Women’s Reservation (The 108th Constitutional Amendment) Bill

Dr. Rakesh K Singh•

“Reservation for women is needed to compensate for the social barriers that have prevented
women from participating in politics and thus making their voices heard. It is of the opinion
that this Bill is a crucial affirmative step in the right direction of enhancing the participation of
women in the State legislatures and Parliament and increasing the role of women in
democratization of the country”. Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on the
Constitutional (108th Amendment) Bill

“Achieving the goal of equal participation of women and men in decision making will provide
a balance that more accurately reflects the composition of society and is needed in order to
strengthen democracy and promote its proper functioning. Without the active participation of
women and the incorporation of women's perspectives at all levels of decision-making, the
goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved.” - Fourth World Conference on
Women, Beijing, 1995: Article 181

Introduction

The passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on March 8, 2010 is a
momentous, heartwarming step not only for India, but is likely to be an inspirational
trendsetter for women’s empowerment in the entire region. Although it is only the first
step, the ripples from the smashing of a glass barrier are bound to be felt in virtually all
areas of traditional male dominance. Like its democracy, therefore, India will also be a
beacon in the matter of women’s emancipation. The bill faces other barriers, of course, of
which the securing of the Lok Sabha’s approval is the most crucial. But the expectation
among its proponents is that the momentum it has acquired by clearing the roadblocks put
up by its critics should make the subsequent passages much easier.

A Brief History of Women;s Reservation Bill

• 1996: Women's reservation bill is introduced as 81st Constitutional
Amendment Bill by Deve Gowda government.
• 1998: The bill is re-introduced as the 84th Constitutional Amendment
Bill by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee headed - National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) government.
• 1999: The NDA government re-introduces the bill
• 2002: The bill fails to get clearance in the house.
• 2003: Bill is introduced twice in parliament.
• 2008: The UPA government tables the Bill in the Rajya Sabha to save
from getting lapsed.
• 2010: The cabinet clears the bill and the Bill is passed by the Rajya
Sabha also.

•
Research Fellow, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi; rakesh.isidelhi@gmail.com

Women’s Link, Vol.16, No.2, April-June 2010

The struggle for political rights by women's groups has been the longest in the history of
independent India as the proposed constitution amendment bill had been deferred several
times by successive governments since 1996. While the Indian constitution is one of the
most progressive in the world and guarantees equal rights for men and women, Indian
women have always waited anxiously for their equal dreams to be translated into reality.
A closer look at the facts and circumstances which prevail at present, reveal that women
are impoverished in every sphere of activity not by choice but by systematic exclusions
from policy options and protective measures. Neither social legislations nor landmark
judgments on these have had major effect to render gender justice on this count.

Status of Women in India

The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice to which the
Bill was referred had submitted its report on December 17, 2009. Various political
parties, academics and activists have argued the pros and cons of the Bill threadbare.
Whether reservation for women in Parliament is the right tool for empowerment may be
debatable, but it is certainly true that women of this country have a long way to go before
they can achieve their potential. They are hampered by low levels of education, lack of
access to health care, lack of employment, and low social status which manifests in
crimes such as female foeticide, dowry deaths and domestic violence. It is pertinent to
highlight some socio-economic and political indicators related to women in our country
in the following graphs.

Percentage of women MPs from 1st to 15th Lok Sabha

Women constitute 11% of the newly elected House. Of the larger states Madhya Pradesh
has the highest percentage of women MPs (21%), followed by West Bengal (17%) and
Uttar Pradesh (15%). Bias against women and girls is also reflected in the demographic
ratio of 933 females for every 1,000 males. Also, 1 in 5 women dies during childbirth,
and such deaths account for more than 20 percent of the global maternal deaths.

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In India the legal age for marriage is 18 years for females and 21 years for males.
However about 44 percent of females, and 37 percent of males are married before the
legal age. There are areas in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and
Bihar where the average female age at marriage continues to be below 16 years.

