Editorial: Need equity not tokenism

CHENNAI: The Lok Sabha passed a bill granting reservation to women on one-third seats in the Lower House and state assemblies with near unanimous approval, setting it on course to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha. It was the first time any quota bill, in this case the 128th Constitution Amendment Bill, 2023, or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, had been put to vote in the Lok Sabha and swam through with a stupendous 454-2 margin. The landslide support for the bill, which was passed almost three decades after it was first tabled in the Parliament, came amidst demands from opposition leaders seeking such benefits to members of the OBC community, as well as the immediate implementation of the measure before the elections next year.

Home Minister Amit Shah indicated that the law would become a reality by 2029 as the process of decennial census and delimitation would be taken up right after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. The announcement was not without its criticisms as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin described the Women’s Reservation Bill in its current form as a poll gimmick that would come into being only after a delimitation exercise, to be conducted on the basis of a census that is yet to be held. Stalin also called for rebuffing the conspiracy to lower the political representation of south Indian states that have managed to control their population.

Undoubtedly, it’s a reform whose time had come, considering that the current 82 women Members of the Parliament comprise a measly 15% of the strength of the Lower House. After the implementation, it is expected that there should be at least 81 women members (33.3% of seats) in the Lower House. The share of women parliamentarians has never breached the 15% mark in over 70 years of the nation’s electoral history. Seen in the backdrop of the share of the total candidates who participated in the 2019 general election, their representation is even lesser at 9%. In fact, the share of MLAs in the case of sitting State Legislative Assemblies is significantly lower. Women members comprised under 10% of Legislative Assemblies in 20 States and Union Territories, including TN where the share was 5.1%.

Interestingly, Tamil Nadu happens to be among the first states that provided 50% reservation for women in local bodies. Former CM J Jayalalithaa had followed this up with announcing two consecutive terms for women in constituencies reserved for them. The share of women in Panchayati raj institutions is over 50% in many geographies, an indication of how local bodies boast of a much more equitable representation as opposed to Legislative Assemblies.

The significance of cosying up to the women demographic became clearer in 2019 when more women (67.18%) cast the ballot as compared to men (67.01%). A major caveat is regarding the rotation of the reserved seats, which per the bill, will take effect after each successive act of delimitation, as the Parliament determines by law. Such rotations could lead to the rise of nepotism as male MP’s required to give up their seats would conveniently make way for a woman kin of theirs who could serve as a proxy for the sitting MP. There is also the question of women contesting from reserved seats unable to envision long-term growth for their constituencies on account of losing them in the next election.

All inconsistencies need to ironed out before the bill is made into a law, and it must be representative of equity, and not a measure of tokenism.