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Showing posts from February, 2022

Importance of political representation of women

 -Ria Nisar In 2010, the topic of the promise of greater representation of Indian women in the political landscape was restarted. A bill proposed to amend the Constitution of India to reserve 1/3rd of all seats in the Lower house of Parliament of India, the Lok Sabha, and in all state legislative assemblies for women. The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha, however, after four years it lapsed since it was still pending in the Lok Sabha. That raised a bewildering question, is 33% reservation enough for a gender that represents more than 40% of the population of India? Gross Underrepresentation of Women in Power India ranks 20th from the bottom in terms of representation of women in Parliament. At present, there are 79 female legislators in the Lok Sabha (i.e. a 14% representation) and 26 in the Rajya Sabha (i.e. 11% representation). The numbers narrate a sorry tale. India is the biggest democracy in the world. Or, so they say and everyone hears. A reality check will help us under...