Women Reservation: Gender Equality Is Enshrined In The Indian Costitution

Introduction
 The principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Indian Constitution in its Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties and Directive Principles
 From the Fifth Five Year Plan (1974-78) onwards there had been a marked shift in the approach to women’s issues from welfare to development.
 The National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of Parliament in 1990 to safeguard the rights and legal entitlements of women.
 The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Constitution of India have provided for reservation of seats in the local bodies of Panchayats and Municipalities for women, laying a strong foundation for their participation in decision making at the local levels.
Provisions of the Women Reservation Bill
 Political Reservation for Indian women at each level of legislative decision-making, starting with the Indian Parliament, down to state and local legislatures.
 If the women reservation Bill is passed, 1/3 of the total available seats would be reserved for women of India in national, state, or local governments.
 In continuation of the existing provisions already mandating reservations for scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, one-third of such SC and ST candidates must be women.
The arguments in favor of the Women Reservation Bill
 It would lead to gender equality in Indian Parliament, resulting in the women empowerment as a whole.
 Historically, the women Bill's supporters say, women are deprived in India.
 Increased political participation of Indian women will help them fight the abuse, discrimination, and inequality women suffer from in India.
Reservation for women in panchayat elections
 33.3 per cent seats in panchayat elections have been reserved for Indian women already.
 The experience of Women reservation at the panchayat level has been very encouraging.
 A million women are being elected to the panchayats in the country every five years. This is the largest mobilization of women in...