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)
