Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Another reservation-politics this time' that was published in Newsband

Another reservation-politics this time

The National Democratic Alliance government has promised to enact the long-pending Bill that seeks to reserve a third of the seats in Parliament and the State Assemblies for women. Although there are some parties opposing this move, the government should have no problem in mustering a two-thirds majority to push through this contentious piece of legislation with the help of the Congress and the Left parties.

When the Rajya Sabha approved the Bill in March 2010, the UPA was forced to use marshals to physically check MPs who got unruly and violent, rendering the entire episode controversial, and acting as a deterrent to using the same tactics in the Lok Sabha.

The real battle is for political power: for, if the Bill does become law and at least 181 women sit in the Lok Sabha and corresponding numbers in State Assemblies across the country, it will result in a fundamental change in the power dynamics in an arena where it matters the most — decision-making in the highest echelons of the country.

There are many who feel that simply giving reservations at such level would not empower women as we have seen previously in government job reservation for SC/STS and OBC; it has not brought so much change in the condition of people; so government should more focus on providing quality education and health.

Another thing is unlike Rahul Gandhi who indulged in a lot of talk of empowerment of women, Modi is likely to show in action rather than just talk of women's empowerment

But the point is Reservation policy in India has done little good for a target group it hopes to protect and emancipate. Why we act differently on different situations? Women want to bring equality in the society. But when you go to public places like buses and trains the same group is given special privileges just because of their gender! And now in parliament! Is this not a gender discrimination? Unless and until, this concept of reservation based on gender and caste is not taken out of the system we shouldn't expect growth.

The fact is women have not been at a disadvantage when in politics. Compared to more than 90 percent of countries in the world, women in India have had a better share of political power. It is for the parties to give more tickets to women, to train women in politics. India does not need women inflicted on them forcefully as people's representatives. It can be argued that there is reservation in other spheres of life in India viz jobs, education, so why not in politics? The argument against this is that these quotas should be adequate preparation for women who wish to enter politics and they should thus compete on merit.