Females married before age 18

Census 2001 reveals that 54.2% women are literate in our country. The NSSO data shows
huge disparity between urban and rural population. About 64% of rural males and 45%
rural females were literate. The literacy rates among their urban counterparts were much
higher at 81% and 69% respectively.

Literacy rate of women

Incidents of crimes against women

Crimes 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Rape (IPC) 15,847 18,233 18,359 19,348 20,737
Dowry Death (IPC) 6208 7026 6787 7618 8093
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 2684 3592 3204 4504 5623

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Kidnapping & Abduction (Sec 363 to 13,296 15,578 15,750 17,414 20,416
373 IPC)
Torture (IPC 498A) 50,703 58,121 58,319 63,128 75,930
Molestation (Sec 354 IPC) 32,939 34,567 34,175 36,617 38,734
Sexual harassment (Sec 509 IPC) 12,325 10,001 9984 9966 10,950
Importation of Girls (Sec. 366-B IPC) 46 89 149 67 61
Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 5510 5748 5908 4541 3568
1956
Indecent Representation of Women 1043 1378 2917 1562 1200
(Prohibition) Act, 1986

The Rationale

The proponents of the policy of reservation state that although equality of the sexes is
enshrined in the Constitution, it is not the reality. Therefore, vigorous affirmative action
is required to improve the condition of women. Also, there is evidence that political
reservation has increased redistribution of resources in favour of the groups which benefit
from reservation. A study1 about the effect of reservation for women in panchayats shows
that women elected under the reservation policy invest more in the public goods closely
linked to women’s concerns. A 2008 study2, commissioned by the Ministry of Panchayati
Raj, reveals that a sizeable proportion of women representatives perceive an enhancement
in their self-esteem, confidence and decision-making ability.

Some opponents argue that separate constituencies for women would not only narrow
their outlook but lead to perpetuation of unequal status because they would be seen as not
competing on merit. For instance, in the Constituent Assembly, Mrs Renuka Ray argued
against reserving seats for women: “When there is reservation of seats for women, the
question of their consideration for general seats, however competent they may be, does
not usually arise. We feel that women will get more chances if the consideration is of
ability alone.”3 Opponents also contend that reservation would not lead to political
empowerment of women because (a) larger issues of electoral reforms such as measures
to check criminalisation of politics, internal democracy in political parties, influence of

1
“Women as Policy Makers: Evidence from a Randomised Policy Experiment in India,” Raghabendra
Chattopadhyay and Esther Duflo, Econometrica, Vol. 72, No. 5, Sept 2004 and “Women Politicians,
Gender Bias, and Policy-making in Rural India,” Lori Beaman, Esther Duflo, Rohini Pande, Petia
Topalova, Background Paper for UNICEF, Dec 2006.
2
Study on Elected Women Representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions, Ministry of Panchayati Raj,
Govt of India, April 2008.
3 th
18 July, 1947, Constituent Assembly Debates (Proceedings) Volume IV

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black money, etc. have not been addressed4, and (b) it could lead to election of “proxies”
or relatives of male candidates.5

There is however no denying the fact that there is no adequate representation of women
in the social, economic and political life of the country even after more than 60 years of
independence. Though women have made their presence felt in many male dominated
professions, their representation in the decision making bodies/processes is far less than
that of men. There has been a historical social exclusion of women from polity due to
various social and cultural reasons and patriarchal traditions. As the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Women’s Reservation Bill observes, meaningful empowerment
of women can be achieved only with adequate participation by women in legislative
bodies or Parliamentary machinery, as inadequate representation of women in Parliament
and State legislature is a primary factor behind the general backwardness of women at all
levels. Reservation of seats for women is a valid and necessary strategy to enhance
women’s participation in the decision/policy making process.

