Women's Reservation Bill: Your FAQs Answered

The Union Cabinet has cleared the proposed Women's Reservation Bill, which seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The bill has been pending for nearly 27 years.

The bill, which was last introduced in Parliament in 2008, seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies. The reserved seats for women parliamentarians may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory.

The system of reserving seats for women would cease to exist 15 years after it is put into place.

One-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups in Lok Sabha and the state assemblies.

Know all about the Women's Reservation Bill here.

When will the Women's Reservation Bill be implemented if passed?

The Bill will only come into effect following the first delimitation or redrawing of constituencies, which cannot take place until after the 2024 elections. This means that it cannot be enacted until the elections in 2029.

How many seats does the bill envisage reserving for women?

The Women's Reservation Bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of total number of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. According to reports, 181 seats in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.

The bill also extends its provisions to the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. "One-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes in the Delhi Assembly are also reserved for women...One-third of the total number of seats filled by direct election in the Delhi Assembly (including those reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes) are also reserved for women," the bill states.

How will the selection of reserved seats happen?

The seats will be reserved on a rotational basis, determined by a draw of lots. Each seat will be reserved once in every three consecutive general elections.

What is the current percentage of women in the Lok Sabha (LS) and Rajya Sabha (RS)?

In the Parliament, the present Lok Sabha has a total of 542 Members out of which 78 are female members. While Rajya Sabha has a total of 224 members out of which 24 are female members. Therefore, a total of 102 female members are part of Parliament. Out of these 102 members, 6 women leaders hold the ministerial position.

Who has introduced the Women's Reservation Bill in the Past?

The Women's Reservation Bill was first introduced in Lok Sabha as the 81st Amendment Bill in September 1996 by then Prime Minister Deve Gowda-led United Front government. The bill did not secure the House's approval and was subsequently referred to a joint parliamentary committee. This committee submitted its report to the Lok Sabha in December 1996. However, the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha. In 1998, the Bill was reintroduced during the 12th Lok Sabha by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. However, it faced strong opposition, with a Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP tearing the bill apart in the House, causing it to lapse.

In 1999, 2002, and 2003, the bill also failed to secure enough support, despite backing from some Congress, BJP, and Left party members.

In 2008, during the tenure of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 186-1 votes on March 9, 2010. Unfortunately, it was never considered in the Lok Sabha and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.

Are there any opponents of the bill?

Although the Bill faced strong opposition from parties like the RJD, Janata Dal (United), and Samajwadi Party (SP), as well as OBC MPs within the BJP, there were MPs like G M Banatwala from the IUML and Iliyas Azmi from the BSP who demanded for the inclusion of representation for Muslim women.

Any constitutional election currently have women's reservation?

Yes. In 1993, a constitutional amendment was passed in India that called for a random one third of village council leader, or sarpanch, positions in gram panchayat, to be reserved for women.

Do any Indian states have reservations for women in state assemblies?

No, as of now, no state assembly has this provision. However, 20 states in India namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal have made provisions for 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions through their respective State Panchayati Raj Acts.

How does India's representation of women in politics compare globally?

According to Al Jazeera report, India ranks 148th out of 193 countries in the number of elected female representatives in parliament, with only 14.4% of seats held by women. This is significantly lower than the global average of 25.8%, and even lower than some of India's neighbors, such as Nepal (47th) and Afghanistan (71st).