Seriousness about Women’s Reservation Bill must show in electoral representation | The Indian Express

Seriousness about Women’s Reservation Bill must show in electoral representation | The Indian Express

Written by Angellica Aribam |Updated: April 18, 2019 8:42:04 am

The writer is a political activist and former national general secretary of NSUI.

Seriousness about Women’s Reservation Bill must show in electoral representation

The gender quotas need to be supplemented with capacity building. Political parties have a greater incentive in nurturing women leadership when it becomes an obligation to field women as candidates.

India currently has 11.8 per cent women in Parliament, and the number is even more dismal in the state assemblies.

Political parties have once again promised to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill in their manifestos. However, with the release of each party’s candidates’ list, one can’t help but notice the lack of women candidates fielded by the national parties. As of April 3, 2019, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have given tickets to women on 13.7 per cent and 12 per cent seats respectively. Notably, regional parties outdid these national parties, with Trinamool Congress fielding women in more than 40 per cent seats and the Biju Janata Dal followed close with 33.3 per cent seats for women.