Women’s Quota Echoes UPA OBC Model

Context

The Women’s Reservation Plan (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam) proposed by the Centre aims at increasing the proportion of women among the legislative seats, essentially the same approach adopted under the UPA to implement OBC quotas in higher education. Increasing the Lok Sabha seats (e.g. 543 to 816) the plan will allow a 33% reservation of women without interfering with sitting lawmakers. This plan broadens the political pie, and not re-cut it, reducing opposition like the educational expansions of the Arjun Singh era. 

Introduction: The Evolution of Political Representation 

• The Women Reservation Bill or Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is an attempt to give women 33% reserved seats in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies. 
• Although the idea is to bridge the gender gap, the process, to increase the seat capacity before the quota is introduced, is being termed as a tactical change that creates similarities with the OBC reservation by the UPA government in 2006.
• The idea behind this method is to give more representation without causing a strong political reaction against the current representatives. 

The UPA’s OBC Model (2006) 

The UPA government also increased reservations of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central institutions of higher education (IITs, IIMs, central universities) in 2006. 

• Expansion: The government increased the number of seats instead of cutting the number of the existing general category seats to accommodate 27% OBC quota. 
• Minimizing Resistance: This was to make sure that the current meritorious or upper-caste students were not deprived of their seats and this minimized any opposition to the affirmative action. 

Centre’s Proposal: Mirroring the Strategy 

The mechanism is also used by the current Centre in its plan of introducing the women quota: 

• Expanding the Pie: The government is suggesting the size of the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies to be increased almost by 50 percent. 
• Guarantee to Incumbents: With the number of seats now standing at 543 the government guarantees that the current (mostly male) lawmakers do not have a lower chance of re-election, as they retain their current seats, and additional seats are given to women. 
• Structural Implementation: The reservation shall be to the increased total with a share of 273 out of 816 seats to be occupied by women and also able to accommodate the current SC/ST quotas.  

Key Similarities to UPA’s Strategy 

• Political Pragmatism: Both models deal with the long-awaited representation (OBCs in 2006, Women now) without eliciting any intense political, social, or intra-party backlash. 
• Long-term Planning: This plan will be connected to the future delimitation (on the basis of post-2026 census data), just as the 2006 expansion was planned on the basis of recommendations of Mandal Commission, which guaranteed a systematic restructuring. 

Implications for Indian Democracy

• Increased Inclusion: The move ensures that women, who constitute half the population, get a 33% share in decision-making bodies, moving towards SDG 5 (Gender Equality). 
• Infrastructure Issues: The increase in parliament size necessitates a substantial improvement of infrastructure and can alter the balance of representation in the constituency. 
• Equalizing Representation: Although the women representation should be 33%, the model maintains the current position at 15% (SC) and 7% (ST), resulting in a more diverse legislature. 

Conclusion 

The Centre Women Quota Plan with its strategy of increasing the seat capacity indicates a pragmatic attitude towards social engineering in Indian politics. This is much like the 2006 OBC model by the UPA as it seeks to strike a balance between the need to be inclusive and the political need to ensure stability among representatives of the incumbents. It is a major structural transformation of the Indian parliamentary system, in an attempt to introduce more women into leadership. 

Source: The Hindu

UPSC Prelims Practice Question 

Q.With reference to reservation policies in India, consider the following statements:

1. The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 provides for OBC reservation in centrally funded higher educational institutions.
2. The Act was enacted following the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.
3. The implementation of OBC reservation in higher education required a constitutional amendment.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1 only
D. 1, 2 and 3

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