India’s Path Towards Greater Gender Equity in Parliament

Lawmakers in both India’s upper and lower houses of parliament have signed off on a bill to reserve 33 percent of seats in the lower house and state assemblies for women. The move is being hailed by campaigners and lawmakers as a major step forward for women’s participation in politics and decision making, with hopes it will lead to improved policies in areas such as healthcare, education and employment.

Until now, India has been making slow progress towards greater gender equality in parliament. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) database, just 7.2 percent of the members of India’s lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha) and 7.8 percent of those in the country’s upper house (Rajya Sabha) were women in 1997, when records were first published on the platform. While this has doubled in the nearly three decades since, it still stands at a low 13.9 percent for the upper house and 15.2 percent for the lower house (as of September 2023).

The bill was first introduced back in 1996 but has repeatedly failed in attempts to be pushed through. Now, after a 454-2 vote in the lower house and a unanimous 215-strong vote from MPs in the upper house, it needs to be approved by at least 14 of India’s 28 state legislatures in order to become law. According to media reports, the quota bill will likely only be rolled out from 2029.