What are the major challenges in implementing the Women’s Reservation Bill?
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Women reservation bill was introduced by 106th Amendment Act. It aims to reserve one-third of all seats in Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Legislative Assembly of Delhi for women.
Main features:-
Challenges in implementation:-
1. Current Bill does not provide women’s reservation in the Rajya Sabha and State Legislative Councils.
In Gender Gap Index, India stands at 129 out of 140. It cannot realise full potential of economy and democratic rights when majority of its population (women) are out of decision making. Many nations like Rwanda and New Zealand have set exemplary examples by putting women in leadership positions. Therefore, the need of hour is to take proactive affirmative action. Although, reservation can’t guarantee equality and change but it is a good measure in right direction.
Main challenges involved in operationalization of the Women’s Reservation Bill to provide 33% reservation for women in the legislatures are.
First of all, organizational barriers become the obstacle and political opposition is one of them. Most political parties have declared support in words but shy away from it in action, Moeljadi said, as losing seats and power when supporting reforms was a concern. This resistance can slow down or water down the bill.
Second, there are social cultural constraints which are factors that act as a hurdle in the advancement of knowledge and societal improvement. Patriarchal cultures and gender discrimination can hamper women participation and representation even if they are voted. This calls for the change of society besides passing laws.
Thirdly, four implementation obstacles related to organizational practical arrangements can be identified. Changes in the constituencies as well as the accuracy and fairness in the distribution of reserved seats may lead to legal and political confrontations which are sensitive and in most cases technically elaborate.
Fourthly, it includes a consideration of tokenism or lack of quality representation. Several scholars have argued that reservation alone might not guarantee capable leadership or, more importantly, alter other dimensions of women’s empowerment; thus, political training and education are other elements necessary for the enhancement of women’s leadership
Finally, intersectional factors open another discussion. Such a representation has to consider different facets of the women which include, caste, class, and regional differences for the bill to encompass the many regional as well as caste differences existing among women. Managing these factors can be politically tricky and challenging particularly when addressing the three balancing factors.
Solving these issues involves political enablement, change in the society, proper management and positive policy changes that empower the woman through the women’s reservation bill.
Women’s Reservation Bill 2023 provides 33% reservation for women in state legislature and parliament. The main aim is to empower women through political representation in Indian society.
Major challenges in implementing the Women’s Reservation Bill:
The primary challenge is Delimitation which is a process of redrawing the boundaries of both parliament and state legislative assemblies. This process is done every few years after taking the census to ensure that no delegates are under-represented or overrepresented. The main concern in delimitation is that it is based on population parameters. It may end up with more seats occupied by northern states like Uttar Pradesh. Despite contributing 35% of GDP, southern states like Kerala will occupy less number of seats in parliament.
The other challenge is the Triple Test which was suggested by both the Government and supreme court mandatorily before OBC reservation in local bodies. The process of the triple test is so long. However, it does not apply to political reservations for SC/STs under Article 334. It applies only in the case of quota for Government employment. Also, the women’s reservation bill could continue the existing gender disparities in society. Regarding the participation of women in Rajya Sabha and important committees were not discussed in this bill. This could be a bigger challenge.
These challenges need to be addressed to implement a women’s reservation bill acceptably.