Reservation for Women in Urban Local Bodies

Subject – Polity

Context – Madras HC sets aside over 50% women quota in Chennai Corporation

Concept –

As early as in 1992, the 74th Amendment of the Constitution pioneered gender reservation at the sub-national level. It mandated gender reservation of not less than 33 percent of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in urban local bodies (ULBs).
Furthermore, out of the seats reserved in ULBs for scheduled castes and tribes, not less than 33 percent have to be reserved for women belonging to these groups.
Additionally, at least 33 percent of the offices of chairpersons of ULBs are also reserved for women.
Reserved seats are allotted to different territorial constituencies on a rotational basis so that the effect of reservation is, as far as possible, evenly spread across all geographical areas of the city.
Over the years, some 16 states have increased this quota to 50 per cent in panchayati raj institutions. These include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. A few of these states have extended it to even urban local bodies.
The Constitution (110th Amendment) Bill, 2009 and the Constitution (112th Amendment) Bill, 2009 to reserve half the seats in all rural and urban local bodies for women was first introduced in Parliament by UPA-II. However, it lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha.