Women's Bill in the works again

• The Union Cabinet, which held an unscheduled meeting recently, is said to have cleared the women’s reservation Bill, stuck for 27 years.
• It reserves 33 percent seats for women in Parliament and legislative Assemblies.

Need for the Women Reservation

• The move comes when the number of women candidates contesting Lok Sabha elections has slowly and steadily increased.
  • From just 45 in the 2nd Lok Sabha elections of 1957 to 726 in 2019.
• Women’s turnout has also been steadily increasing.
  • 46.6% of the women electors turned out to vote in 1962.
  • Women had left men behind, at 67.2% voting compared to 67%, by the time of the 2019 polls.
• Correspondingly, the number of women candidates in the Parliament has also risen.
• However, their share in the Lok Sabha ranks remains low.
  • In the 1st Lok Sabha, there were 22 women MPs (4.41%)
  • The figure of 78 elected in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is the highest ever, but it is still only 14.36% of the total.
  • That makes it less than half of the 33% seats envisioned to be kept aside for women by the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Pros and Cons of the Bill

• Pros
  • It will lead to the empowerment of women.
  • For instance, the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act led to gender sensitive decisions, increased responsiveness, etc.
  • Decriminalisation of politics, as there will be fewer criminal charges against women legislators.
• Cons
  • Distracts attention away from major electoral reforms such as intra-party democracy, etc.
  • Limits voters’ choice.
  • Rotation of reserved constituencies may limit an MP's incentive to work.

Prelims Takeaway

• Women’s Reservation Bill
• Reservation