The economics of representation: Why women in power matter
Source: Governance Now
India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to address this gap through reservation. But its linkage with delimitation brought in an element of delay, and perhaps even a degree of distrust, raising a basic question: does this present imbalance really need to wait for a redrawing of boundaries to be addressed?
The Representation Deficit: More than Just Numbers
The gap is easy to quantify, but harder to justify. In the 18th Lok Sabha (2024), only 74 women were elected – about 13.6% of the House. This is not dramatically different from where we were years ago. Progress has been slow, almost reluctant.
Globally, women make up over a quarter of national parliaments. In India, both at the Centre and in most state assemblies, we remain well below that mark. What makes this more puzzling is that women are no longer politically invisible as voters. They turn up, they decide, and increasingly, they influence electoral outcomes. Yet, they are still missing at the table where decisions are made.
India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to address this gap through reservation. But its linkage with delimitation brought in an element of delay, and perhaps even a degree of distrust, raising a basic question: does this present imbalance really need to wait for a redrawing of boundaries to be addressed?
The Representation Deficit: More than Just Numbers
The gap is easy to quantify, but harder to justify. In the 18th Lok Sabha (2024), only 74 women were elected – about 13.6% of the House. This is not dramatically different from where we were years ago. Progress has been slow, almost reluctant.
Globally, women make up over a quarter of national parliaments. In India, both at the Centre and in most state assemblies, we remain well below that mark. What makes this more puzzling is that women are no longer politically invisible as voters. They turn up, they decide, and increasingly, they influence electoral outcomes. Yet, they are still missing at the table where decisions are made.