Women representation is shamefully low in Indian Parliament
Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand.org.in | Jharkhand Forum | Jharkhand Forum    Dear friends, Greetings from COVA! Election Watch (Ennikala Nigha Vedika), Andhra Pradesh, has done a commendable job in keeping a strict vigil on the election process in the first phase of elections. After the completion of the first phase, a delegation from the Vedika (Mr M.Ved Kumar, Dr Mazher Hussain, Dr Rao Chelikani, Mr S.Jeevan Kumar, Mr S.Srinivas Reddy) submitted a report with their observations and suggestions to the Chief Electoral Officer of Andhra Pradesh. We hope the report will help the CEO improve the second phase of the process. Will these elections improve the lot of women? Their representation is shamefully low in Indian Parliament. Take a look at the attachment to know how they fare now. In solidarity for justice, peace and harmony, COVA	The data in the table below has been compiled by the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the basis of information provided by National Parliaments by 28 February 2009. 188 country are classified by descending order of the percentage of women in the lower or single House. Comparative data on the world and regional averages as well as data concerning the two regional parliamentary assemblies elected by direct suffrage can be found on separate pages. You can use the PARLINE database to view detailed results of parliamentary elections by country.
New: you can now consult an archive of statistical data on women in National Parliaments.

Rank	Country	Lower or single House				Upper House or Senate
		Elections	Seats*	Women	% W	Elections	Seats*	Women	% W
1	Rwanda	9 2008	80	45	56.3%	10 2003	26	9	34.6%
2	Sweden	9 2006	349	164	47.0%	---	---	---	---
3	Cuba	1 2008	614	265	43.2%	---	---	---	---
4	Finland	3 2007	200	83	41.5%	---	---	---	---
5	Netherlands	11 2006	150	62	41.3%	5 2007	75	26	34.7%
6	Argentina	10 2007	255	102	40.0%	10 2007	72	28	38.9%
7	Denmark	11 2007	179	68	38.0%	---	---	---	---
8	Angola	9 2008	220	82	37.3%	---	---	---	---
9	Costa Rica	2 2006	57	21	36.8%	---	---	---	---
10	Spain	3 2008	350	127	36.3%	3 2008	263	79	30.0%
11	Norway	9 2005	169	61	36.1%	---	---	---	---
12	Belgium	6 2007	150	53	35.3%	6 2007	71	27	38.0%
13	Mozambique	12 2004	250	87	34.8%	---	---	---	---
14	New Zealand	11 2008	122	41	33.6%	---	---	---	---
15	Iceland	5 2007	63	21	33.3%	---	---	---	---
16	Nepal	4 2008	594	197	33.2%	---	---	---	---
17	South Africa 1	4 2004	400	132	33.0%	4 2004	54	22	40.7%
18	Germany	9 2005	612	197	32.2%	N.A.	69	15	21.7%
19	Belarus	9 2008	110	35	31.8%	7 2008	56	19	33.9%
20	Uganda	2 2006	332	102	30.7%	---	---	---	---
21	Burundi	7 2005	118	36	30.5%	7 2005	49	17	34.7%
22	United Republic of Tanzania	12 2005	319	97	30.4%	---	---	---	---
23	Guyana	8 2006	70	21	30.0%	---	---	---	---
24	Peru	4 2006	120	35	29.2%	---	---	---	---
"	Timor-Leste	6 2007	65	19	29.2%	---	---	---	---
25	Switzerland	10 2007	200	57	28.5%	10 2007	46	10	21.7%
26	Austria	9 2008	183	52	28.4%	N.A.	61	15	24.6%
27	Portugal	2 2005	230	65	28.3%	---	---	---	---
"	The F.Y.R. of Macedonia	6 2008	120	34	28.3%	---	---	---	---
28	Afghanistan	9 2005	242	67	27.7%	9 2005	102	22	21.6%
29	Ecuador 2	10 2008	76	21	27.6%	---	---	---	---
30	Namibia	11 2004	78	21	26.9%	11 2004	26	7	26.9%
31	Trinidad and Tobago	11 2007	41	11	26.8%	12 2007	31	13	41.9%
32	Australia	11 2007	150	40	26.7%	11 2007	76	27	35.5%