Participation and Women’s Development

One of the landmark events in history during the women’s movement particularly in the
late 80s was the vision of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi who incorporated the 73rd
and 74th Amendments in the Constitution of India providing reservation of 1/3rd seats in
the Panchayats and Nagarpalikas for women. Such reservation ensured that women at the
grassroot level, occupying prominent position in the Panchayats and Nagarpalikas, take
decisions for their own life and for their rural/urban communities on many issues of
concern. It also imparted a gender perspective to issues concerning social and economic
life of women. Therefore, the concerns of some experts that women will be only proxy to
men, after reservation was given to women in Panchayats and Nagarpalikas, often leading

4
“Enhancing Women’s Representation in Legislatures: An Alternative to the Government Bill for
Women’s Representation,” Forum for Democratic Reforms – Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, Dhirubhai Sheth,
Yogendra Yadav, Madhu Kishwar, Manushi, Issue 116.
5
“The Logic of Quotas: Women’s Movement Splits on the Reservation Bill,” Madhu Kishwar, Manushi,
Issue No. 107.

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to misuse of their position, have in time turned out to be baseless and that the track record
of most of the elected women representatives has been proved commendable. Earlier
notions of women being mere proxies for male relatives have gradually ceded space to
the recognition that given the opportunity to participate in the political system, women
are as capable as their male counterparts.

Experiences in Panchayati Raj Institutions ((PRIs)

The last fifteen years of Panchayati Raj in India have

contributed significantly not only to the political but
also the social empowerment of women as is evident
from the findings of a study on elected women
representatives (EWRs) in Panchayati Raj Institutions.
The study provides several insights into the
performance of EWRs over three round of elections.
The study shows that elected representatives are deeply
involved in development efforts as well as social issues
in the village community. It further shows that women
participate freely in Gram Sabha meetings and are able
to raise issues relating to the development of the
community. The level of acceptance of EWRs and their
voice in the Gram Panchayats has also been assessed in
the study. A sizeable proportion (94%) stated that they
could freely raise issues during Gram Sabha meeting
and only 20% felt that their views were not considered
by Panchayat/Gram Sabha. The data further shows that
through 1/3rd reservation of seats for women in
Panchayats and Nagarpalikas, they have been able to
make meaningful contributions and that the actual
representation of women in Panchayati Raj institutions
has gone upto 42.3% i.e., beyond the reservation
percentage.

As a matter of fact, representation of women in policy making machineries is critical to

the nation building process. In all walks of life, women who acquired the necessary skills
and education have proved themselves capable of holding of their own. But unfortunately
they have failed to gain the requisite ground in the field of politics. All these trends
indicate that women’s representation in politics requires special attention and positive
action. This Bill is a crucial affirmative step in the right direction of enhancing the
participation of women in the State legislatures and Parliament and increasing the role of
women in democratization of the country. In the true democratic spirit, no
class/community should be excluded from the decision making due to the social and
economic barriers placed upon that gender as a whole, and merely hypothetical tokenism
or symbolic participation should be avoided. ‘Reservation’ is a sociological concept
evolved to bring about social reengineering and that reservation for women is therefore
needed to make the democratic process inclusive.

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Incidentally, India, the largest democracy, lags much behind other countries including its
neighbours Pakistan and Afghanistan, when it comes to the participation of the fair sex in
politics. With only 10.8 per cent of women representation in the Lok Sabha and 9 per
cent in the Rajya Sabha currently, India ranks 99th among 187 countries, according to the
comparative data by the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The IPU is an international organisation that works for promoting democracy, peace and
co-operation among people in the world. At present, India has only 59 women
representatives out of 545 members in the Lok Sabha, while there are 21 female MPs in
the 233-member Rajya Sabha.

