With the upcoming state elections in different parts of the country, women's representation in state polls is still an issue looming over our urban governance structures. Recently, BJP Mahila morcha in Shillong has called upon the state authorities to allot more tickets to women in the upcoming 2023 assembly polls. However, this is not the first time that parties in the state have requested to allocate more tickets to women candidates.

In 2021, Congress party in Uttar Pradesh announced that 40% of the candidates fielded by the party would be women. As per an analysis conducted by the Election Commission of India, women's representation in Lok sabha has never reached more than 12%, even though they constitute 48% of the total population in India.

With the women's reservation bill, which aimed at ensuring 33% representation, still being stuck at the parliament. An analysis by India today group concludes that only 2 parties across the country are fielding more than 33% women candidates. Naam Tamilar Katchi in Tamil Nadu is the only party that mandates a 50:50 ratio representing the country's highest percentage of female candidates, followed by Trinamool congress fielding a significant 37.8% women candidates.

While multiple reasons explain the low representation of women in governance structures, it does not discount the fact that we need to shift towards a more women-inclusive governance model. Studies have concluded that increasing women's leadership roles in governance result in positive outcomes. Political parties in countries like South Africa, Australia, Germany, the UK, and Sweden have recognized this skew and have enabled policies that ensure more representation. In fact, our neighbors Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh have also reserved parliamentary seats for women to boost their representation in politics.

While we have observed women leaders holding and contesting for positions at the state and central levels, expanding on the current gender-inclusive policies and programs in our urban governance institutions is critical.

In your vicinities, how many seats are occupied by women? To read more about the Shillong elections, read.