After Reading This Article You Can Solve This UPSC Mains Model Questions:
In light of the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, identify the structural, socio-political, and institutional barriers that limit women’s effective political participation in India. Suggest measures for accelerated implementation. 250 Words (GS-2, Polity)
Context
- The Constitution (One Hundred and Sixth Amendment) Act, 2023, popularly known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act), was enacted in September 2023 to reserve one-third (33%) of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
- While celebrated as a milestone for gender justice, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Act delays effective representation until at least 2034, turning a constitutional promise into a deferred reality.
Key Features of the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023
- Reservation for Women: The Act mandates the reservation of approximately one-third (33%) of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. This quota specifically includes a sub-reservation within the seats already set aside for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- Commencement of Reservation: The implementation is contingent upon the publication of the first Census conducted after the Act’s commencement. Following this publication, a delimitation exercise will be performed to identify the specific seats reserved for women. The provision is initially set for a duration of 15 years, though it may be extended beyond this period by a law enacted by Parliament.
- Rotation of Seats: To ensure varied geographic representation, seats reserved for women will be rotated across different constituencies. This rotation is scheduled to occur after each subsequent delimitation exercise, as regulated by parliamentary legislation.
Constitutional Mechanism Responsible for the Delay: Delimitation
- What is Delimitation: It is the process of redrawing boundaries of territorial constituencies to ensure that each seat represents a roughly equal number of people, reflecting population shifts over time.
- Two Sequential Preconditions: Reservation commences only after a national Census (slated for 2027) and Delimitation Commission constitution by the President under Article 82. Census under data verification and publication require 12-18 months historically – pushes the timeline toward 2029.
- Delimitation Complexity: The Commission balances population parity, geographic compactness, administrative boundaries, SC/ST quotas, and women’s seats across 543 Lok Sabha and 4,000+ Assembly constituencies.
- Prior commissions (1952, 1963, 1973, 2002) took 3-6 years; the upcoming one, involving post-1976 seat reallocation, may extend to 2032-33.
Rationale Behind the Design: Accommodation Through Expansion
The decision to tie reservation to delimitation is rooted in a strategic “political arithmetic”:
- Avoiding Male Displacement: Implementing a 33% quota within the current 543 seats would immediately displace 181 male incumbents.
- The “Bigger Pie” Strategy: Delimitation after 2026 is expected to increase the total Lok Sabha seats (potentially to 800 or even 888). By expanding the total number of seats, political parties can accommodate 33% women without reducing the absolute number of seats currently held by men.
- Cost of Consensus: While this approach minimizes political friction, it results in a “representation tax” where women must wait an additional decade for their guaranteed rights.
Current Representation Landscape
- Women’s electoral participation has grown—from 3% contestants (1957) to 10% (2024)—yet victories stagnate:
- 14% Lok Sabha (75/543 in 18th), 9% State Assemblies (e.g., 21% Chhattisgarh, 0% Nagaland), 17% Rajya Sabha (42/245).
- Globally, average stands at 26%; India trails G20 peer.
Historical Background: A Long and Interrupted Journey
The struggle for women’s representation in India has spanned nearly three decades:
- 1987 (Margaret Alva Committee): First recommended 33% reservation for women in local bodies, leading to the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments.
- 1996 (Geeta Mukherjee Committee): Examined the first version of the Bill in Parliament; however, the Bill lapsed multiple times due to lack of consensus.
- 2010: The Bill successfully passed the Rajya Sabha but was never brought to a vote in the Lok Sabha.
- 2023: The Act finally passed both Houses, yet the wait continues due to the aforementioned clauses.
Does having more women in power actually change anything on ground?
- Scholars talk about the ‘Critical Mass’ theory. Research shows that when women cross a 30% threshold in a legislature, the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) actively improves.
- Why? – Because women prioritize different things. A famous UN Women study on Indian Panchayats showed that local councils led by women built 62% more drinking water projects than those led by men. They invest in health, schools, and social safety nets. That is true inclusive growth. Thus, women legislators foster ideal of inclusive growth.
