In a few years from now, women lawmakers will form at least 33% of all lawmakers in India. The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 has been passed by both Houses of Parliament. This Bill provides for one-third of total seats in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of every State and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi to be reserved for women for 15 years. Additionally, this reservation will also extend to seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. The representation of women Members of Parliament in the current Lok Sabha is about 14.4%, compared to 4.9% in the first Lok Sabha in 1952.
The purpose of this amendment is to increase women’s participation in policymaking. However, as the amendment has caveats, experts are of the view that the earliest this amendment can be implemented is the general election of 2029, provided Census 2021, which is pending, is taken up soon and the process of delimitation is carried out without delay. Otherwise, implementation will be delayed till the general election of 2034. While there is no direct link between the number of legislators and the strength of law enforcement agencies, the number of women in these gives a fair idea about how representative these institutions are of the society they represent.
