PM Modi with women MPs after the Women’s Reservation Bil was passed in Parliament.It is good that women from the SC, ST communities have been given a quota in the Women’s Reservation Bill but the voices of the OBC and EBC women need to be given representation in politics too.. A report by R Dyes
In 1865, the poet Wallace wrote “For the hand that rocks the cradle, is the hand that rules the world”, while talking about the impact and influence of women in the world through motherhood.
However, notwithstanding their impact and influence on the personalities of their children through upbringing, women, by and large remain behind the curtains and highly under-represented in politics in most parts of the world. While it is difficult for women to make it into politics, it is particularly true of women who belong to marginalized communities in countries like ours. That is why empowering them by giving them an opportunity to represent their communities in state Assemblies and the Parliament is crucial.
Recently, the Narendra Modi-led Government at the Centre cleared the historic Women’s Reservation Bill during a special session of Parliament. In a nutshell, the Constitution 108th Amendment Bill, 2008 seeks to reserve 33 per cent of the total number of seats in legislative Assemblies and Parliament for women.
Needless to say, the move was highly appreciated and hailed by all, as it was a culmination of decades of struggle and pushing by enlightened women, rights activists and right-thinking politicians for greater representation of women in politics. The debate on it started even before the Independence and in the Constituent Assembly and inch by inch the battle was fought and the ground was made by different generations of leaders and politicians in India to ensure women get their rights.
First, it was the visionary Rajiv Gandhi government in 1987 that set up a 14-member committee under Margaret Alva, which recommended the reservation of seats for women in elected bodies. In May 1989, then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced the Constitution Amendment Bill, to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies but the Bill, which was passed in Lok Sabha, failed to make it in the Rajya Sabha. Then in 1992 and 1993, then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao managed to get the Bill passed by both the Houses and today there are nearly 15 lakh elected women representatives in panchayats and nagarpalikas across India.
