As the Women’s Reservation Bill is being debated in the Parliament, the discussion on it is decades old, dating back to the 1970s.
Acting upon a request from the United Nations in 1971 for a report on the status of women ahead of the International Women’s Year, 1975, the Union Ministry of Education and Social Welfare appointed a Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) to examine the constitutional, administrative, and legal provisions that have a bearing on the social status of women, their education, and employment, as well as the impact of these provisions.
The Committee’s report ‘Towards Equality’ noted that the Indian state had failed in its constitutional responsibility to ensure gender equality. Following this several states began announcing reservations for women in local bodies.
Later, in 1987, the Congress government under the leadership of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi constituted a 14-member committee under then Union Minister Margaret Alva, which presented the National Perspective Plan for Women, 1988-2000 to the PM for the following year.
The committee gave 353 recommendations, and one of them was the reservation of seats for women in elected bodies.
These recommendations then paved way for the Constitution’s 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts, which were enacted when PV Narasimha Rao was the PM. The acts reserved one-third of seats for women in Panchayati Raj institutions and offices of the chairperson at all levels of Panchayati Raj institutions, and in urban local bodies respectively.
The government of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on September 12, 1996, had tabled the Constitution (81st Amendment) Bill, which sought to reserve one-third of seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures.
Politicians cutting across party lines supported the Bill and sought its passage, however, several MPs, especially belonging to the OBCs had protested the Bill strongly and also sought changes in the Bill.
The PM said that the concerns could not be brushed aside, and sent it to a Select Committee of Parliament that was headed by veteran CPI leader Geeta Mukherjee, which comprised of 21 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha.
The panel had noted that although there were reservations for the ST/SC quotas, there was no such benefit for OBC women, and recommended reservation to OBCs.
The Bill was then tabled in both Houses on December 9, 1996, but no headway was made.
Later, on July 12, 1998, soon after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government took over, several MPs including Mamata Banerjee, had disrupted proceedings in Parliament demanding the introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
However, on July 20, as Law Minister M Thambi Durai rose to introduce the ill thereby reserving seats for women, RJD MP Surendra Prakash Yadav snatched it from his hand and, along with his party colleague Ajit Kumar Mehta, picked up more copies of the Bill and tore them up.
As RJD, SP and even OBC MPs from the BJP, opposed the Bill, some even demanded reservation for Muslim women.
Again with the Lok Sabha being dissolved, the Bill lapsed again.
It was again taken up by Vajpayee, who returned as the PM in 1999, and the demand resurfaced. Similarly, in 2003, Vajpayee made another attempt, but was not successful.
In 2005, Sonia Gandhi had convened a meeting over the Women’s Reservation Bill, and later PM Manmohan Singh also met leaders of NDA and other parties.
There were three proposals to it: to reintroduce the lapsed Bill which recommended 33 per cent reservation for women; to reserve one-third seats for women; and to implement the so-called “MS Gill formula” – proposal to the ECI to make it mandatory for recognised political parties to field a minimum agreed percentage of women in elections to state Assemblies and Parliament.
In 2008, the UPA government introduced The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008 in Rajya Sabha, which sought to reserve one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha and the state legislative Assemblies.
It was referred to a Standing Committee, which gave its report on December 17, 2009.
The Manmohan Singh Cabinet approved the Bill on February 25, 2010. On March 9, the Bill was passed by Rajya Sabha.
Due to differences, the Bill was never brought to the Lok Sabha and lapsed with the dissolution of the Lower House.
Later, in 2013, the Ministry of Women and Child Development constituted a committee on the status of women, which recommended: “Ensure at least 50 per cent reservation of seats for women in the Local bodies, State Legislative Assemblies, Parliament, Ministerial levels and all decision‐making bodies of the government.”