Main Features of the Bill

• The Bill seeks to reserve, as nearly as possible, one-third of all seats for women in the
Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies (including Delhi). It means of the 543
seats of the current 15th Lok Sabha, 181 seats will be only for women. Currently of
the 545 seats, only 59 seats are being chaired by women. The allocation of reserved
seats shall be determined by such authority as prescribed by Parliament.
• As nearly as possible, one third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled
Caste/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies shall
be reserved for SC/ST women.
• Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement
of the Act.
• Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or
union territory. If a state or union territory has only one seat in the Lok Sabha, that
seat shall be reserved for women in the first general election of every cycle of three
elections. If there are two seats, each shall be reserved once in a cycle of three
elections. Similar rules apply for seats reserved for SC/STs. Of the two seats in the

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 Lok Sabha reserved for Anglo Indians, one will be reserved for women in each of the
two elections in a cycle of three elections.

Reservation for women in Legislative Assemblies

States Seat Strength Reserved for Women
Total SC ST Gen SC ST Gen Total
Andhra Pradesh 294 48 19 227 16 6 76 98
Arunachal Pradesh 60 59 1 0 20 1 21
Assam 126 8 16 102 3 5 34 42
Bihar 243 38 2 203 13 1 67 81
Chattisgarh 90 10 29 51 3 10 17 30
Goa 40 1 39 1 0 12 13
Gujarat 182 13 27 142 4 9 48 61
Haryana 90 17 73 6 0 24 30
HP 68 17 3 48 6 1 16 23
J&K 87 87 0 0 29 29
Jharkhand 81 9 28 44 3 9 15 27
Karnataka 224 36 15 173 12 5 58 75
Kerala 140 14 2 124 5 1 41 47
MP 230 35 47 148 12 16 49 77
Maharashtra 288 29 25 234 10 8 78 96
Manipur 60 1 19 40 1 6 13 20
Meghalaya 60 55 5 0 18 2 20
Mizoram 40 38 2 0 13 1 14
Nagaland 60 59 1 0 20 1 21
Orissa 147 24 33 90 8 11 30 49
Punjab 117 34 83 11 0 28 39
Rajasthan 200 34 25 141 11 8 48 67
Sikkim 32 2 12 18 1 4 6 11
TN 234 44 2 188 15 1 62 78
Tripura 60 10 20 30 3 7 10 20
Uttarakhand 70 13 2 55 4 1 18 23
UP 403 85 318 28 0 106 134
WB 294 68 16 210 23 5 70 98
Delhi 70 12 58 4 0 19 23
Puducherry* 30 5 25 2 0 8 10
Total 4120 607 553 2960 205 185 987 1377
Total excl. Puducherry 4090 602 553 2935 203 185 979 1367
* Reservation for Puducherry Assembly does not require an Amendment to the Constitution of
India, and was thus not part of the Bill. It requires an ordinary Act of Parliament.

Alternative methods

Reservation of seats in Parliament restricts choice of voters to women candidates.

Therefore, some experts had suggested alternate methods such as reservation in political

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parties and dual member constituencies. Three alternatives have been suggested by some
experts: reservation for candidates within political parties; dual member constituencies
where some constituencies shall have two candidates, one being a woman; and increasing
the number of seats in Assemblies and Parliament to accommodate sufficient women
candidates.

The Gill Formula, which was a proposal of the Election Commission of India to make it
mandatory for the recognised Political Parties to ensure putting of minimum agreed
percentage for women in State Assembly and Parliamentary election so as to allow them
to retain the recognition with the Election Commission as Political Parties, is
unacceptable to the majority of parties and women’s groups in the country. It is believed
that it might lead to political parties giving seats to women, which they perceive are not
winning seats, thereby negating actual representation of women in elected bodies. There
is kind of a consensus that reserving seats for women in Assemblies and Lok Sabha
should not be left to the discretion of Political Parties, rather it should be guaranteed in
the Constitution itself and enforced by all means6.

