Women's Bill a crack in the glass ceiling, Parliament still gender-unequal

The government introduced the Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament almost three decades after it was first drafted

India’s Parliament has the least gender diversity among key emerging-market (EM) economies, even though many of the country’s local bodies boast better women representation.

The government introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament almost three decades after it was first drafted. The Bill, which may only come into force in 2029, envisions reserving a third of the seats in the Lok Sabha (LS) and state legislatures for women candidates.

Proponents of the reservation hope the Bill will help break the political glass ceiling in the Indian Parliament.

An analysis of gender representation in parliaments across EM economies shows that India has the least diverse legislature among its key peers. Only 15 per cent of the LS and 14 per cent of the Rajya Sabha are female.

In comparison, women account for about 45 per cent of the Lower House in South Africa, 27 per cent of China’s unicameral legislature, and 18 per cent in Brazil. Just a third of the legislatures in the advanced economies of the US and the UK are female.
 

Although less than a fifth of the Members of Parliament (MPs) are women, their representation has improved over the past few elections. Women made up just 7 per cent of the contesting candidates and 8 per cent of the elected representatives in the 2004 general elections. By 2014, they occupied 11 per cent of the legislature despite accounting for just 8 per cent of the contesting candidates.
 

The wealth of women politicians has also been on the rise.

Data from the Association for Democratic Reforms shows that the median assets of women MPs have increased, reflective of the larger trend in Indian politics. Median assets of women MPs have increased by over 400 per cent, from about Rs 79 lakh in 2004 to over Rs 4.3 crore in 2019.

Reservation based on gender is not a new concept in Indian politics, as about 20 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand, among others, already have a 50 per cent quota for women in their local panchayats.

Women account for 46 per cent of all the elected representatives in the local panchayats. About 56 per cent of the elected representatives in the panchayats of Uttarakhand are women, the highest proportion in the country. This is followed by Chhattisgarh and Assam (about 55 per cent), Maharashtra (53.5 per cent), and Tamil Nadu (53 per cent). However, around a dozen states and Union Territories have women representation lower than the national average.