Women representation in Parliament and most State Legislatures across the country is below 15% with 19 of State Assemblies having less than 10% women lawmakers, according to a government data.
The State Legislatures which have more than 10% women lawmakers are Bihar (10.70%), Chhattisgarh (14.44%), Haryana (10%), Jharkhand (12.35%), Punjab (11.11%), Rajasthan (12%), Uttarakhand (11.43%), Uttar Pradesh (11.66%), West Bengal (13.70%) and Delhi (11.43%). According to the data presented in Lok Sabha on December 9, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Telangana have less than 10% women legislators.
In the recently held Gujarat Assembly elections, 8.2% of the elected representatives are women, whereas, in Himachal Pradesh, only one woman has been elected this time.
According to the data, the share of women MPs in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha stands at 14.94% and 14.05%, respectively.
At the same time, the average number of women MLAs in Assemblies across the nation accounts for only 8%
The question regarding the representation of women MPs and MLAs in Parliament and State legislatures was raised by Trinamool Congress MP in Lok Sabha Abhishek Banerjee, who also asked the Centre about the steps it has taken to increase their overall representation.
He further asked whether the government has any plans of bringing the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament.
To which Mr. Rijiju said, "Gender justice is an important commitment of the government. All political parties need to carefully discuss this issue on the basis of consensus before bringing the Constitution Amendment Bill before Parliament."
Recently, political parties such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), the Janata Dal United JD(U) and the Trinamool have asked the government to introduce and pass the Women's Reservation Bill afresh in Parliament.
"BJD has asked the Centre to pass the bill during the current winter session of Parliament," Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra told PTI. "If the government brings a bill, our party will support it," he said, adding that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has time and again expressed his commitment to the issue of women's empowerment.
A few days ago, in a meeting of the Business Advisory Committee convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Trinamool Congress's Sudip Bandopadhyay demanded an all-party meeting on the issue, which was supported by other parties.
SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the time has come to pass the Women's Reservation Bill and give women their due.
JD(U) MP Rajeev Ranjan Singh said it is time to empower women and the government should bring this bill.
The bill, which seeks to reserve one-third of seats in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies for women, was first introduced in Parliament in 1996.
It was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, but lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.
