Beyond Quotas: Analyzing the Impact of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023

The topic of gender representation in politics is one that India, a country renowned for its vibrant and diverse democracy, has long debated. Women remain underrepresented in the Indian Parliament despite the country’s sizable female population.In this blog article, we will explore the complex implications of women’s reservations in Indian politics. Staring it from the historical perspective and comparing it with the current situation.

Women have historically been barred from positions of power in all walks of life, including politics, which is very strange because Congress, being the oldest political party in India, had its first women president Annie Besant way back in 1917; it was way before the United Kingdom allowed women suffrage, that too in a limited basis; and also, the Madras and Bombay legislative assemblies granted voting rights to the women in 1921; after that, in 1923, in the United Provinces, way before many women of European countries could imagine. India has seen a woman Prime Minister as early as 1966, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and two heads of state, i.e. Mrs. Pratibha Patil and the current serving Mrs. Draupadi Murmu. But after all this, there have been very few cases in which women have been the chief ministers of the state. After having the women PM early as an achievement, only 13 women were given posts as ministers in the first two decades. The 299-member constituent assembly had only 15 women members, which is still considerable because India Just became independent and had high illiteracy rates. But what about now?