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Debjit Mukherjee: Women lag far behind men in terms of representation in India. At the moment, only slightly more than 14 percent of the total MPs in the two houses of Parliament are women. Only 113 of the 778 (some seats are vacant) MPs in the two houses of Parliament are women. Where almost half of the population is female, this number of women representatives is truly shameful.
However, the number of women MPs in the Lok Sabha is slightly higher than in the Rajya Sabha. Currently, about 15.2 percent of Lok Sabha MPs are women. Out of total 539 MPs, 82 are women. In the Rajya Sabha, this percentage falls further. Out of the total 239 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, the number of women is only 31. In terms of percentage it is only 13.
All parties lag behind in women representation. There is another worrying thing in this. That is, in many cases, women are being nominated, whose husbands or male family members are unable to stand for any reason.
