• What does the Bill provide?
• Why is reservation for Women required?
• Why should women join the Parliament and Assemblies?
• Will the passage of WRB resolve all problems for women?
• What then about women from other marginalised communities?
• Does reservation for women exist anywhere in the world?
• How will it be done since, the Indian constitution does not permit special status to be accorded on the basis of Gender, class, Caste, Creed, Religion etc.?
• Can there be sub-quota for Muslim women in the existing structure of the WRB?
• What if seats are reserved in the political parties?

What does the Bill provide?
Bill provides for reservation of one-third seats for women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Lok Sabha, down to state and local legislatures. Thus 181 / 545 seats in the Parliament would be occupied by women. Also, the Bill provides for a rotation of seats, i.e., a male member of Parliament can not represent the same constituency for more then two consecutive terms.

Why is reservation for Women required?

Historically, women have been socially, politically and economically marginalised cutting their across class, caste and religion identities. Women have been the victims of patriarchal mindset that has not changed despite of all their successes. The very basis of any reservation is to provide social, economical and political empowerment to any section of the society that has been denied any equal social representation. Now the time has come when the existence of gender as a social reality and identity is acknowledged and its due share like caste, class and religion be accepted in order to move towards an egalitarian social change.

It has been the experience of the last 60 years of Independent and Democratic India that women could make their presence felt in almost every sector and are excelling in many others without any substantial or special provisions/ quotas; however, politics is one of those arenas, where despite all the efforts, women have been denied access.

In the April 2009 general elections out of the total 543 Legislators only 58 (10.7%) women legislators were elected for the Lok Sabha and 23 (9.5%) out of a total of 243 in the Rajya Sabha. In the 60 years of independent India, total of 461 women candidates have been elected from 14 general elections.
Empirical evidences of the Panchayats and local bodies present good learning before the polity of India that it is almost impossible to improve the number of women in the higher tiers of governance without making provisions of quota.

Why should women join the Parliament and Assemblies?

Women’s contribution to the cause of nation-building exceeds that of men. An International Labour Organisation study shows that "while women represent 50 percent of the world adult population and a third of the official labour force, they perform nearly two-third of all working hours, receive a tenth of world income and own less than one percent of world property." Therefore, reservation for women would only be an honest recognition of their contribution to social development.

The mass entry of women in local governance institutions (PRIs and Municipalities) as an outcome of 73rd-74th Constitutional Amendments has led to creation of spaces for women’s voices and concerns being heard and addressed. We do believe that women’s entry in the public policy making forum such as Parliament and Legislatures would bring a qualitative change in governance and administration making it more responsive and sensitive to the needs of the marginalized and excluded.

The processes of governance\decision making must be inclusive and participatory so that all citizens, men and women, have the opportunity to influence the public institutions that affect their well being. Getting more women into the decision making forum would serve to remove the gender imbalance and biases affecting them.

Will the passage of WRB resolve all problems for women?
The Women’s Bill is not and should not be expected to be a panacea for women’s ills. India is a shameful bottom or near-bottom in the Global Gender Gap Index when it comes to sex ratio at birth, and women’s economic participation and health and survival. Greater representation in Parliament and Assemblies will not necessarily resolve gender inequalities, since women leaders in Parliament cannot be counted upon to challenge economic and social structures that subordinate women. That task will still fall to the women’s movement. But the WRB will undoubtedly open up space for greater political participation for the mass of women. The emergence of a larger pool of women as active participants in the political process is bound to unleash a new social dynamics.

Nevertheless, it is very important to mention that like Minorities, Dalits and OBC’s, women are socially, politically and economically deprived. That makes women as a category onto itself which has to be given representation to take the democracy of this country a step ahead. Increased political participation of women will help them fight the abuse, discrimination, and inequality that women as a constituency suffer from.

Women in PRIs have not proved that women in governance are not corrupt and work for the welfare of the area?
This issue cannot be looked at in isolation from the governance and administrative system existing in the country today.
• Dealing with a systemic issue needs systemic response and must not be linked with any gender or community coming into positions of power. It must be linked to improved democratic governance overall, understood as inclusive, responsive, and accountable management of public affairs. Dealing with corruption needs a system of effective checks and balances on power are needed, not a change of gender.
• Women leaders in public offices tend to become part of the system and are co-opted, just as the other male leaders holding public offices.

