Women’s reservation

THE parliamentary debate on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Bill) witnessed a slew of demands and concerns being raised by Opposition parties. Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi sought that the quota should be implemented immediately and that women belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) also be given reservation following a caste census. The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for women belonging to these categories, but there is no such provision for OBC women. Other votaries of a quota-within-quota are parties such as the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, which argue that it is needed to empower marginalised women.

A report examining the 1996 Women’s Reservation Bill had recommended a quota for OBC women once the Constitution was amended to allow reservation for OBCs. However, this recommendation was not incorporated in the subsequent draft of the legislation. The 2023 Bill is undoubtedly a huge step towards women’s empowerment. However, any move to provide sub-quotas might prove counterproductive as the focus will shift to competing caste claims, while gender considerations will take a back seat. Also, unending demands of dominant castes for quotas are bound to derail the women’s empowerment agenda.

Rising above party lines, the lawmakers should concentrate on the basic quota of 33 per cent and work out a roadmap to ensure its effective implementation. The key objective should be to give greater opportunities to women, no matter which background they belong to. The euphoria over the new Bill has already been dampened by the fact that the reservation will come into effect only after the completion of the Census and delimitation exercise. Insisting on a quota-within-quota will further undermine the promising legislation.