A bill requiring India’s parliament to set aside a third of its seats for women candidates passed the body’s upper house on Thursday, potentially paving the way for greater political participation for India’s women.
Women’s representation in both houses is around 14 percent, and women made up only about 8 percent of the candidate field in 2014. Proponents of the bill say that it could foment better policies for women in areas like education, healthcare, and employment while opening pathways for India’s women to pursue higher education and career opportunities.
Parliament has been trying to pass the law since 1996; though it’s now passed both houses and is virtually guaranteed to take effect, the new measure still has to be approved by at least 14 of India’s 28 state legislatures to become enshrined in the constitution. The new legislation will affect not just representation in Parliament, but in the state assemblies as well. Despite support for the bill, however, it could be years before it’s passed and even longer before actual social effects are legible.
The new law is just one tool to improve the lives of Indian women
Local councils in India have had gender quotas since 1993; every five-year election cycle, one-third of villages within each state are randomly selected to have a woman leader of the local council. This policy has effectively increased women’s political participation on the local level — not just by having more women in leadership, but also by encouraging women to come to local councils with their concerns. That, in turn, encourages policies more germane to their needs, according to a study following the first decade of the local council policy. That said, political experts have warned the new law isn’t a panacea for representation.
“The first thing to keep in mind is that, obviously, these kinds of quotas are effective only if they do get women into political positions,” Rohini Pande, director of the Economic Growth Center…
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