13-yr journey till now

When did the Bill originate?
The proposed legislation to reserve 33.3 per cent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women was drafted by the United Front Government,headed by H D Deve Gowda,and tabled in Parliament for the first time on September 12,1996. It was referred to a parliamentary panel headed by the late Left leader Geeta Mukherjee.

Though it has been introduced in Parliament several times since then,the Bill could not be passed. When Gowda’s successor I K Gujral sought to introduce it in 1997,he was shouted down by members of his own party,the undivided Janata Dal. Subsequently in 1999,when the then law minister Ram Jethamalani sought to table the Bill during the NDA government’s tenure,an RJD minister snatched the papers from his hands. So,in 2008,when law minister H R Bhardwaj introduced the Bill in the Rajya Sabha,he was guarded by Congress ministers like V Narayansamy and Renuka Chaudhary to ensure that the incident was not repeated.

Its provisions
It provides for reservation for women at each level of legislative decision-making,starting with the Lok Sabha to state and local legislatures. If the Bill is passed — by way of the 108th Constitutional Amendment — one-third of the total available seats would be reserved for women in national,state or local governments. In continuation of the existing provisions already mandating reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes,one-third of such SC and ST candidates must be women.

Argument in favour
Its proponents say it would lead to gender equality in Parliament,resulting in the empowerment of women as a whole. Historically,the Bill’s supporters say,women are deprived in India. Increased political participation of women will help them fight the discrimination and inequality they suffer from.

Argument against it
Various political parties have staunchly opposed the Bill in its present form as they fear many of their male leaders would not get a chance to fight elections if 33.3 per cent seats are reserved for women. The Bill has also been opposed by politicians from the socially and economically backward classes. They argue that reservation would only help women of the elitist groups to gain seats,therefore causing further discrimination and under-representation to the poor and backward classes. SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD chief Lalu Prasad say the Bill “would deny adequate representation to other sections of society” and demand quota within quota for backward and Muslim women.

Strength of women in LS
A record 59 women were elected to the 15th Lok Sabha. At 19,the sixth LS had the lowest number of women.