Frauen in der indischen Politik: Die Diskussion über die "Women's Reservation Bill"

Abstract In the last week of the Parliamentary Session of 1999 a most controversial bill was brought up in the "Lok Sabha", the Lower House of the Indian Parliament. The so-called "Women's Reservation Bill" immediately found the attention of not only the Parliamentarians but of public opinion as well. It aims at fixing a quota of 33% for women in all legislative assemblies on the national as well as on the state level similar to that already fixed for the Panchayat level in the 73rd and 74th amendment in 1993. Should the Bill get the approval of the House, which might still take some time, it will not only change the composition of the Lok Sabha itself, but most likely of political life in India as a whole. A law of this kind is likely to change the legal and social living conditions of women and men in the country alike and might even have side-effects on the international reputation of India.