Historic Women's Parliamentary Bill Nears Approval in India

In an historic leap forward for women's rights in Asia, India's upper house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a plan to establish a quota of seats for women legislators.

Following two days of protests, India's upper house (the Rajya Sabha) voted 186-1 to pass a bill calling for a third of legislative seats to be reserved for women. Women currently have just 10 percent representation in parliament.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the move as an "historic step forward toward emancipation of Indian womanhood."

"The first step has been taken … the next step will also have to be taken," Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress party and chair of the ruling coalition, told reporters, according to the Guardian.

Women in India suffer high rates of illiteracy, poverty and low social status. Currently, of 545 lower house seats, just 59 are occupied by women. The law would bring that number to 181. It would also quadruple the number of women in the 250-seat upper house. Given that March is Women's History Month, there's no time like the present to make this law a reality.

The bill is now headed to the lower house (Lok Sabha), where it is expected to be taken up next week and most likely passed, even though it has faced substantial opposition. Seven members of the upper house were suspended after staging sit-in protests against the bill.

The idea of reserving one-third of parliamentary seats for women has been kicking around in India since 1996. While some have feared that male MPs would stand to lose their seats, others have argued that the measure does not go far enough. There's been some concern that ethnic and religious minorities and people from low castes should have a quota of seats as well.

Photo courtesy of babasteve via Flickr.