It will be upper caste, upper class women who will get represented in the Parliament and legislative bodies?
There is a possibility that we may have some women as proxy candidates.
It has been demonstrated that when women gain confidence, they have challenged and questioned the existing unequal structures and power relations, both in public and private spaces. It has generated severe and violent backlash and is also at one of the causes for the stiff opposition to the WRB. The experience of the Panchayati Raj Institutions and local bodies confirms that from the next tenure onwards even the illiterate, Dalit and Muslim women who held the offices started asserting their authority, exhibited enthusiasm to understand the functioning of the governance machinery and the implement the policies of right to food, NREGA in the most impartial manner. They become empowered, and have gained self-confidence, political awareness and affirmation of their own identity.
Hence, among all probabilities, the chances of women picking up the conduct of the house and contributing their perspective to debates and discussions around crucial policy issues, as well as issues that affect women as a constituency is very high.

We also have many examples of women coming into politics without any family support or godfathers and proving themselves as successful administrators, both at the national and local level.

What then about women from other marginalised communities?
This is a very pertinent question, considering the fact that caste and religion play significant role in the Indian polity. Performance and selection of the candidate in the election depends on the position of the candidate and party in the social balance of forces, rather than individual privilege alone.
As far as the representation of Dalit women is concerned, there is already a provision in the Bill for 33% quota for women within the existing 22% SC/ST quota. Even if the Bill is passed in its present form, it will ensure the presence of at least 40 SC/ST women MPs in the Parliament (far more than the 17 in the present Lok Sabha).
In case of representation of the OBC women it needs to be understood that without the aid of reservation for OBCs in Assemblies and the Parliament, their number has increased to form a sizeable contingent (proportional to their representation in the population), especially after the Mandal Commission’s recommendations. In the 14th Lok Sabha, out of the 50 women MPs, 30% (15 in all) belong to the OBC category. After passage of WRB, there is not going to be any alteration in the caste composition of the Parliament and the Legislative bodies. Thus, it can be said that the constituencies from where a male OBC candidate could win, an OBC women candidate would be equally eligible to win, taking into consideration the various caste/class political dimensions that play part.
In all it can be concluded that the women from all facets of caste will get the representation and the apprehensions of only elite women entering the parliament are baseless.

Does reservation for women exist anywhere in the world?
Ninety countries have some kind of quota. That's half the countries of the world and the trend is towards more and more countries implementing quotas. Many countries like Rwanda, Sweden, Norway, including Afghanistan and Pakistan have provision for quotas to ensure that more women participate in political decision making.

How will it be done since, the Indian constitution does not permit special status to be accorded on the basis of Gender, class, Caste, Creed, Religion etc.?
To grant reservation to SC/STs first amendment was done in the year 1951. After the release of Mandal Commission’s report, amendment in the Constitution was introduced to reserve seats for OBC candidates in the higher education and jobs. This subsequently has translated into better representation of OBC candidates in the legislative bodies and the Parliament. Similarly, to encourage women participation in the polity, 73rd and 74th amendments in the constitution were passed in 1993, to introduce reservation for one-third of seats for women in Panchayats and Municipalities. Therefore, there already exists the amendment structure to support reservation for Women in the Parliament and the legislature bodies.

Can there be sub-quota for Muslim women in the existing structure of the WRB?
Without any doubt Sachar Commission’s report on the social, political and economical status of the Muslims is an eye-opener and reservation for Muslims in education, jobs, electorate process is highly recommended from many quarters. The gross under-representation of Muslims in legislatures (both male and female) needs to be redressed, this can hardly be resolved within the ambit of the Women’s Reservation Bill.
For that purpose new provisions and new legislations will have to be brought before the Parliament. Since, there does not exists any legislation to support reservation of seats on the basis of religion, hence, there will be need of introduction of required amendments in the constitution. That may take another 10-15 years of time period. The Ranganath Mishra Commission recommendations have emphasised the need for minority reservation in education and jobs. Hence, the demand for the immediate provision of 10% reservation in education and jobs for Muslims belonging to backward classes is more imperative and timely.

What if seats are reserved in the political parties?
An alternative to the Bill suggests amending the Representation of People Act, 1951, to compel political parties to mandatorily nominate women candidates for at least one-third of the seats on the pain of losing recognition. This is politically flawed and according to experts would not be able to stand the test of Constitution.
o This does not guarantee that same number of women would make it to the Parliament or Legislative assemblies.
o The inbuilt prejudices against women would be demonstrated as political parties would give the weak constituencies to women candidates.
o There were no arguments such as this, for reserving certain percentage for seats for Dalit candidates with in the political parties instead of giving reservation in the Parliament and legislative bodies, before being fielded in the elections. It was primarily because the prejudices are historic in nature and it would not have ensured impartial and unbiased representation. Similar is the case with women, since patriarchal mindset is deeply rooted in the society, hence any access to political power by the women would not be acceptable to the conservative and patriarchal blocks that are holding the power right now in their hands.