For long, not only in India but in almost every part of the world women haven't been viewed with the same lenses with which a man is seen. For long, this section has been perceived not as a leader but a mute follower. Exceptions were always there. But they were few and far in between. There was an Indira Gandhi or a Benazir Bhutto or a Hillary Clinton. But, we all know from where they all came from. Had it not been a Nehru or a Bhutto or a Clinton around, we probably won't have heard the above mentioned names.
What this bill targets is creating not an Indira or Benazir but many more of Mayawatis or Mamta Bannerjis.
Since independence, our policy makers are designing policies favouring larger participation of women section in nation's growth. But still, female literacy lags behind a pathetic 54 percent. If we want to create a truly democratic society, then women empowerment is one of the foremost goals to achieve. There can be several ways of getting close to that goal. Providing better economic opportunities, better education facilities, or greater political representation could be the few possible ways which come directly to the mind.
Out of these three, providing political representation through reservation is one means by which parties can gain the maximum political mileage in the shortest span of time. And we all know how far-sighted our parties are, so the bill was the call of the day.
The Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 12, 1996. Though, it has been introduced in Parliament several times since then, the Bill didn't see the light of the day because of lack of political consensus. Stuck long for about fourteen years in parliament, the bill finally passed with near unanimous agreement this February. Most of the major political parties supported the bill whole heartedly. A few disagreements arose, uproar in Rajya Sabha happened, a few MPs expelled for their indiscipline, but amidst of all these the bill was finally passed with 186 votes in favour and 1 against.
We will try to scrutinize the bill in detail in subsequent sections, but before proceeding further, a little detail about what actually encompasses the bill.
Major points:
- Bill provides 33% reservation for women in the Parliament and all Legislative Assemblies. In already reserved seats for SC/ST, one-third be reserved for women.
- Billl doesn't provide any separate reservation for minorities and OBCs' women.
- Bill provides the provision of rotation of constituencies, which means that every constituency will be reserved for women at least once in 15 years. In normal cases elections are held every five years, so each constituency undergoes election exactly three times. Out of these 3 terms, one term will be reserved for women, and rest two open for all.
- No provision made for any reservation in upper house of parliament, Rajya Sabha.
- Bill expires after a period of 15 years.
This is it.
The bill says it all. More reservation. More promise of upliftment. The question arises, will the above measures really help, and more important, is it really required?
The bill says that every constituency will be reserved once for women representatives. What it means is that all the contestants for a particular constituency in a particular election will be women. So, the election of a woman candidate is ensured. But, in subsequent elections that constituency will be made free for any one to contest. This can have positive as well as negative repercussions. A woman candidate can leave a mark on the constituency by her good work and can contest that seat even after the reservation is withdrawn, provided the party supports her candidature. With the male dominated political class this is really a tough thing to achieve because there will be many male politicians gunning for that unreserved seat. This will force that woman to contest from some other reserved constituency which may not be a familiar territory for her. Hence, a low probability of winning the election. So, why would a politician, male or female, be motivated to nurse a particular constituency when he or she is almost guaranteed of not representing the constituency again?
In the current era of modernization (strictly for a few numbered metro cities), the bill certainly doesn't make much sense. Why reservation is needed when we already have a strong, aware female political class comprising of distinguished personalities like Brinda Karat, Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and several others? They didn't require any help to become what they are today. Reservation is definitely a luxury for such class. But as we look deep down, we find the real significance of the bill. For villages and cities in the interiors, reservation is a necessity. Necessity, because it is the mindset of the feudal society, which needs a strong stir, a complete overhaul in its thinking, towards how it perceives women.
The bill is indeed a very powerful tool if used judiciously by the targeted section. But, if we leave a minuscule part of elite urban women population, then we also know that the provisions of the bill will be misused to send more and more dummy representatives to the assemblies. There are many wives and daughters around, who will take the advantage of the bill.
Despite all flaws, we can't deny that a step has been taken, and the step augurs well for the future. Perception towards women needs to be changed, if we want to develop a society equitable in every aspects and there is no denying that the bill will help immensely to achieve that goal.
