Question

The Constitution of India was amended in 1992 to make the third tier of democracy more effective. As a result, at least one third of all positions in the local bodies were reserved for women. This is because_____
A.Women are good at managing resources
B.Although women constitute nearly half the population, they have inadequate representation in decision making bodies
C.We have many powerful women leaders
D.Women are obedient and would follow the constitutional provisions well

Answer 1

Hint:As per the seventh third amendment to the Indian Constitution, out of the total number of seats to be filled by the direct elections for local self-governing bodies, one third seats are to be reserved for women. This is an attempt to strengthen the local bodies of federalism.

Complete answer:
Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI), a system of local self government, was constitutionalized through the seventy third Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 to strengthen democracy at the level of grassroots.
During the Prime Ministership of P.V.Narasimha Rao, a comprehensive amendment was introduced in the form of the ‘ Constitution seventy second Amendment Bill’ in September 1991 which was then passed by the Parliament in December 1992.
As per the seventy third amendment, there should be a three-tier system of panchayats at village, intermediate block/taluk/mandal and district levels except in States where population exists below 20 lakhs (Article 243B).
Article 243C (2) instructed all seats to be filled by direct elections. There would also be a reservation for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe in accordance to their population. One third of all the seats are required to be reserved for women. They shall hold the office for a term of five years.
The reservation for women happened because, even if women comprise half the population, their representation in the government was highly inadequate. They had the skills required, but weren’t able to take up incentive.
Reservation policies for women improve their participation in local bodies and facilitate the access to and the quality of public services. They help reduce gender stereotypes and make women more independent socially and economically.

Hence, the correct answer is option (B).

Note:In December 2018, Women Sarpanchs accounted for 43 percent of total gram panchayats (GPs) across the country. This means that the policy is proving to be successful. There are some problems which need to be addressed, but so far, the outcome is optimistic.