Women Reservation

Introduction
According to the Constitutional 108th Women Reservation Bill, 2008, women should be
given a third (33%) of the seats in state legislative assemblies and the Parliament. Within
the 33% quota, the law suggests sub-reservation for SCs, STs, and Anglo-Indians.
Rotational allocation of reserved seats is an option for several state or union territory
constituencies.
The proportion of women in state legislatures nationwide is still at 8%.According to a

survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union, India is ranked 144th out of 193 nations in
terms of the representation of women in parliament.
History
A bill to provide reservation for women in Parliament and assemblies were first
introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1996 by the Deve Gowda-led United Front
government. It failed to get the approval of the House and was referred to a joint
parliamentary committee which submitted its report to the Lok Sabha in December
1996. But the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
In 1998, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government reintroduced the Bill in Lok
Sabha. This bill also failed to get support and lapsed again. The bill was
reintroduced in 1999, 2002 and 2003. Even though there was support for it within
the Congress, the BJP and the Left parties, the bill failed to receive majority votes.
In 2008, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government tabled the Bill in the Rajya
Sabha, and it was passed in 2010. However, the Bill was never taken up for
consideration in the Lok Sabha and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok
Sabha in 2014.
Highlights
The, Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks
to introduce three new articles and one new clause in the Constitution.
1. New clause in 239AA: Seats shall be reserved for women in the Delhi Legislative
Assembly, 1/3rd of the seats reserved for SCs shall be reserved for women, 1/3rd of
total number of seats to be filled by direct elections shall be reserved for women
through law determined by parliament.
2. New Article - 330A: Reservation for women in Lok Sabha - 1/3rd of seats reserved
for SCs and STs shall be reserved for women, 1/3rd of total seats to be filled by
direct elections to the Lok Sabha shall be reserved for women.
3. New Article - 332A: Reserved seats for women in every state Legislative
Assembly, 1/3rd of seats reserved for SCs and STs shall be reserved for women,
1/3rd of total seats to be filled by direct elections to the LA shall be reserved for
women
4. New article - 334A: Reservation shall come into effect after the delimitation is
undertaken after the relevant figures for the first census have been published.
Rotation of seats for women shall take effect after each subsequent exercise of
delimitation.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008 seeks to
reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state
legislative assemblies. The allocation of reserved seats shall be determined by
such authority as prescribed by Parliament.
One third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups in the Lok Sabha
and the legislative assemblies.
Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the

state or union territory.
Reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the
commencement of this Amendment Act.
Countries having women reservation

With Women's Reservation Bill crossing its first hurdle, India is all set to join a
league of around 40 countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, which have
quota for women in Parliaments either by means of constitutional amendment or
by changing the electoral laws. Besides Pakistan and Bangladesh, Nepal is the third
country in the Indian subcontinent which had already reserved seats for the fairer
sex in their national assemblies.
According to Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral

Assistance (IDEA), besides the countries which have mandated quota for women,
major political parties in more than 50 countries have voluntarily set out quota
provisions in their own statutes. Rwanda has the highest number of women
parliamentarians worldwide. Women there have won 63.8% of seats in the lower
house.
In Pakistan, 60 of the 342 seats in the National Assembly (17.5 per cent) are
reserved for women. These seats are allocated to political parties proportionally
from the provinces, according to the electoral result. Bangladesh had in May 2004
passed a Constitutional amendment to re-introduce quotas for women. The
number of seats in Parliament was raised to 345, around 13 per cent seats (45) of
which are reserved for women. Nepal has 33 per cent reservation for women.
Among other Asian countries, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have 30 per
cent quota for women.
In Uganda, a parliamentary seat from each of the 56 districts is reserved for

women, resulting in an increase in women's political representation. Some other
women are elected to Parliament on the non-gender specific reserved seats.
Other countries in the African continent which have women's quota in their
parliaments include Rwanda (30 per cent in all decision-making organs), Sudan (60
seats out of 443), and Niger (10 per cent) among others.
In Latin America, about 14 countries have constitutional quotas for women.
Other South American countries which have legislated quota system for women
include Peru, Ecuador and Paraguay among others.
In Europe, there are eight countries such as Portugal, Spain and France have
constitutional provisions for reserving seats for women candidates.
Some countries, like Sweden, use the zipper system, whereby every other
candidate on the list is a woman.
Voluntary party quota are the most common types of reservation for women that
are found in 14 European countries, including Germany and UK. Similar is the case
with Australia and several other countries in the West.
While the electoral law provides for a compulsory 30 per cent quota for women
candidates for elective posts in Argentina, the quota is same in Brazil and it is must
for Bolivia to include at least one woman out of every three candidates in its Lower
House.
International Norms and Standards

The founding document of the United Nations, the UN Charter, upholds the basis of
women’s access to public and political life: the principle of the right to equality and
the prohibition of discrimination. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) also enshrines the entitlement of all persons to non-discrimination,
including on the basis of sex. The International Covenant on Economic Social and
Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic Social and
Cultural Rights.(ICESCR) are both instruments flowing out of the UDHR and provide
more specific agreements on the right to equality between men and women in
public and political life.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW) in Article 7 of the document whereby women are guaranteed the rights to
vote, to hold public office and to exercise public functions. Article 8 of the
Convention elaborates the right for women to equally represent their countries at
the international level.

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Introduction

The proportion of women in state legislatures nationwide is still at 8%.According to a

Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the

Countries having women reservation

According to Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral

In Uganda, a parliamentary seat from each of the 56 districts is reserved for

In Latin America, about 14 countries have constitutional quotas for women.

International Norms and Standards

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

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