Lok Sabha Question No. 2916 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-03-17
Subject: Representation of Women
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Saikia Dilip

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 2916 TO BE ANSWERED ON 17.03.2023

## REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN

## 2916.   SHRI DILIP SAIKIA:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- a. whether the representation of women in the executive, legislature, Indian Administrative  Services,  Indian  Police  Services  and  Panchayati  Raj  institutions  is abysmally low as compared to that of men in the country including Rajasthan, if so, the details of representation of women therein;
- b. whether among the Board of Directors of companies included in NIFTY 500 only one women is included in the Board of Directors in 95 per cent of these companies and less than five per cent companies have women as their Chairpersons, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and
- c. the measures taken by the Government to formulate women empowerment policies at all  levels  of  society  in  addition  to  increasing  their  representation  in  politics  and various  other  fields  and  also  their  community  level  participation  in  the  country including Rajasthan?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (c):  In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 724 women contested election, out of which 78 were  elected.  Presently,  the  Lok  Sabha  has  82  Women  members.  The  present  ratio  of women's  representation  in  Lok  Sabha  stands  at  15.12%.  This  is  much  higher  than  2014 elections  in  which  only  68  women  were  elected  to  the  Lok  Sabha.  Similarly,  in  the  Rajya Sabha,  women's  representation  stands  at  33  as  on  16 th March,  2023.     In  addition,  in  the present Council of Ministers, there are 11 women Ministers. It has been the endeavor of the Government to make an enabling ecosystem in  which women's  representation in all fields increases.

The  Census  of  Central  Government  employees  brought  out  by  Directorate  General  of Employment & Training, Ministry of  Labour and  Employment,  in  2011  had  indicated  the total  number  of  employees  in  various  Central  Ministries/  Department  as  30,87,278  out  of which  3,37,439  employees  were  women.  The  Government  has  taken  several  measures  to increase representation of women in Government jobs, which inter-alia, includes, Maternity Leave  for  180  days,  Child-Care  Leave  for  730  days,  Child-Adoption  Leave  for  180  days, special  allowance  for  women  with  disabilities  and  exemption  from  payment  of  fee  for examination conducted by Union Public Service Commission and Staff Selection Commission etc.

Further,  as ' Police ' is  a  State  subject   as  per  the  Seventh  Schedule  of  the  Constitution  of India and it is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments/UT Administrations to implement police reforms measures, including improvement of gender balance. However, the Central  Government  also  issues  advisories  to  the  States/  UTs  for  increasing  number  of women in the police forces up to 33%. States have also been advised to strengthen welfare measures  such  as  provision  of  housing  and  medical  facilities  and  necessary  facilities  for women  police  personnel  in  Police  Stations.  So  far,  more  than  20  States  have  provided reservation for women in police forces.  The number of women in State and Central Police Forces  has  increased  significantly  in  the  last  few  years.  The  Government  has  also  taken  a number  of  transformative  steps  for  increasing  representation  of  women  in  Armed  Forces which includes giving permanent commissions, permitting women in combat roles and flying fighter  planes/  helicopters,  permission  to  appear  in  NDA  examination  and  admission  in Sainik Schools. These measures have led to significant presence of women in Armed Forces.

With aim to increase number of women scientists in the country and bring gender parity in S&T domain, Department of Science and Technology (DST), is implementing an umbrella scheme ' Women in Science  and  Technology-KIRAN  (WISE-KIRAN) ' including ' Women Scientist  Scheme ' and ' Indo-  US  fellowship  for  Women  in  Science  and  Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (WISTEMM) ' to promote women scientists.

Further,  Article  243D  of  the  Constitution  of  India  provides  for  not  less  than  one-third reservation for women out of total number of seats to be filled by direct election and number of offices of chairpersons of Panchayats. However, as per the information available with the Ministry, 21 States namely, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal  Pradesh,  Jharkhand,  Karnataka,  Kerala,  Madhya  Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal, have made provision of 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) in their  respective  State  Panchayati  Raj  Acts.  In  respect  of  remaining  States,  Constitutional provision as prescribed in Article 243D applies.  The women's representation in PRIs is more than 46% today. With the objective of empowering women as leaders in politics, Government of India has been undertaking capacity building programmes for Elected  Women representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions so that they serve as catalysts of social change.

The country today has more than 82 lakh Women Self Help Groups (SHGs), having more than  8.5  crore  households  as  members.   These  Women  SHGs  are  not  only  economically empowering the rural women and a major source of livelihood but are also playing important role in transforming the social landscape of country.

Panchayat ' , being ' Local Government ' , is a State subject and part of Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. Accordingly, all Panchayat related matters, including representation of women in  Panchayat systems, are governed by the respective State Panchayati Raj Acts and rules, subject  to  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  However,  Government  has  been  encouraging increased involvement of women  in the functioning of Panchayats through active participation in the Gram Sabha meetings for preparation of Gram Panchayat Development Plans  and  various  schemes  being  implemented  by  the  Panchayats.  This  Ministry  has  also issued advisories to the States to facilitate holding of separate Ward Sabha and Mahila Sabha meetings prior to Gram Sabha meetings, enhancing the presence and participation of women in  Gram  Sabha  and  Panchayat  meetings,  allocation  of  Panchayat  funds  for  women  centric activities, combating the evil of women trafficking, female foeticide, child marriage etc.

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