Critical Challenges and Structural Hurdles to Women’s Representation
Despite the historic nature of the Women’s Reservation Act, 2023, several systemic, design, and federal challenges persist that may impede the substantive empowerment of women in Indian politics.
I. The Five Pillars of Female Exclusion
Despite the law, significant hurdles remain for women entering the legislative space:
- The Patriarchal Mindset: Deep-seated social norms view women as homemakers. This is evidenced by the “Sarpanch Pati” phenomenon in PRIs, where elected women serve as proxies for their husbands.
- The “Winnability” Trap: Under the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system, parties hesitate to field women, claiming they are less “winnable” than dominant-caste men. Currently, major parties give less than 10% of tickets to women.
- The “Money and Muscle” Gap: As highlighted in Milan Vaishnav’s ‘When Crime Pays’, which has thrown light on this. He explains that Indian politics runs on two things: Money and Muscle. Elections are incredibly expensive, and parties love candidates who bring their own black money or have local strongman (goonda) networks. Due to lack of both money and muscle, Women are structurally locked out of this. They usually don’t control the family wealth, and they certainly aren’t part of local criminal mafias.”
- The Double Burden: Cultural expectations regarding unpaid care work and domestic duties make the 24/7 nature of political campaigning difficult for women to sustain.
- Toxic Political Environment: Female politicians are disproportionately targeted with sexist remarks, online character assassination, and character-based gatekeeping.
II. Linkage with Delimitation and Federal Tensions
By tying the Women Reservation Act to Delimitation, gender justice has been entangled with India’s most sensitive Federal issue:
- North-South Divide: Southern states, which have successfully controlled population growth, fear losing parliamentary seats to Northern states with higher growth rates.
- Hostage to Deadlock: Since delimitation has been frozen since 1976 (extended in 2001) to prevent this imbalance, any delay in resolving this federal friction will automatically delay women’s reservation.
III. Design Gaps in the 2023 Act
- Exclusion of Upper Houses: The Act does not apply to the Rajya Sabha or State Legislative Councils, limiting women’s presence in houses that provide expert scrutiny.
- Lack of OBC Sub-Quota: Unlike SC/ST women, there is no sub-reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) women, who represent nearly 40% of the female population, potentially leading to the “elite capture” of reserved seats.
- Operational Ambiguity on Rotation: The Act mandates seat rotation after each delimitation, but lacks clarity on how candidates will nurture constituencies if their boundaries change every few years.
Global Best Practices for Representation
- The Zipper System (Sweden): Political parties alternate between male and female candidates on their lists (Man-Woman-Man), ensuring 50% representation.
- Voluntary Party Quotas (South Africa): Parties voluntarily commit to fielding a certain percentage of women candidates without the need for a constitutional mandate.
- Reserved Seat Model (Rwanda): Rwanda leads the world with over 60% women in parliament through a combination of reserved seats and proportional representation.
Possible Strategies for Accelerating Implementation
To bridge the gap between promise and practice, the following measures are suggested:
- Constitutional Delinking: Amend the Act to remove the mandatory link to the Census and Delimitation.
- The Power of Article 15(3): Utilize Article 15(3), which empowers the State to make “special provisions for women and children,” to justify immediate reservation within the existing 543 seats.
- Interim Expansion: Incremental expansion of the Lok Sabha by adding seats specifically for women before the full-scale delimitation.
- Ticket Reservation: Amend the Representation of the People Act, 1951 to mandate that all recognized political parties reserve 33% of their tickets for women.
Conclusion
The Women Reservation Act represents a landmark yet deferred promise, where procedural hurdles delay substantive justice until 2034. By linking reservation to delimitation, the Act risks becoming a symbolic gesture that stalls Anne Phillips’ “Politics of Presence.” To achieve true democratic legitimacy and inclusive growth, India must resolve federal frictions and ensure that representation delayed does not become representation denied.
