A PUBLIC OPINION ON IMPACT OF WOMEN RESERVATION IN TAMILNADU

AUTHOR – R.RAJESWARI, STUDENT AT SCHOOL OF EXCELLENCE IN LAW, THE TAMILNADU DR.AMBEDKAR LAW UNIVERSITY

BEST CITATION – R.RAJESWARI, A PUBLIC OPINION ON IMPACT OF WOMEN RESERVATION IN TAMILNADU, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 4 (3) OF 2024, PG. 560-571, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly clear that the questions thrown up by the timing of the Women’s Reservation Bill and the responses to it cannot be understood solely within the framework of women’s rights. This paper argues that two very different (even opposed) sets of concerns – feminist and upper caste – have tied in at this particular conjuncture to produce the sudden general acceptability of women’s reservations. Further, the debates around the Bill reveal a more fundamental set of questions about the issues of citizenship, representation, and the subject of feminist politics.In 1992, India’s Parliament enacted two constitutional amendments that sought to democratise local governance and engender it through quota-based reservations for women. This article asks whether participation in these institutions has enabled women to articulate and advance their interests. To evaluate this, the article deploys the distinction in feminist literature between strategic and practical gender interests. Through a survey of a wide range of studies conducted in different parts of India it points to the constraints, both of institutional design as well as of social inequalities of gender and caste, that inhibit a fuller and more effective participation by women. There is nevertheless evidence to suggest that the quotas have enabled women to address their practical gender needs and interests, even if the articulation and realisation of strategic interests is moving at a somewhat slower pace.The Women Reservation Bill, which proposes to reserve 33% seats in the national and state legislatures for women, has been tabled recently in the Indian Parliament. There has been national debate on the merits and demerits of the reservation of seats for women in the central state legislative assemblies in India. In the present paper, merits of quota system v/ non-quota system and critical mass theory with reference to representation of women in legislature are discussed. Furthermore, it summarises the influence of increase in the number of women legislators, on the character of parliament and subsequent changes in government policies in otner countries. It is argued on the basis of experiences from other countries and local bodies in India that even if the public face of politics becomes feminised, without changing the political culture and the substantive policy agenda.

KEYWORDS – Women Reservation Policy,Political Representation,Electoral Quotas, Public Perception,Gender Equality,Women Empowerment