While the tabling of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha is welcome, it does seem that the move is simply a gimmick. The manner in which the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has sought to table the bill, without first building a consensus among political parties on the issue of reserving 33 per cent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women, suggests that like its predecessor, the National Democratic Alliance government, the UPA is not really serious about seeing the bill become a law. The Bill was first tabled in the Lok Sabha 1996. It has been introduced in Parliament at least four times since but each of these efforts has been derailed. All political parties claim they are not opposed to womens’ reservation per se. Their quarrel is with the percentage of seats that the bill envisages reserving for women. The Samajwadi Party (SP), the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) say they want a quota within the women’s quota for backward castes and minorities. Their argument is that a quota for women by itself will only benefit women of privileged backgrounds. The SP and RJD opposition to the bill stems from their fears that a women’s quota in the legislatures will eat into the number of seats that is up for grabs for men. This fear they have couched in language that is supportive of women from underprivileged backgrounds.
But almost as disingenuous as the opponents of the bill is the approach of parties like the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These parties claim to favour reservation of seats for women but they have done little to ensure that the bill becomes law. They have failed to work at hammering out a consensus on the issue before tabling the bill. Their commitment to empowering women through reservation of seats in parliament and legislatures is therefore suspect.
By tabling the Women’s Bill despite attempts to prevent this, the government has taken the crucial first step and in tabling it in the Rajya Sabha, the government has ensured that the bill will not lapse. This is welcome. But as things stand, the tabling of the bill is unlikely to yield results. If the Congress, the BJP and the Left are indeed committed to getting the bill passed they must use the weeks before the next parliamentary session to build a consensus.
While the tabling of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha is welcome, it does seem that the move is simply a gimmick. The manner in which the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has sought to table the bill, without first building a consensus among political parties on the issue of reserving 33 per cent seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women, suggests that like its predecessor, the National Democratic Alliance government, the UPA is not really serious about seeing the bill become a law. The Bill was first tabled in the Lok Sabha 1996. It has been introduced in Parliament at least four times since but each of these efforts has been derailed. All political parties claim they are not opposed to womens’ reservation per se. Their quarrel is with the percentage of seats that the bill envisages reserving for women. The Samajwadi Party (SP), the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) say they want a quota within the women’s quota for backward castes and minorities. Their argument is that a quota for women by itself will only benefit women of privileged backgrounds. The SP and RJD opposition to the bill stems from their fears that a women’s quota in the legislatures will eat into the number of seats that is up for grabs for men. This fear they have couched in language that is supportive of women from underprivileged backgrounds.