Pros and cons of reservation in political parties and dual member constituencies
Advantages Disadvantages
Political parties • Provide more democratic • No guarantee that a significant
choice to voters number of women would get
• Allow more flexibility to elected
parties to choose candidates • Political parties may assign
and constituencies depending women candidates to
on local political and social constituencies where they are
factors weak
• Can nominate women from • Might lead to resentment if a
minority communities in areas woman is accommodated to the
where this will be an electoral disadvantage of a stronger male
advantage candidate
• Allow flexibility in the
number of women in
Parliament
Dual- member • Does not decrease the • Sitting members may have to
constituencies democratic choice for voters share their political base
• Does not discriminate against • Women may become secondary
male candidates persons or add-ons
• Might make it easier for • To fulfil criteria of 33% women,
members to nurture half of the seats need to be dual
constituencies whose average constituencies. This would
size is about 2 million people increase the total number of MPs
by 50%, which could make
deliberation in Parliament more

6
Parliamentary Standing Committee Report on the Constitutional (108th Amendment) Bill

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 difficult

Source: PRS Legislative Brief, September 23, 2008

There were problems in endorsing the concept of double-Member constituencies and

increasing the number of seats in Assemblies and Parliament. Elected women
representatives should be granted the same opportunities/status as their male
counterparts. However, providing for double-Member constituencies might result in
women being reduced to a subservient status, which will defeat the very purpose of the
Bill. Therefore, this concept seems discriminatory to women. On the other hand, if it is
proposed to increase the seats, there will be need of delimitation of constituencies.
Delimitation has just been finished, and going in again for adding seats, new seats, is
going to take you another 15 years and it is going to push the entire process backwards. It
cannot be done in one day by redrawing map. It will take another 10 years. This
delimitation process itself was going through so many roadblocks and so many problems.
Therefore, now, again taking it back to new increased seats is quite unfair.

The view that consequent upon reservation of 1/3rd of seats in State Assemblies and Lok
Sabha, the sitting members in case they happen to be male members who have nurtured
their constituencies will suffer injustice, as will other males who might wish to contest
from the reserved constituency, did not find favour with the political class. The rationale
behind reservation for women is to mitigate the deleterious effects of social and
economic barriers that have prevented the political empowerment of women, and not to
discriminate against men through the process of reservation, but to instill a new
harmonious social order promoting genuine fraternity between both the sexes.

Rotating Constituencies

One argument raised against rotation of seats is that it will lead to lack of accountability
and that rotation of seats will prevent the incumbent from nurturing her constituency.
However, the fact of the matter is that rotation is in the interest of democracy and that it
is the duty of the incumbent to work towards the welfare of the constituency, irrespective
of whether she would be elected next time or not. We cannot base our democracy on a
no-change approach which may lead to political monopolies and entrenched interests
which are an anathema to democratic processes.

Rotation of seats would also help in horizontal spread of women’s involvement in the
political affairs of the country. We cannot subscribe to the argument that this may cause a
changeover of experienced MPs and MLAs and, therefore, may adversely affect the
political discourse. The experienced members can seek acceptance from any other
constituency. It is also a fact that women elected from these constituencies are as
efficient, or, more efficient than the present incumbents. In a vibrant democratic system,
it is the State and national interest which should be at the forefront. Since all seats will be
rotated at some point or the other this will “affect” all in equal measure. The reservation
of seats may be done in such a way so that the road map for reservation is known in

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advance for the next three terms so as to eliminate uncertainty and allow for planning and
policies that should have precedence over constituency interest.

Impossibility of Reservation in Rajya Sabha

Article 80 of the Constitution specifies that members of state

assemblies will elect Rajya Sabha MPs through single
transferable vote. This implies that the votes are first allocated
to the most preferred candidate, and then to the next preferred
candidate, and so on. This system cannot accommodate the
principle of reserving a certain number of seats for a particular
group. Currently, Rajya Sabha does not have reservation for
SCs and STs. Therefore, any system that provides reservation
in Rajya Sabha implies that the Constitution must be amended
to jettison the Single Transferable Vote system.

