Democratising the Indian Parliament: the ‘Reservation for Women’ Debate

Abstract

Our chapter traces the history of arguments about women’s representation in Indian politics. These range from the debates within the Congress Party as it sketched out its political philosophy and agenda during its struggle against British rule; the discussions that continued in the Constituent Assembly of India, and then later through various commissions set up by the government of the newly independent India to assess women’s social status. In particular we map out the debates on quotas for women in political institutions. These address the difficult issues of reforming and reconfiguring ancient cultures and a multi-religious society to conform to political agendas of its elites, and focus on the problems of individual reparations for social wrongs, as well as of free India’s view of itself in the community of nations. We argue that the debates on the question of women’s political representation in India were influenced by the trajectory of the Indian national movement, and the debates on the new citizenship in the Constituent Assembly which wrote the Indian Constitution. We analyse why the expansion of the role of women in politics was a patchy affair until recently when a combination of the strength of the women’s movement, sectional party interests and the changing nature of the Indian political system has politicised this issue and has given it great visibility. We also trace the battles for incorporating this concern about women’s inclusion in politics through institutional design — the introduction of new constitutional provisions. We suggest that while the political ground in India is shifting with regard to women’s participation in politics, this is a slow and difficult process, which needs constant vigilance by women’s movements and groups both within and outside of state institutions.