The Women’s Reservation Bill: A Round-Up - Revathi Sivakumar

The historic Women’s Reservation Bill was finally passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, after two days of deplorable scenes by the opponents, aimed at discomfiting the Congress-led UPA government.  However, only the first hurdle has been crossed. The Bill will now have to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha, after which 15 Assemblies must ratify it with two-thirds majority. Finally, the President will give his approval.

Obviously, the Congress has a sticky road ahead in the Lok Sabha, where the ruling party is in a more vulnerable position than in the Rajya Sabha, without the support of the RJD, JD and TMC. In any case, it is not going to bring the Bill to the Lok Sabha before the recess that starts on March 17. This period would see anti-bill sections intensifying their campaign! 

On Wednesday, BJP male MPs surprisingly did a face-around, and attacked the Bill, questioning its ‘social justice’ claims. They also felt that they had walked into a UPA trap, slamming the government for its mishandling of the issue. But the real reason seems to be the provisions in the Bill itself. About 181 male MPs would not get a chance to get re-elected from their constituencies! Almost 50% go into the reserved category.

Not surprisingly, these sentiments are echoed by dissidents across parties. Muslim leaders feel that they are under-represented, and they are supported by the Yadav troika (Lalu, Mulayam and Sharad) as well as Mamata Bannerjee, TMC leader.

There are said to be rumblings even within the ruling Congress party. It is obvious that the Bill has been passed mainly because it was Sonia Gandhi’s pet project.

The Bill

The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill', which is also known as Women's Reservation Bill, seeks to provide 33 per cent, or one-third reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. It provides for reservation for women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Lok Sabha, and then to state and local legislatures.

The Bill was referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel, which submitted a report in December 2009, recommending passage of the Bill and suggesting that the issue should not be left to the discretion of political parties. The Central government cleared the Bill on February 25, 2010.

After the Rajya Sabha passes the bill, it will pass through the Lok Sabha.

The supporters and opponents

The supporters for the Bill look upon it as a historic move to help bring about transformation in the status of women in India. Through political empowerment, women can take major decisions in the public space.

However, opponents are of the view that reservation will only reinforce inequality. They fear that male leaders would be deprived of a chance to fight elections if 33.3 per cent seats are reserved for women. It has also been opposed by politicians from the socially and economically backward classes, who fear that it will be misused by elitist women only.

The Bill has also been criticized for its inherent structure. For instance, it makes a provision for rotation of constituencies in each election to mark out one-third seats for women. However, this could lessen the accountability of the candidates, which would undermine the very foundation of the Parliament. If an elected representative knows he has no chances of standing for re-election since the constituency would be reserved for a female candidate the next year, he may just lose any motivation for performing. While many alternatives have been suggested, such as multi-seat constituencies, dual member constituencies and party-based quotas in ticket allocation, there has not been enough debate on the issue.

The opponents have stalled the Bill for 13 years for want of consensus in the Rajya Sabha. Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo, Lalu Prasad Yadav, summed up the prevailing view: "The country's president is a woman, Lok Sabha Speaker is a woman, Congress president and UPA chairperson is also a woman and they have not come here through the women quota". With Mulayam Singh Yadav, he also opposed it on the ground that it does not “protect” Muslims and Dalits.

‘House’ arrest

The Congress had walked the tightrope between numbers and words for two days, on March 8 and 9. While it pussyfooted the issue, it seemed apparent that Sonia Gandhi wanted a vote on the Women's Reservation Bill, whatever be the political risks.

The dissident MPs, among others, forced the Rajya Sabha to adjourn five times through the day. Their MPs tore copies of the Bill and threw them at the Chairman of the House and Vice-President of the country, Hamid Ansari. The scenes that were witnessed were some of the most disgraceful ever witnessed in the country, ironically on the hundredth anniversary of the International Women’s Day.

Monday came to an end after five adjournments, without the bill being taken up despite the government having the numbers to carry the legislation through. But on Tuesday, a day after the Bill was brought into the Rajya Sabha, Chairman Hamid Ansari asked for a division of votes, as dissidents stalled the debate. Finally, the Chairman called for a voice vote and declared the motion passed. Marshals, meanwhile, physically evicted disruptive protestors.

The Congress too did not exactly come in for praise, for it handled the situation very badly. The opposition slammed the ruling party for bad floor management.

History of the Bill

The Bill has indeed had a chequered history. It was introduced 13 years ago by the Deve Gowda government. For the past six years, every political party had been assuring its support to the Bill. But during every Parliament session, the so-called ‘radical’ politicians would jump into the well of the House, tear up its copies and disrupt the proceedings. The House would then get adjourned, the Bill would get thrown into the dustbin and be revived in subsequent years.

In 1996, 1998 and 1999, the supporters, ie the Congress, BJP and Left, outnumbered the opponents, ie the RJD, JD (U) and the SP. This year, though, the political Math was somewhat different. None of the opposing parties were part of the governing coalition or allied to it. Lalu and Mulayam support the UPA from outside, but their support is not seen as crucial for the ruling party’s existence. Sharad Yadav faced a blow when his JD colleague, Nitish Kumar, Bihar Chief Minister, suddenly did a turnaround to support the Bill.

Thus, the Bill had a formidable number of backers - Congress, BJP and the Left parties and a number of other smaller parties like TDP, DMK, AIADMK, Akali Dal and National Conference.

However, what now worries the party is its strength in the Rajya Sabha in the long term for other legislations in the Upper House, where the Congress is dependent on the Yadavs for support. The UPA has 276 members in the Lok Sabha. That gives it a margin of just 3 over the 273 votes required to effect legislation in the 545-member House. While it could get the Women’s Bill passed, it needs the support of its allies for other issues, such as the Financial Bill. The UPA is reported to be in touch with independents and rebels. The Opposition, and the Yadavs, of course, will try to stall the government on other issues, thus hampering its efficiency.

But for now, at least, the support for the Bill finally seems to be translating an old dream into cold reality, in spite of protests.