The Women’s Reservation Bill has brought the focus back on the delimitation exercise that could end up rewarding northern states for their untrammelled population growth and punishing the south for being serious about family planning initiatives
The concept of reservations in political power for women was first introduced in 1989 by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi along with the Panchayati Raj Bill. It was promised that women’s reservations in panchayats would soon be emulated in Parliament and the state legislatures. The constitutional amendments providing for rural and urban local bodies with 33% reservation for women were finally passed in 1992, under PM PV Narasimha Rao.
Twenty one years later in 2010, following Sonia Gandhi’s cajoling, a women’s reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha. It was deliberately introduced in the Rajya Sabha so that the bill did not lapse. While in Sonia Gandhi’s time, there was no overt opposition from within her alliance, every effort was made to render the promise stillborn.
Twenty one years later in 2010, following Sonia Gandhi’s cajoling, a women’s reservation Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha. It was deliberately introduced in the Rajya Sabha so that the bill did not lapse. While in Sonia Gandhi’s time, there was no overt opposition from within her alliance, every effort was made to render the promise stillborn.