may not necessarily translate to progressive women facing policies. The success would hinge on the profile and selection of women candidates and their readiness and grit. Political parties will have a crucial role to play in ensuring truly impactful implementation. First, parties will have to identify and prepare a capable pool of women with leadership attributes and winnability, interested in political participation at national or state-level platforms. Parties may need to engender at least one-third women’s participation amongst grassroots party workers, to ensure that at least one-third develop the capabilities to become MPs and MLAs.
Second, political parties would need to ensure that not just women with socio-economic privilege or those belonging to political families, but those of all backgrounds participate in elections for the impact of reservation to be truly representative. Women should not be selected as simply ‘faces’ of their husbands. The Women’s Reservation Bill has taken account of diversity to some extent by providing for reservation for SC/ST candidates. It would be essential that diversity is maintained at a regional level as well – be in the national or state level legislatures.
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Third, is a broader question on the implementation approach. Will one-third of seats be reserved as women seats in each election, in which case there may be several constituencies where ‘weaker’ female candidates are ‘compelled’ to contest if there are no strong female candidates present in these constituencies. At the same time, stronger female candidates may lose out if they belong to non-reserved women constituencies. As a result, development outcomes for constituents would suffer. Furthermore, if one-third seats are to be reserved, the approach for selecting such seats needs to be defined. If such selection is done on a rotational basis, it may force women to become ‘one time’ MPs or MLAs if reservation is rotated to other constituencies in subsequent elections.
The alternative approach to reserved seats would be for parties to field at least 40 to 50% of female candidates across constituencies (substantially higher than the 8 to 9% in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections). While this would not guarantee achievement of the one-third target, it would ensure the ‘best’ candidates for the constituency are elected.
In implementing Women’s Reservation, the measure of success or the intended end goal needs to be borne in mind. While women’s representation is an essential outcome, so is ensuring Parliamentarians with the necessary leadership capabilities for effective development of their constituencies – towards this end, planning needs to begin much in advance of future elections.
The author Charu Malhotra is the co-founder and CHR officer of Primus Partners. Co-author Amitoj Gill is the Vice President at Primus Partners.
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