Relevance:

• GS 2 || Polity || Constitutional Framework || Salient Features of the Constitution

Why in the news?

Women members of the Constituent Assembly contributed greatly to the making of the Indian Constitution. In Parliament and state governments, they had a substantial presence.

Women’s Reservation Bill:

• A.k.a Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008: In parliament, it’s pending.
• It is intended to reserve one-third of all seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.
• The bill states that the allocation of reserved seats shall be decided by an authority as prescribed by Parliament and that, by rotation, reserved seats may be allocated to various constituencies in the territory of the State or Union.
• It also provides for the allocation of seats for women 15 years after the beginning of this Amendment Act to cease to exist.
• In compliance with Article 368, this will be a Constitutional Amendment that will entail the approval of half of the state legislatures before it comes into effect.
• Historical injustice: Since independence, the proportion of women in the Lok Sabha has only seen a meagre rise from 4.5% in the first Lok Sabha to the present 12% in the 16th Lok Sabha.
• Therefore, there is a need to undertake some positive discrimination for increasing the women participation in Indian politics.
• Recording effect: Increase in the responsiveness of the official towards the pleas of disadvantaged groups

Conclusion:

Among the world’s leading new and postcolonial constitutions is the Indian Constitution. But India has to bask in the expectation that greater sense and awareness will prevail, reducing political activities skewed by gender.