Central idea

• The process of drafting our Constitution during Partition and after a long period of colonization was a magnificent and dynamic process. Despite being part of the Assembly, voices and contributions of women have been neglected and overshadowed. The riveting work by Achyut Chetan,” The Founding Mothers of the Republic” published by Cambridge University Press in 2022 serves as a means of rectifying this historical omission and giving due credit to the women who played a crucial role in shaping India’s democracy.

Women In constitutional Assembly

• When the Constitution was completed, there were 11 women members of the Constituent Assembly who signed onto it.
• These drafters were G Durgabai, Ammu Swaminathan, Amrit Kaur, Dakshayani Velayudhan, Hansa Mehta, Renuka Ray, Sucheta Kripalani, Purnima Banerjee, Begum Qudsiya Aizaz Rasul, Kamala Chaudhri and Annie Mascarene.
• The Constituent Assembly first met on December 11, 1946 and had 169 sessions before all its members signed the document on January 24, 1950

How do we know what happened in the Constituent Assembly?

• Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD) is the only source: A rich but by no means the only source is the 12 volumes of the Constituent Assembly Debates (CAD), consisting of speeches made by members and the amendments to the draft articles.
• CAD misses no. of reports and notes pf various committes: However, what the CAD does not have are the reports and notes of the various committees of the CA.
• For instance: Much groundbreaking work was done in the Advisory Committee (chaired by Vallabhbhai Patel), which in turn had two sub-committees the Fundamental Rights Sub Committee and the Minorities Sub-Committee.

Role of Women in the constituent assembly

• Hansa Mehta and Amrit kaur: Hansa Mehta and Amrit Kaur were on the Advisory Committee, with both being members of the Fundamental Rights Sub Committee and Kaur serving also on the Minorities Sub-Committee.
• G Durgabai: G Durgabai occupied effective positions on two important committees on procedural affairs The Steering Committee and the Rules Committee.
• Women were highly active: Women members were present and highly active on almost all significant committees and subcommittees.
• Women members often faced disrespect and discrimination: For instance, Renuka Ray opposed the clause on the Right to Property which put the compensation given within the purview of courts. During the debates on the floor of the Assembly too she was constantly interrupted and heckled even by the men of the eminence and tried to deride their amendments
• Women members made their opinions known and stood firm: In the settings of the committees they wrote notes of dissent, Amrit Kaur and Hansa Mehta wrote notes of dissent against decisions that relegated the uniform civil code to the non-justiciable rights, allowed the state to impose conscription for compulsory military service, at each stage when the committees made their official recommendations to the higher bodies of the Assembly

For Instance: Views of Dakshayani Velayudhan on reservation

• Dakshayani Velayudhan, the only woman member from the Scheduled Castes communities, argued against reservations.
• She refused by saying “to believe that 70 million Harijans are to be considered as a minority and argued that reservations would not be in the best interests of them.
• She also argued that “the working of the Constitution will depend upon how the people will conduct themselves in the future, not on the actual execution of the law. When this Constitution is put into practice, what we want is not to punish the people for acting against the law, but for the state to take on the task of educating citizens for a transformation.”

The present status of Women representation in politics worldwide

• Representative governments increased but women count remains low: According to UN Women, as of September 2022, there were 30 women serving as elected heads of state and/or of government in 28 countries (out of a total of 193 UN member states).
• Dichotomy in active participation: There is the dichotomy between the rapid increase of women’s participation as voters in elections and other political activities, and the slow rise of female representation in Parliament.
• Global average women representation: As of May 2022, the global average of female representation in national parliaments was 26.2 percent.
• Above average representation: The Americas, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa have women’s representation above the global average;
• Below average representation: Asia, the Pacific region, and the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region, are below average.
• Varied representation within Asian countries:
• The South Asian countries faring worse than the others.
• IPU data of May 2022 showed that women’s representation in Nepal, for example, was 34 percent, in Bangladesh 21 percent, in Pakistan 20 percent, in Bhutan 17 percent and in Sri Lanka 5 percent.
• For India, women’s representation in the Lok Sabha (the Lower House) has remained slightly below 15 percent.
• The study does not include Afghanistan, but World Bank data of 2021 stated that female representation in the country’s last parliament was 27 percent.

Conclusion

• As we approach 75 years of our Constitution, it’s time for scholars, teachers, students, lawyers, judges and all others who engage with our constitution-making efforts to look to sources that tell a more complete story of our drafters. The quiet women and the more visible men should both be recalled, for their roles and their contributions. That would be an accurate telling of how our founding document came to be.

Mains Question

Q. The role of women in constitution making has often been neglected. In light of this illustrate the participation of women during India’s constitution making process.

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