Immediately implement 33% quota without census-delimitation link: Women’s groups

By A Representative 

Feminist activists, political leaders and representatives of marginalised communities on Wednesday demanded that the implementation of the Women's Reservation Act be delinked from the Census and delimitation process, asserting that 33 per cent reservation for women can be introduced at the current strength of Parliament.

Addressing an online press conference, speakers said women's reservation must be based on the principles of social justice, inclusion and federalism, and urged the Union Government to amend the Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023 during the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament.

The National Coalition for Women's Reservation (NCWR), which organised the event, alleged that linking the legislation to delimitation and seat expansion could undermine India's federal structure and serve political interests. The coalition also opposed any increase in Lok Sabha seats if it was intended to facilitate political gains through delimitation.

The speakers noted that despite the passage of the Women's Reservation Act in 2023, women continue to account for only around 14-16 per cent of Members of Parliament and about 10 per cent of state legislators. They argued that the law fails to adequately address the representation of women from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), nomadic and denotified tribes, religious minorities, transgender and non-binary persons, and women with disabilities.

Bihar MLC Shashi Yadav said that leaving inclusion to political parties dominated by dynastic politics would exclude marginalised women and transgender persons from meaningful political participation. Akkai Padmashali of the Trans Feminist Collective highlighted the absence of transgender representation in Parliament despite the community constituting an estimated 4-5 per cent of the population.

Other speakers, including Anita Cheria, Hasina Khan, Abhirami Jotheeswaran, Elina Horo, Prof. Kusumam Joseph, and Beena Pallical, stressed that women's political representation should be intersectional and inclusive of historically disadvantaged communities. They also called for state-supported election funding and a transparent process for identifying reserved constituencies.

Moderating the discussion, feminist activist Mona Mishra outlined the coalition's five-point charter, which seeks constitutional amendments to remove references to the Census and delimitation from the reservation law, preserve the existing distribution of parliamentary seats among states, extend reservation to vulnerable and marginalised groups, establish a transparent mechanism for selecting reserved constituencies, and provide election campaign funding for disadvantaged communities.

The NCWR described itself as a pan-India, non-partisan coalition working to secure women's reservation and equal political representation. It said it would continue nationwide campaigns to build support for the proposed amendments.