Reservation for Women and International Perspective ::: There's a need to reflect on the 'international angle'

Women's Reservation - There's a need to reflect on the 'international angle'

New Delhi 

An official booklet circulated some years ago by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat said- "it is an accepted fact that without being proportionately present in the political system", a group or women's ability to influence policy making is rather "limited".

This brings us to the debate on the need for the Women Reservation Bill. At the global stage, equal participation of women and men in public life was one of the cornerstones of the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 1979. India is a signatory to the convention. 

But it is also true discrimination in matters of representation of women in decision-making, that is power-politics bodies, continued. Of course the official explanations have been that different policy measures were/are being introduced to bring about gender balance in political institutions.

About 20 years back and more; this issue used to be discussed and debated even at international levels. Initially, a smaller number of seats were reserved in some countries but this did not help.  Thus, it was thought to be increased.

Surveys had revealed that women constitute more than 50 percent of the population in most countries but worldwide they held only less than 16 percent of the parliamentary seats.

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Here to cite instances, in Uganda, 56 seats - one elected in each district was introduced. In Tanzania, 20 percent of the seats were reserved for women. In some countries, also a different methodology was adopted. Reserved seats could be easily filled by appointment as in Kenya and even some Arab countries. 

In general arguments pushed for encouraging some reservations across the globe included 

--* women experience is needed in political life

** Only women (inadequate numbers) can represent the diversity of women

*** How could it be held right that women occupy less than 16 or 18 percent of the parliamentary seats in the world; but men could occupy 80 percent and above

**** For voters the choice is 'expanded' because now they can vote for women; and at thesame time political parties can come out of the tendency to nominate only men.

Most encouraging factors have been the outcome of introducing gender quotas.

Some years back it was argued that a dramatic change had taken place in the global ranking of countries. After quota system, countries such as Rwanda, Costa Rica, Argentina, Mozambique and South Africa got 'placed' very high in the world league of the Inter Parliamentary Union.

Following this, five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden which were at the top 'got challenged', this was claimed in 'Women, Quotas and Politics' by Drude Dahlerep.

There have been certain surprising elements associated with the issue of women quota even in some advanced and western countries.Some political parties in France till a few years ago showed tremendous resistance to complying fully with the law giving women reservation. They even preferred to pay a fine rather than include women on their lists.  

But the intervention by law has helped change the ground scenario.

From a paltry 5.6 percent women in 1995, by 2008, the French Senate had 17 percent women. France opted for the law in 2000.In February 2002, the Belgian Constitution affirmed the principle of equality between women and men by including a specific provision in an amendment to Article 10.

After adoption of this law in 2002; compared to its 1995 figures; women elected members in that country rose from 12.2 percent to 35.3 by 2007-08.

Of course it can be also stated that over the past decade and more, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has witnessed a consistent, though slow, increase in the presence of women in legislative bodies. 

Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia "opened the door" for increased levels of female representation but still the mechanisms do not appear to have a significant immediate impact on the appointment of female politicians to influential legislative committees in Arab parliaments. Even after gaining access to the political realm, women continue to be marginalized from the bodies where important policy deliberations and concessions occur, studies say. 

One advisory note that has surfaced is that the 'fast tracking' of women into legislatures through gender quotas is not necessarily accompanied by sufficient sensitization among the parties and voters to the need for more women in political life. In other words, political parties which have been male bastions all across need to be further encouraged to revise their statues and admit more women into their internal structures and also field them as candidates.

 (Nirendra Dev is a New Delhi-based journalist. He is also author of the books ‘The Talking Guns: North East India’, and ‘Modi to Moditva: An Uncensored Truth’. Views expressed are personal)

     

Here are the key provisions of the Women's Reservation Bill:

The bill seeks to reserve 33% seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies and the Delhi assembly. The quota won't apply to Rajya Sabha or state Legislative Councils.

From the said quota, one-third shall be reserved for women from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Reservation of seats shall come into effect after delimitation is undertaken after the relevant figures for the first census have been published.

Rotation of the seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies shall take place after each subsequent exercise of delimitation.

The bill excludes reservations for women from the OBC category.

The government said the bill is aimed at enabling greater participation of women in policy-making at state and national levels. 

The proposed bill had been pending for nearly 27 years with the last concrete action being its passing in the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but stalled in Lok Sabha yet again.

New Parliament is not just a new building but symbol of new beginning, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that Rajya Sabha can be a source of inspiration for the legislative bodies all over the country with regard to parliamentary probity. He was addressing the Rajya Sabha on the first day of proceedings in the New Parliament building today. The Prime Minister underlined the intentions of the makers of the Constitution that the upper House become a center for serious intellectual discussions rising above the ebb and flow of political discourse while giving direction to the nation. He said, New Parliament is not just a new building but is also a symbol of new beginning. Mr Modi said, at the dawn of Amrit Kaal, this new building will infuse new energy into 140 crore Indians.

 

The Prime Minister said that the time has come to move with new thinking and style to meet the aspirations of the people and that will require expanding the scope of work and thought process.

 

Speaking about the decisions taken in the last nine years, the Prime Minister pointed out touching upon the issues that have been pending for decades and were considered monumental was considered a huge mistake from the political standpoint, but his government took major strides in this direction even though it did not have the required numbers in the Rajya Sabha. Mr Modi expressed satisfaction that the issues were taken up and resolved for the betterment of the nation. He said, the dignity of the Rajya Sabha was upheld not because of sheer numbers in the house but due to the dexterity and understanding. The Prime Minister said, despite the changes in dispensations in a democratic setup efforts have been made to keep the national interest supreme.

 

Underlining Rajya Sabha’s role as House of the States, the Prime Minister said that in the era of cooperative federalism, the country has moved forward with great cooperation on many critical matters. He mentioned the Corona pandemic as an example of center-state cooperation. He also mentioned that the new building also represents the spirit of federalism as artifacts from states have found a place of prominence in the scheme of the new building.

 

Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said, women belonging to SC, ST, and OBC communities get less chance in comparison to other sections of the women. He also alleged that the government is continuously working to weaken the federal structure. 

Mr. Kharge also alleged that the government is also not releasing timely grants to states. 

Objecting to Mr. Kharge's remarks, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that his remarks with regard to women's representation is objectionable and undermine the capabilities of women. On the issue of timely payment of GST compensation to States, the Finance Minister said, no money is pending. After Mr. Kharge's remarks, the House was adjourned for the day.

A Naga Woman voter

Women celebrities and achievers who visited Parliament hailed the introduction of Women’s Reservation Bill. 

Actress Kangana Ranaut termed it a historic day for the nation and the women of the nation. She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for opening up new avenues for women saying that we also see women in more active roles like the army and the Air Force. 

Actress Esha Gupta, who was also present at Parliament, said it is a very progressive thought as this Bill will give equal powers to women and it is a big step for our country. 

Fashion designer Rina Dhaka said it is a big victory for the women of the country as there was a very marginal representation of women although they formed an equal part of our country and society. 

She also thanked Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur for inviting women achievers to Parliament to witness the introduction of the Bill. 

The Bill that seeks to provide 33 percent quota for women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Sept 19, 2023 in the special session of Parliament.

This was also first legislative item for the new Parliament Building.

Some of the women achievers were among the special invitees on the occasion of the introduction of the Bill which is officially called ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’.

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