Women’s Reservation Bill – India

The Women’s Reservation Bill is going to be law in India on March 8, on International Women’s Day after a historic fight for 13 years in Parliament, which reserves 33 percent seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The UPA government will be introducing the bill to the Rajya Sabha on Monday. The biggest hurdle faced by the bill till date was the demand for quota within quota, which means within the 33% reservation, issue of sub-quota for OBC, SC and ST categories.

The empowerment of women has been one of the greatest social changes of our times and Indian women have proven themselves in every sphere of life and they are no longer a weaker sex and sometimes soon women won’t need a special day to be dedicated to them as women’s day and every day of the year will be a women’s day as much as it is a man’s day.

We are belonging to a country where the first person of the country is a lady (President Pratibha Patil) and we had a lady Prime Minister (Indira Gandhi) who still remains the country’s toughest leader ever  in the history of Indian politics. The role of woman has been changed in every aspect of their life from bread bakers to bread earners, meal makers to deal makers, etc..  and they are proving  that the world is not enough for them. Women have won a number of big victories and if the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed, it could change the face of politics and gender discourse.

Even as the Indian women break new ground for success and moving ahead, the threat of violence remains a constant. By passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha tomorrow, we women get a reservation but does it mean that we are free and move ahead without the shadow of fear.  Are we going to be treated equally in our male dominated society?

Lets wait and see!