Despite the tall promises made by political parties, the presence of women in the Lok Sabha has remained a dismal 3.5 per cent to 9.02 per cent of its total strength since it came into being. The number of women in the Lok Sabha has remained between 19 and 49 ever since the first general elections (1952), with the sixth Lok Sabha having the lowest number of 19 women and the 13th Lower House having the highest at 49 members. However, as is evident from the result of the 15th Lok Sabha elections, there are 13 more women MPs than the last House and 10 more than the previous best of 49 in the 13th Lok Sabha. This is a small step forward towards increasing representation of women members in Parliament. For the first time in Indian history the representation of women members has crossed the 10% mark.

While every major national party in recent years declared through their manifestos that they would implement a 33 percent reservation for women in legislative assemblies and the Parliament, the records tell a different story altogether. The representation of women in the Lok Sabha has basically remained stagnant. It reached a “high” of 9 percent in 1999. This figure has not been crossed since then. Thereafter, it has declined in 2004 rather than registering an increase.

This is clear from the following data :

If we look at the world picture, we find the most countries in the world have failed to give due space and representation to women in political life. The highest representation of women in Parliament is in Rwanda, at 56%. Women are moving in the direction of near equal participation in only a handful of countries, such as Sweden 46%, and Cuba 43%, Finland 42%, Argentina 40% and there are several European countries with over 30% representation of women. In socialist countries Cuba tops the list, followed by Vietnam at 26%, China with 21 % and DPR Korea with 15.6%, with evident need for more progress needed in the last three. In contrast to Cuba, the figures for developed countries like Canada 22%, UK 20%, USA 17% are much lower. In the SAARC region Nepal with 33%, Pakistan with 22.5% and Bangla Desh with 12% are all higher than India which has just managed to achieve 10% representation of women in Parliament.

The level of political participation among women in any society acts as a reliable barometer of the health of its democracy. Thus in India, where there is 33% reservation for women in Iocal bodies, in some states it has exceeded that number with women winning in general seats, like West Bengal (over 40%) and Kerala (over 35%).This clearly indicates that women, if given a chance, can prove their mettle in the political arena. There are today over 10 lakh women in the panchayats and other elected local bodies in India.

It is a positive feature that 59 women have won in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, but if the Women’s Reservation Bill, pending for the last twelve years, had been legislated by the last UPA government, as it had committed in its NCMP, the figure, 180, would have been three times more. With its victory in the elections and the support it is receiving from many parties, there is no reason why the UPA government should not be able to fulfill this commitment in its second tenure.