Quota within quota issue

To put it simple, quota within quota means, "sub-reservation for STs, SCs, OBCs and
Minority communities within the 33 percent quota." However, the Bill in its present form
doesn’t favour this view – mainly because of lack of political consensus around this
issue. This demand is also unconstitutional. There is nothing like an OBC quota in the
constitution. And surely no quota based on religion. In its written views submitted before
the Committee, the Nationalist Congress Party has opined that “we don’t find any need
for reasons for special quota for OBC within the women’s quota as suggested from
certain quarters. Now there are 429 seats excluding reserved seats for SC/ST category in
the Parliament. There is no reservation for OBC in the abovementioned existing
unreserved seats. But still there is good representation for OBC category in the
Parliament at present. Same is the case of OBC category in the State Assemblies as well

Of the 543 Parliament seats, 80 seats are currently reserved for Scheduled Castes and 44
for Scheduled Tribes. So the Bill in its present form simply means that the sub quota
within this quota is that of these 124 seats, 41 will have to be reserved for SC/ST women.
And these 41 seats will be a part of 181 seats reserved for women. So the maths in simple
terms would mean – 140 seats in general category and 41 seats in reserved category =
181 seats. In other words, 55% (33% for women and 22% for SC/ST) of the Parliament
seats will be reserved.

Conclusion

The reservation bill has been undoubtedly one of the most controversial pieces of
legislation to ever get passed in any house of the Indian parliament. This is notable as
being one of the rarest occasions when a political consensus was reached among the three
major national parties - the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress, and the Left parties.
The passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha is not only a
heartwarming step for India but is likely to be an inspirational trendsetter for women's

Women’s Link, Vol.16, No.2, April-June 2010

empowerment in the entire region. One of the challenges that the bill faces among other
barriers is of course getting the Lok Sabha's approval. However, with the kind of
momentum it has acquired in the last few days, the subsequent passage in the lower house
should be relatively easy.

For the women of India, the sight of a huge influx of women into the august body of
parliament will be an exhilarating sight, at least initially, irrespective of how they
perform as MPs or what signs of improvement they provide. Since not only parliament,
but the assemblies, too, will see a large body of women as members, Indian politics will
experience a seminal, unexpected change. Research suggests that having more women
lawmakers makes a huge difference, not only to women, but to society in general,
especially in poor countries. In the Indian context, research by Raghabendra
Chattopadhyaya and Esther Duflo of the US-based National Bureau of Economic
Research (NBER) shows that reserving seats for women in Panchayats made a substantial
difference to governance and brought hitherto-neglected areas into focus. In Rwanda a
much-needed law that defines rape and protects victims of sexual abuse was passed only
after women legislators became a force to reckon with. Their male counterparts simply
did not think it important enough to warrant a law.

Debates will continue, stands will change and a complete consensus over an important
issue such as this would always be elusive. But as the saying go, half a loaf is better than
no bread. The matter is urgent because women will assuredly bring greater commitment
and integrity to the unfinished and increasingly urgent task of implementing rights based
legislation – to food, education, health, sanitation and water supply, clean energy,
demographic change, and employment. Those nominated are not all going to be wives,
daughters and sisters of powerful political families. This could happen up to a point but
not for long and women will increasingly come into their own. Parties that wish to see
more OBC and Muslim representation are free to nominate more candidates from these
categories. It is also likely that corruption and misbehaviour in the House may also come
down with a proportionate increase in women members.

References

1. The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008

2. Report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances,
Law on the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008
3. Study on Elected Women Representatives (EWRs) in Panchayati Raj Institutions,
Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Government of India
4. Legislative Brief, The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill,
2008, PRS Legislative Research, September 11, 2008.
5. Feminist Fundamentalism over Women’s Reservation Bill: Lessons from the Quota
Debate in India, Medha Nanivadekar, IWPR’s Eighth International Women’s
6. Policy Research Conference, June 2005
7. Nanivadekar, Medha (2003) “Dual-Member Constituencies: Resolving Deadlock on
Women’s Reservation” Economic and Political Weekly Oct 25, 2003 pp. 4506-4510
8. http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/arc/classif280210.htm (as on March 18, 2010)

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