Women’s Reservation Bill: How many woman lawmakers does India have in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha, State Assemblies?

The Women’s Reservation Bill, with a chequered three-decade history, is up for consideration again. The Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday cleared the Women’s Reservation Bill, reports claimed citing sources. Pending for nearly 30 years, the bill is now expected to be tabled during the ongoing Special Session of the Parliament. While it aims to enhance the representation of women in the Indian Parliament and State Assemblies, what is the current population of female lawmakers in India?

How many women lawmakers does India have?

While the last Women’s Reservation Bill, tabled in 2008, pitched a 33 percent reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. Currently, the representation for women across State Assemblies, Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha is below 15 percent.

Information regarding the percentage of women elected to Parliament of India and different State Assemblies was shared by Union Minister of Law and Justice Kiren Rijiju in Rajya Sabha in 2022.

As per government data, 78 MPs in Lok Sabha out of total 543 are women. This accounts for 14.4 percent representation. Rajya Sabha has 24 women MPs, around 14 percent. Several state assemblies have less than 10 percent women reservation.

The top states with most reservation for women are Tripura with 15 percent, Chattisgarh with 14.44 percent, West Bengal with 13.7 percent and Jharkhand with 12.35 percent women MLAs. Next in line are Bihar, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi had 10-12 percent women MLAs.

Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura and Puducherry have less than 10 percent women representation.

Women representation in State Assemblies

Tripura: 15 percent

Chattisgarh: 14.44 percent

West Bengal: 13.70 percent

Jharkhand: 12.35 percent

Rajasthan: 12

Uttar Pradesh: 11.66 percent

NCT of Delhi: 11.43 percent

Uttarakhand: 11.43 percent

Punjab: 11.11 percent

Gujarat: 10.79 percent

Bihar: 10.70 percent

Haryana: 10 percent

Sikkim: 9.38 percent

Madhya Pradesh: 9.13 percent

Odisha: 8.9

Maharashtra: 8.33 percent

Manipur: 8.33 percent

Andhra Pradesh: 8.00 percent

Manipur: 8.00 percent

Kerala: 7.86 percent

Goa: 7.50 percent

Tamil Nadu: 5.13 percent

Telangana: 5.04 percent

Arunachal Pradesh: 5 percent

Meghalaya: 5 percent

Assam: 4.76 percent

Karnataka: 4.46 percent

Nagaland: 3.33 percent

Puducherry: 3.33 percent

Jammu and Kashmir: 2.30 percent

Himachal Pradesh: 1.47 percent

Mizoram: 0 percent

(Inputs from PTI, PIB)