Proportion of women in Union council of ministers second lowest since 2011

The newly elected NDA government has not been generous in handing out ministerial berths to women. Only 9.7 per cent of the Union Council of Ministers in the newly-elected NDA government are women, that is, just 7 women ministers out of the total 72. Comparing it with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) Men and Women in India Report 2023, this is also the second-lowest share of women ministers since 2011.

Out of the 7 women ministers, just 2 made it to the Union Cabinet -- Nirmala Sitharaman as the Finance Minister and Annapurna Devi as the Minister of Women and Child Development. 

Less than 20%

 In the last 14 years, the share of women ministers in the union council has always been less than 20 per cent. A little improvement was seen in 2015, when 17 per cent of the council were women. However, this was also because the NDA, in 2014, had brought a rule reducing the total strength of the union council to 45 in an attempt at minimum government. This policy was abandoned in the following years. 

Meanwhile, the situation during the UPA rule was also not any different, with the share of women ministers being consistently below 15 per cent.

Cabinet, a pipe dream?

Looking at the more powerful Cabinet posts, we see fewer women. Since 2020, only three women have held Cabinet positions- Nirmala Sitharaman, Smriti Irani and the recently appointed Annapurna Devi. 

Important to note here is the gender disparity. In the last five years, the number of male Cabinet ministers was at least ten times that of female ministers. For instance, in 2023, 26 men held Cabinet portfolios vis-a-vis two women. In 2024, the number of male ministers increased to 28, but the number of women ministers remained the same.

Although the share of women in the Parliament has increased over the years, it is still less than the 33 per cent requirement that the Women’s Reservation Bill, 2023, calls for. Currently, the Lok Sabha has 14 per cent women MPs, whereas the Rajya Sabha has 15.2 per cent women MPs

Assemblies, no better

The situation at the State Assemblies is also not very different. Nine States had Assembly elections in 2023, but in all of them, less than 25 per cent of women got elected as MLAs. The Chhattisgarh Assembly had the highest share of women MLAs, 21 per cent. 

However, at the Panchayat level, things are a little better. Thanks to the 73rd and 74th amendments of the Constitution, which necessitates 33 per cent reservation for women in rural and urban local bodies.

As per Ministry of Panchayati Raj data from March 2024, 19 States have 50 per cent or more women in their local government bodies.

Dr Kota Neelima, a political commentator and member of the Telangana Congress, said, “The political arena is where gender reform and change comes last in India. This must change. It is an ongoing battle, with a political system that is defined by patriarchal structures. But meaningful reform must be visible and the most effective way is to have women in decision-making positions so that empowerment can happen down the ranks.”