Women’s Reservation in Indian Politics: Impact, Issues and Challenges -A Socio Legal Study

Abstract

The inclusion of women in political decision-making is also a key element of democratic governance and social justice. Although the Constitution guarantees equality (Articles 14, 15 and 16), historically women have been under-represented in legislative and political institutions in India. To correct this, different measures have been taken to improve the political representation of women, such as the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment, 1992 that reserved seats for women in Panchayat and Urban Local Bodies respectively. These changes greatly bolstered women's representation at the grassroots and ensured new opportunities for women's political participation. This socio-legal study explores the influence of women's reservation in Indian politics before 2021, drawing on the constitutional roots and implications, implementation, successes, and difficulties of the system. The study examines the impact of the reservation policies on the empowerment of women and their leadership and participation in local governance. While it examines the enduring challenges faced by political reservation, including patriarchy, proxy representation, lack of political consciousness, financial dependence and social discrimination. The paper also explores the controversies around the Women's Reservation Bill and the need for the greater participation of women in Parliament and State legislatures. The study finds that although reservation has contributed to the political visibility and participation of women, there is a need for a more general and comprehensive social, educational and institutional reform for achieving substantive equality. The empowerment that can be effected politically can only be realized if there is numerical representation and real decision making power and social change as well.