Haryana
Women in Haryana Assembly
- 23 Sep 2024
- 2 min read
Why in News?
Recently, the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections highlighted the persistent gender disparity in political representation, reflecting the state's historical gender imbalance.
Key Points
- Women in Haryana Politics:
- Since Haryana's formation in 1966, only 87 women have been elected to the Assembly.
- The state has never had a female chief minister.
- Haryana’s gender ratio remains skewed at 916 females per 1,000 males (2023).
- Since 2000, 47 women legislators have been elected in Haryana.
- In 2014, 13 women won seats, the highest number ever. This dropped to 9 in 2019.
- 33% Reservation for Women: The Bill granting reservation to women in Parliament and assemblies, passed recently, will take effect from 2029.
- Notable Women Contesting in 2024:
- Arti Singh Rao : Daughter of Union Minister Rao Inderjit Singh, contesting from Ateli.
- Shruti Chaudhary: Granddaughter of former CM Bansi Lal, contesting from Tosham.
- Geeta Bhukkal : Four-time MLA and former education minister.
- Vinesh Phogat : Wrestling icon, contesting from Julana.
- Savitri Jindal: Asia’s richest woman, contesting as an Independent from Hisar.
- Chitra Sarwara: Contesting independently from Ambala Cantonment after being denied a Congress ticket.
Women's Reservation Act, 2023
- The Constitution (106th Amendment) Act, 2023, reserves one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, State legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, including those reserved for SCs and STs.
- The reservation will be effective after the publication of the census conducted following the Act’s commencement and endures for a 15-year period, with potential extension determined by parliamentary action.
- The rotation of seats allocated for women will be governed by parliamentary legislation after each delimitation process.
- Currently, around 15% of the total members of the 17th Lok Sabha (2019-2024) are women while in state legislative assemblies, women on average constitute 9% of the total members.
