The YSRCP, which allocated more than 50 percent of mayor and municipal corporation chairperson posts to women in Andhra Pradesh, today demanded 50 percent reservations for women in all legislative houses and nominated posts. While addressing the Rajya Sabha, YSRCP parliamentary party chief Vijay Sai Reddy said, “Rising participation of women voters in India’s politics is one of the most significant stories of the decade. In the 1962 Lok Sabha polls, women voters constituted 46.7% of the total turnout but by 2019, the share rose to 67.18%. During the same period, men’s turnout grew by only 5%—from 62.1% in 1962 to 67.08% in 2019. However, corresponding to that growth, there hasn’t been an exponential increase in the participation of women in politics or any law-making bodies.”
He further added that data collected by the Inter-Parliamentary Union shows that India’s position has worsened in terms of representation of women in national Parliament. It has come down from 95th in 1998 to 148th in 2021. On the contrary, the YSRCP government in its recent victory in municipalities and municipal corporations has taken a significant step in bringing 60.47% of the mayor and chairperson posts to women. This means that out of 86 posts, 52 posts are held by women, the highest ever in the state’s history.
The MP said, “This shows the YSRCP government’s commitment to empower women and give the opportunities that are due to them. Additionally, out of the 1.5 lakh Panchayati Raj institutions’ representatives in Andhra Pradesh, 78,000, which is 50% of the total posts, are held by women. Reservations have been a proven mechanism to increase participation of the intended group. Thus, I urge the government to look into bringing a law to provide 50% reservation to women in all nominated and elected posts.”