Gender Quota: Travails of the Women Reservation Bill in India

Abstract

In India the Women Reservation Bill (WRB), which seeks to reserve 33% seats for women in states and national legislatures, has been pending in parliament for several years; all major political parties have expressed commitment to it and it continue to be debated fiercely, though it has not been passed in Lok Sabha yet. Indian government has made various attempts at Gender Quota reforms. Quota for women in representative institution has long been debated in India. They first appeared in 1935 as part of the government of India Act, disappeared in 1950 as per the provision of the new constitution, and resurfaced again in 1988 as part of the government of national perspective plan on women. Finally it appeared in the form of 81 amendment bill commonly known as WRB in parliament on 1996.This paper is an attempt to examine the career of women reservation bill in parliament, which is striking for the high drama and rhetoric of women’s right that has accompanied it, the passionate opposition to the bill being generally characterised by its supporters as anti women, patriarchal and so on.