Indian MPs have voted to guarantee that a third of seats in parliament's lower house and in state assemblies go to women, a move that would more than double the number of female lawmakers in the world's biggest democracy.
India's elected lower house, the Lok Sabha, passed the Women’s Reservation Bill on Wednesday by 454 votes to two.
It now needs approval from the Rajya Sabha, parliament's upper house, as well as half of India's 28 state legislatures. It is widely expected to get it.
Once the bill, which was first drafted in 1996, finally becomes law, the number of female lawmakers in the Lok Sabha will rise to at least 181 from the present 82.
Indian President Droupadi Murmu called it the most "transformative revolution in our times" for gender justice in India, where women currently occupy just 15.1 percent of parliamentary seats.
Gender equality advocates also hailed the bill, which would make India one of some 30 countries worldwide to reserve seats for women.
"The passage of the bill is testimony to India's commitment to women-led development, for which it mobilised global support during its G20 presidency this year," said Susan Ferguson of UN Women India.
Slow progress
"This is a moment of great elation for gender advocates," Ferguson told RFI in an emailed statement.
But critics pointed out that progress was slow.
"Let us also hang our heads in shame that India still ranks 140th among 196 countries in women's parliamentary representation," said opposition MP Mohua Moitra during a lively house debate.
Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the bill would only come into force after general elections next year.
Its implementation also depends on the completion of India's long-stalled census, which was planned for 2021 but delayed by the Covid pandemic and other setbacks.
"It means that we do not know actually if and actually when we will have 33 percent of women sitting in the Lok Sabha," remarked MP Moitra.
"Indian women waited years to take charge of their political responsibilities and now they are told to wait a few more years," lamented Sonia Gandhi, the leader of India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress.
Muslim women sidelined?
Ramya Haridas, also from the Congress, accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government of dangling the draft law to win over female voters in the 2024 ballot.
"I am afraid that this bill will become a wild good chase for all of us," she said.
Meanwhile prominent Muslim MP Asaduddin Owaisi voted against the bill, arguing it would benefit only Hindu women.
"Muslim women are seven percent of India's population but their representation in this Lok Sabha is only 0.7 percent," he said. "There have been 690 women MPs elected to Lok Sabha and only 25 of them have come from the Muslim community."
Accusing the government of neglecting Muslim women and other marginalised groups by not including specific quotas for their inclusion, Owaisi told lawmakers: "This is a bill for those who are already represented in this august house."
Hits and misses
A 1992 constitutional amendment saw 1.4 million women take on leadership positions in village councils and urban agencies in 20 of India's 28 states.
But four years later the move to reserve 33 percent of seats in the lower house and assemblies floundered, as male MPs torpedoed the draft law that would effectively reduce their perks and pensions.
Outside parliament, foggy policies and neglect are blamed for the participation of women in India's workforce shrinking from 32 percent in 2005 to 24 percent in 2022.
Law enforcement also blames scanty political representation as a contributing factor for growing gender-based violence. In 2021, India reported an average of 86 rapes a day.
