WOMEN RESERVATION BILL – AN OVERVIEW

Women’s Reservation Bill speaks of 33 per cent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Since its first appearance for seeking parliamentary approval in September 1996, this reservation bill has undergone a roller coaster ride. Ever since its inception, there have been many attempts from various ruling parties to get political consensus on the bill but to no avail.


This is not the first time that attempts are made at subverting democracy in India. Every political party for the last many years has been assuring its supports to the bill which disarms women activists. And then a farce rather than a tragedy is played out by so-called radical politicians, jumping into well of the house, tearing copies of the bill and making impossible for proceeding to continue- the house gets adjoured, the bill is thrown into the dustbin till is revived in subsequent years with the same result. It is time this mockey stopped, considering that the congres, the BJP and left parties proclaim that they are for the bill in the present from and really want it to become law.

It is to be realized by the Indian politicians that they can no longer ignore the justified demand of reservation for the women in parliament and state legislature. Till the parliament is dominated by such MPs and lack of “will” of determination with ruling party and no support from the other parties the 33% reservation for the women will remain a “Forlorn Hope”

Coming to education, in this regard, the government has also made a provision of free education up to 14 years of age for all girls and this is going to increase female literacy and is definitely beneficial for society. But is there any need in giving reservation in jobs. Women today are marching shoulder to shoulder with the men in every field. They are, no more, considered the weaker sex. Today women have become quite conscious of their rights and they believed in women's empowerment. So where is the question of job reservation? As a matter of fact, in almost all, competitive exams girls are way ahead of their male counterparts,so by providing reservation in jobs,are we giving them an undue advantage over males.

If we compare our grandmothers with today's women we can see a stark contrast in the sense that in spite of slogans like “Women's Emancipation” or “Women's liberalisation”.Cases of domestic violence or divorce is where unheard in the past. Women knew their priority and responsibility maintaining domestic peace and nurturing children with utmost care-As a result of which they are not only became good citizens but also successful careerist. It is not true to say that a woman then where strictly confined to their homes,but They knew that they they are were the base of a good and successful house.

Women should be made literate and also be given chance to do the job to support their house. Women have been subjugated and suppressed for quite a long time and by extending reservations to them the government wants to improve their plight. If the women have economic independence they develop self-confidence and as they are also part of a society they should get an equal footing to enhance their image. Even today, the conditions of millions of women is still extremely pathetic. By working, they are also contributing to the family and today,the prices escalating and it is important that both the husband and wife earn. It does not mean that women who is working is neglecting the children. We should keep in mind that women are more attached to their children or their family as a whole compared to men. The government is completely justified in providing reservation for women be it in Parliament, jobs or education ,because no country can progress if women are devoid of basic rights.

For long, women in India have been submitted to the whims and fancies of men, who treat them more as a doormat and feel that if a woman goes to work and becomes financially dependent then she might leave him. All said and done,reservation for women should not be banned,but it should go a long way to empower them.


In India, women have been denied their basic rights and men have been responsible to a great extent for this. Girls have been made to sit at home and tend the house while the boys were allowed to go to school and college. Girls were married at an early age, depriving them to a decent childhood and thrusting them into motherhood. Against this background, the decision of the government to provide them with reservation and free education is definitely a humanitarian approach and pragmatic one that should be lauded instead of being criticised.


Today, women are not so much suppressed as like in the past. But they have not completely started coming to the front of the society. So there is nothing wrong in giving them a reservation in social fields, but it should not be over so that the men will be denied in getting the justice.

The bill does not recognize the fact that there have been many women who made it to high public offices and there have been many women Chief Ministers and a Prime Minister. Right now, we have a Woman President and a Woman Speaker. They all assumed office through their own efforts and without any reservation. The bill is based on the false assumption that women need reservation to enter high public offices.

The issue of reservations has a been a thorn in the side of every government since Independence. Why? Because, reservation is a fundamentally wrong principle. And in order to implement a fundamentally wrong principle, one has to devise numerous irrational laws and devices to cloak the ugly core of the principle. A lie has to be covered with other lies. That’s why reservation is a thorn.

The idea of reservations originated first in attempts to correct historical wrongs. That it doesn’t accomplish that in any way, only aggravates differences between different ‘groups’ of people is a totally different issue. The concept of reservations is now being expanded to include current perceptions of injustice to certain sections of society, more precisely that section which is made of people of a particular sex, women.

The need of the hour is not the super women, but those who have clear vision about India with political understanding. Only then the campaign for women reservation could get edge resulting in adequate representations in Parliament and State Assemblies.

Most important factor is the bill should cancel caste and religion based reservation but it should introduce reservation bill with economic criteria and this will help to control the influence of rich families. The fate of the 33% Women’s Reservation Bill still hangs in the balance because of a lack of consensus among various political parties. Though the government introduced it in the Rajya Sabha to prevent it from lapsing (a move perhaps more political than anything else), it failed to get it passed in its 5-year tenure. The BJP-led NDA government brought the bill to the Lok Sabha twice in 2002 and 2003 but never could get it passed even though the Congress and the Left, constituting a majority, had assured their support.

However, it is not as though a shortage of discussion time or lack of consensus prevents the House from passing Bills it really wants to. Several bills have been passed without any debate whatsoever. According to PRS, on the last day, the Lok Sabha passed 8 Bills in a span of just 17 minutes! "In all, 28% of the Bills were passed with less than 20 minutes of discussion, and a further of 19% with less than one hour of debate," states the PRS report.


And to think that even five years of discussions and bickerings are not enough for some Bills. Or is it just about the lack of will, more than anything else? Does for instance, the Women’s Reservation Bill make more sense politically when not passed so that each political party can use it (the promise of getting is passed if voted to power) as one of its main agendas too woo female voters? It just might be saving them the trouble of coming up with new promises.

Lack of consensus, shortage of time, need for discussion…all seem like mere excuses. It all boils down to whether there is a political will behind each Bill and it would do the members of the 15th Lok Sabha some good to reflect on the importance of paying honest and adequate attention to crucial legislations.


Lastly, the women of India have not fought and sacrificed all these years just for the illusion of power. They must not run after the mirage of greater representation within this system but should instead take forward the struggle for real political power, through a fundamental and lasting change in the political system itself.. They must be in the forefront of the struggle against the anti-social offensive, in defence of rights and in the struggle to overthrow this oppressive capitalist system and replace it with socialism. It is by coming forward to set the agenda for society that women will realise their collective strength, and be able to change their conditions.


Reality is indescribable. It not an object or a thing that can be put into words. It is through seeing through the unreality that reality is revealed.