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Chequered journey

Mainstream political parties have reacted with a sense of triumph to the introduction in the Rajya Sabha of the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill providing for one-third reservation of seats for women in Parliament and the State Assemblies. The elation must be understood in the context of the bill’s failed journey through three successive Lok Sabhas. Bills tabled in the upper house enjoy a longevity unavailable to those introduced in the lower house. Yet the cheque red history of the women’s quota bill is a warning against any undue optimism regarding its early passage. That a progressive measure on women empowerment has had to wait for a decade for being brought again before Parliament, and that too in near battlefield conditions, is indeed a sad commentary on 21st century India. Proponents of the bill, including the ruling coalition, sections of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and the Left had to employ guerrilla-like tactics to prevent the papers from being torn up — as happened in 1998 in the Lok Sabha. In a heartening sign of gender solidarity, women MPs cut across party lines to ensure the physical safety of the bill papers. Unfortunately, this bonding also served as a reminder of the almost insurmountable difficulties awaiting the future course of the legislation. From its 1996 avatar as the 81st Amendment Bill, it has today got only as far as the first stage of the legislative process. Just how tortuous the next steps can be is underscored by the fact that it will be examined by what is currently an all-male Standing Committee on Law and Justice.

The opponents of the women’s reservation bill argue that in the absence a sub-quota for the other backward classes (OBCs) and minorities, it will benefit only the affluent, upper caste women. The reasoning is specious, for elections to Parliament and the various State Assemblies have brought in an increasing political representation for the backward classes in recent years. What better proof of the power and muscle of the OBC lobby in Parliament than the fact that the bill has been successfully blocked all these years? It is inconceivable that in practice party leaders can afford to ignore the demographics of the constituencies when allotting tickets from the women’s quota. That the bill’s opponents appear willing to accept it in its current form, provided its passage is accompanied by a proportionate increase in the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats, shows up their stand to be duplicitous. The suggested alternative — that political parties be mandated to nominate women candidates to at least one-third of the seats contested — is equally flawed. For, where is the guarantee that women will not be relegated to unwinnable seats? None of the usual obstacles to the women’s bill seems to have been cleared as yet.

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