WOMEN'S RESERVATION BILL: A DECADES-LONG JOURNEY TOWARDS GENDER PARITY IN INDIAN POLITICS

On Wednesday, the Women's Reservation Bill, now known as the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was passed in the Lok Sabha with 454 votes in favour and two against the Bill.

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The Bill was put to a vote since it was a constitutional amendment and the division of votes was done manually, with the signing of coloured chits. In recent times, the Indian political spectrum has witnessed revived debates and discussions on the long-standing demand for a Women's Reservation Bill (WRB). This piece of legislation has made a journey spanning several decades and aims to reserve onethird or 33% of the seats in state Legislative Assemblies and Parliament for women, with a sub-reservation within this quota for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Anglo-Indians. This endeavour has not been without its own set of triumphs and roadblocks, navigating through political commitments and contestations.

THE INCEPTION OF A REVOLUTIONARY PROPOSAL

The initial seeds for the WRB were sown in May 1989 when Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi introduced a constitutional amendment bill aimed at reserving a substantial percentage of seats for women in rural and urban local bodies. Although the bill was temporarily halted in Rajya Sabha, it reemerged under the administration of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao in 1992 and 1993, resulting in law endorsing a 33% reservation for women at the panchayat level. On 12 September 1996, the Deve Gowda-led United Front government introduced the 81st Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha to herald women's representation in the Parliament. While the bill initiative encountered difficulties, it spearheaded an unyielding movement championed by subsequent governments in the face of political impasses.