Women’s Reservation Bill: First step to equality?

After a long, torturous journey spanning close to three decades, the much-debated Women’s Reservation Bill, now rechristened ‘Nari Shakti Vandana Adhiniyam’, providing for a 33% quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, was finally passed by Parliament last week.

But the excitement over the passage of the Bill proved to be short-lived after it became clear that women would have to wait longer to get their due share of political representation. The legislation will not be implemented immediately. The Bill lays down that quotas for women will be introduced only after the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies which, in turn, will be based on the completion of the next census. No time frame has been specified for these twin exercises. 

First introduced in 1996 by Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, the path-breaking Bill, promising greater representation of women in political structures, had to be abandoned after it met with stiff resistance from a section of parliamentarians. Members of the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal were particularly exercised over this legislation on the ground that it would favour well-heeled urban upper-caste women, while those from the backward classes and minorities would fail to benefit from it.

The two parties insisted that the Bill be suitably amended to include a sub-quota for women from the Other Backward Classes. There was all-round acknowledgement then that this demand for sub-quotas was a mere ruse to block this legislation. The noisy opposition by the two Mandal parties had the silent approval of male MPs cutting across party lines who were clearly unnerved by the far-reaching implications of this Bill as they were gripped by the fear of losing their seats.     

Numerous attempts

The Bill was subsequently reintroduced in Parliament several times by successive governments but to little avail. The Manmohan Singh government was partially successful when it managed to secure the passage of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha in 2010. Still, it did not have the nerve to follow it up in the Lok Sabha as the then United Progressive Alliance government was dependent on the support of the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. The Congress obviously did not wish to antagonise the two parties by ramming the Bill through.

But a lot has changed since the quota Bill was first introduced 27 years ago. The strong reaction it evoked from fellow politicians and others has given way to a gradual acceptance.

Women can no longer be ignored and reservation is a critical step for their political empowerment. Also, women have to be wooed as they constitute an important vote bank.

As a result, the controversial piece of legislation which was consistently blocked by angry, slogan-shouting MPs in the past, had a remarkably smooth passage in both Houses last week. In fact, there was bipartisan support for the Bill and the earlier two outliers — the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal — also cast their votes in its favour. They did reiterate their demand for a sub-quota for OBC women, but did not block the Bill. Ironically, the Congress, which had earlier been unwilling to accept the need to accommodate OBC women, spoke vociferously in its favour during last week’s debate on the Bill.

Unspecified timeframe

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi stealing a march over his predecessors with the unanimous passage of this landmark Bill, the mood in the Bharatiya Janata Party was understandably celebratory. Though quick to claim that this was originally their Bill, the Congress and other Opposition parties went on to slam the government as it will not come into immediate effect. 

Linking the implementation of the Bill to the yet-to-be-undertaken delimitation and census exercises effectively means that women would have to wait till the 2029 Lok Sabha elections to enjoy the benefits of this crucial legislation. In fact, it could even be later, as the Bill has failed to lay down any timeframe for rolling out quotas for women. This has predictably raised doubts about the Modi government’s sincerity in promoting gender justice. Since the passage of the Bill came months before the next Lok Sabha election, it is felt that the well-calculated move appears to be driven by the need to consolidate women’s votes and is not about their empowerment.

“This Bill can prove to be a big blow to patriarchy, but only when it is implemented and women are able to benefit from it,” said Annie Raja of the National Federation of Indian Women. Pointing out that the Bill has the potential to improve the socio-economic life of  women, Raja added, “Today, it is of no use as it is only a piece of paper.” 

Golden opportunity ahead

However, Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, was more optimistic. Describing the move as historic, she felt that the caveat regarding the implementation of the Bill does not take away from the fact that they had moved forward in opening up the political sphere to the entry of more women. “While there is a rider in the Bill regarding the implementation timeframe, it is essential to recognise that this is a significant step forward,” she said.

Ranjana is also convinced that since the Bill has been passed and all political parties are now on board, there will be no looking back. “It will certainly be implemented, the process has already begun,” she said. 

Meanwhile, political parties should walk the talk and start giving tickets to more women without waiting for the formal roll-out. “Now, as we look ahead, political parties have no more excuses. The 2024 elections provide a golden opportunity to take decisive action and allocate the seats as needed,” she added.

This back-and-forth is bound to continue in the coming days. Activists, politicians and academics will remain engaged in the debate on whether the Bill will eventually see the light of day or whether the latest exercise has been undertaken with an eye on next year’s election. Political parties which unanimously endorsed the Bill will be put to test when they sit down to identify candidates and distribute tickets in the run-up to the forthcoming elections, said Ranjana.   

Of course, there is a fair share of sceptics who believe that women who come into the legislature through the reservation route will not be taken seriously as they will not be up to the task of contributing effectively to proceedings in Parliament and state assemblies. They cite the example of the entry of women in Panchayati Raj institutions on quotas, where wives often sit in as proxies for their husbands, giving rise to the term ‘Pati Sarpanch’.

But activists working in the field point out that there has been a sea change over the years as women sarpanches have gradually come into their own and are making independent decisions. There are several success stories of how women are improving the quality of midday meals in schools, pushing for installation of water pumps in their villages or ensuring that primary healthcare centres function effectively. There have been innumerable studies which show that the civic facilities are far better in places where panchayats are headed by women. It is hoped that the increased participation of women representatives in local bodies will make it easier for men to accept their presence in Parliament and assemblies. 

Whatever the pros and cons of quotas, there is no denying that the first step has been taken to provide reservations for women in the Lok Sabha and assemblies. But the uncertainty still persists, as there is no guarantee that the Bill will eventually be implemented. But, as they say, well begun is half-done. Women continue to live in hope.

(Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based journalist.)