WOMEN’S QUOTA, PANCHAYATS TO PARLIAMENT

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REFERENCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS1: WOMEN EMPOWERMENT; GS 2: ELECTORAL RRFORMS.

THE CONTEXT

The landmark Women’s Reservation Bill now the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act that reserves one-third of the total seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for women received presidential assent recently.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BILL

• Reservation for women: The Bill reserves, one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.  This will also apply to the seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and states legislatures.
• Commencement of reservation: The reservation will be effective after the census conducted after the commencement of this Bill has been published.   Based on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women.  The reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years.  However, it shall continue till such date as determined by a law made by Parliament.
• Rotation of seats:Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law made by Parliament.
• Ratification of bill: The Bill needs ratification from a minimum of 50 per cent of the states. The constitutional reasoning for requiring ratification by states is the potential impact of the Bill on the rights of states.

SIGNIFICANCE 

• Increase political representation of women: According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India ranks 148th out of 193 countries in terms of women’s representation while the global average is 26.5 per cent. Similarly, women’s representation in state assemblies is also dismal, ranging from 3.1 per cent in Nagaland to 23.1 per cent in Bihar. The Bill aims to increase the number of women MPs to 181 from the current 82 and women MLAs to more than 2,000 from the current 740.
• Gender equality: The Bill aims to empower women and promote gender equality in society. The Bill hopes to create a conducive environment for women to voice their concerns and demand their rights. It also hopes to inspire more women to enter public life, take on leadership roles and challenge the patriarchal norms and stereotypes that limit their potential.
• Enhance governance: The Bill will improve the quality and effectiveness of governance and policymaking in India. Studies have shown that women legislators tend to be more responsive, accountable, honest, and collaborative than their male counterparts. They also tend to focus more on issues related to health, education, welfare, environment, and social justice, which are crucial for human development.

WOMEN’S RESERVATION IN PANCHAYATS

• The Bill marked a new chapter in India’s democratic journey and it comes on the 30th anniversary of the constitutional reforms that reserved one-third of seats in panchayats and municipalities for women.
• The Parliament enacted the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments that sought to make panchayats and municipalities “institutions of self-government”.
• It mandated a minimum of one-third of seats and office of chairpersons in panchayats and municipalities to be reserved for women.
• It also mandated reservation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Schedules Tribes (STs) based on their percentage population and enabled States to reserve seats for Backward Classes.
• This has created a system with over 3 million elected panchayat representatives, out of which almost half are women.
• While the Union government’s 2009 constitutional amendment to increase women’s reservation in local governments from 33% to 50% failed, many States have enacted laws that reserve 50% seats for women.
• Hence, presently in panchayats and municipalities, there is, at one level, vertical reservation of seats for SCs, STs, and OBCs and a horizontal category of reservation for women that applies across all categories general, SC, ST, and OBC.
• However, unlike the case of the 73rd and 74th amendments, the present law does not enable reservation for OBC women.

IMPACT OF WOMEN’S RESERVATION IN PANCHAYATS

• Strengthening democracy: With 30 years of women’s reservation in local government, it has ensured to strengthen democracy at grass root level which can be lesson for upper democracy. It led to expansion and diversification of the representative base of Indian democracy which is the most successful element of these constitutional reforms.
• Holistic address of disadvantaged section: Because of Such a mix of vertical and horizontal reservations the issue of disadvantaged section of people are recognized due to their location in the intersection of their caste and gender identities. The present women’s reservation law, adopts a similar model of intersectional reservation for women.
• Efficiency of Women leaders: Women leaders tends to be more efficient and women’s reservation in local governments yielded substantive benefits.

Differing impacts:

• More efficient: A 2004 paper by Esther Duflo and Raghabendra Chattopadhyay on panchayats in West Bengal and Rajasthan found that women leaders invest more in public goods and ensure increased women’s participation in panchayat meetings. A more expansive study in 2011 across 11 States by Ms. Duflo and others reaffirmed the finding that women-led panchayats made higher investments in public services like drinking water, education, and roads.
• Worse impact: However, a 2010 paper by Pranab Bardhan and others found that women’s reservations worsened the targeting of welfare programmes for SC/ST households and provided no improvement for female-headed households. Also, A 2020 paper by Alexander Lee and Varun Karekurve-Ramachandra examining reservations in Delhi found that constituencies reserved for women are less likely to elect OBC women and more likely to elect upper-caste women.
• Not much difference: Meanwhile, a 2008 paper by Vijayendra Rao and Radu Ban found that women leaders perform no differently than their male counterparts in south India and instead institutional factors such as the maturity of the State’s panchayat system were more relevant.

Evidently, the impact of women’s reservation is not straightforward. Since the role that women play in local governments is different from their role in Parliament, the impact of reservation may play out differently, it needs more effective studies to analyse the impacts at parliament level.

CONCERNS

• Can create division among women: The Bill will create divisions among women based on caste, religion, region, and class. Some parties have demanded that within the 33 per cent reservation for women, there should be a sub-quota for women from backward classes and minorities. Without such a provision, the Bill will benefit only upper-caste and urban women at the expense of lower-caste and rural women.
• Restrict choice of voters: Reservation of seats in Parliament restricts choice of voters to women candidates. Therefore, some experts have suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies.
• Issue in rotation provision of the bill: By reserving seats for women by rotation, the Bill may create instability and uncertainty in the electoral process. Rotation of reserved constituencies in every election may reduce the incentive for an MP to work for his constituency as he may be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency.
• Issue regarding merit of legislators: Another point of criticism is that it may reduce the merit and competence of legislators. By reserving seats for women based on gender alone, the Bill may compromise the quality and efficiency of governance.
• Can repeat trend of local bodies: One of the major concern is repetition of trend of local bodies where in name of women candidate, male members (Sarpanch Patis) tends to enjoy the political privileges overshadowing women’s political rights.
• Not proper discussion and consultation: There is no such proper stakeholder consultation. However, something as vital as a constitutional amendment for women’s reservation should have been introduced after widespread discussion and analysis of its experience, instead of being introduced through a “supplementary list” in a hastily organised Parliament session.

THE WAY FORWARD

• Immediate implementation: The reservation is proposed to be implemented after a new Census is published and the delimitation exercise is completed which may take time longer than expected. In this case there is need to have immediate implementation for its effective result.
• More inclusivity: There should be sub quota for reservation of OBC as well to have inclusive political representation of women from marginalized strata of society.
• Extend reservation to Rajya Sabha: The report examining the 1996 women’s reservation Bill recommended reservation be extended to the Rajya Sabha and the Legislative Councils as well to have an overall holistic growth.
• Reforms in the Electoral Process: Reforms such as introducing proportional representation and preferential voting systems can help to increase women’s representation in politics.

THE CONCLUSION

Overall, the reservation to women is a significant step forward for engendering political system.  There is need to ensure commitment of each political party towards empowerment of women within the political sphere by giving more tickets to them in the interregnum .

 PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS

1. Is the National Commission for Women able to strategize and tackle the problems that women face at both public and private spheres? Give reasons in support of your answer. (2017)
2. Assess the importance of the Panchayat system in India as a part of local government. Apart from government grants, what sources the Panchayats can look out for financing developmental projects? (2018)
3. The reservation of seats for women in the institution of local self-government has had a limited impact on the patriarchal character of the Indian political process”. Comment. (2019)

 MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

1. The Women Reservation Bill, 2023 is a new step in electoral reforms. Examine the concerns regarding its feasibility, desirability, and implications.
2. How far the Women Reservation Bill, 2023 can address the under representation of women in the Indian Political System?

 SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/womens-quota-panchayats-to-parliament/article67381623.ece

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