33	Viet Nam	5 2007	493	127	25.8%	---	---	---	---
34	Kyrgyzstan	12 2007	90	23	25.6%	---	---	---	---
35	Iraq	12 2005	275	70	25.5%	---	---	---	---
"	Suriname	5 2005	51	13	25.5%	---	---	---	---
36	Lao People's Democratic Republic	4 2006	115	29	25.2%	---	---	---	---
37	Andorra	4 2005	28	7	25.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Lesotho	2 2007	120	30	25.0%	3 2007	31	9	29.0%
"	Monaco	2 2008	24	6	25.0%	---	---	---	---
38	Singapore	5 2006	94	23	24.5%	---	---	---	---
39	Liechtenstein	2 2009	25	6	24.0%	---	---	---	---
40	Seychelles	5 2007	34	8	23.5%	---	---	---	---
41	Honduras	11 2005	128	30	23.4%	---	---	---	---
42	Luxembourg	6 2004	60	14	23.3%	---	---	---	---
43	Mexico	7 2006	500	116	23.2%	7 2006	128	23	18.0%
44	Tunisia	10 2004	189	43	22.8%	8 2008	112	17	15.2%
45	Pakistan	2 2008	338	76	22.5%	3 2006	100	17	17.0%
"	United Arab Emirates	12 2006	40	9	22.5%	---	---	---	---
46	Canada	10 2008	308	68	22.1%	N.A.	93	32	34.4%
"	Mauritania	11 2006	95	21	22.1%	1 2007	56	9	16.1%
47	Eritrea	2 1994	150	33	22.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Senegal	6 2007	150	33	22.0%	8 2007	100	40	40.0%
48	Ethiopia	5 2005	529	116	21.9%	10 2005	112	21	18.8%
49	Republic of Moldova	3 2005	101	22	21.8%	---	---	---	---
50	Bulgaria	6 2005	240	52	21.7%	---	---	---	---
51	Serbia	5 2008	250	54	21.6%	---	---	---	---
52	China	3 2008	2987	637	21.3%	---	---	---	---
"	Italy	4 2008	630	134	21.3%	4 2008	322	58	18.0%
53	Croatia	11 2007	153	32	20.9%	---	---	---	---
54	Estonia	3 2007	101	21	20.8%	---	---	---	---
55	Philippines	5 2007	239	49	20.5%	5 2007	23	4	17.4%
56	Poland	10 2007	460	93	20.2%	10 2007	100	8	8.0%
57	Democratic People's Republic of Korea	8 2003	687	138	20.1%	---	---	---	---
58	Latvia	10 2006	100	20	20.0%	---	---	---	---
59	Dominican Republic	5 2006	178	35	19.7%	5 2006	32	1	3.1%
60	United Kingdom	5 2005	646	126	19.5%	N.A.	746	147	19.7%
61	Slovakia	6 2006	150	29	19.3%	---	---	---	---
62	El Salvador	1 2009	84	16	19.0%	---	---	---	---
63	Dominica	5 2005	32	6	18.8%	---	---	---	---
64	Venezuela	12 2005	167	31	18.6%	---	---	---	---
65	Nicaragua	11 2006	92	17	18.5%	---	---	---	---
66	France	6 2007	577	105	18.2%	9 2008	343	75	21.9%
"	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	12 2005	22	4	18.2%	---	---	---	---
67	Cape Verde	1 2006	72	13	18.1%	---	---	---	---
"	Sudan	8 2005	443	80	18.1%	8 2005	50	3	6.0%
68	Lithuania	10 2008	141	25	17.7%	---	---	---	---
69	Israel	2 2009	120	21	17.5%	---	---	---	---
"	Tajikistan	2 2005	63	11	17.5%	3 2005	34	8	23.5%
"	Uzbekistan	12 2004	120	21	17.5%	1 2005	100	15	15.0%
70	Mauritius	7 2005	70	12	17.1%	---	---	---	---
71	United States of America 3	11 2008	435	74	17.0%	11 2008	100	17	17.0%
72	Bolivia	12 2005	130	22	16.9%	12 2005	27	1	3.7%
73	Gabon	1 2009	120	20	16.7%	1 2009	102	18	17.6%
"	Panama	5 2004	78	13	16.7%	---	---	---	---
74	Cambodia	7 2008	123	20	16.3%	1 2006	61	9	14.8%
75	Kazakhstan	8 2007	107	17	15.9%	10 2008	47	2	4.3%
76	Czech Republic	6 2006	200	31	15.5%	10 2008	81	14	17.3%
77	Burkina Faso	5 2007	111	17	15.3%	---	---	---	---
78	Zambia	9 2006	158	24	15.2%	---	---	---	---
"	Zimbabwe	3 2008	210	32	15.2%	3 2008	93	23	24.7%
79	Chile	12 2005	120	18	15.0%	12 2005	38	2	5.3%
"	San Marino	11 2008	60	9	15.0%	---	---	---	---
80	Greece	9 2007	300	44	14.7%	---	---	---	---
81	Cyprus	5 2006	56	8	14.3%	---	---	---	---
82	Russian Federation	12 2007	450	63	14.0%	N.A.	169	8	4.7%
83	Cameroon	7 2007	180	25	13.9%	---	---	---	---
84	Djibouti	2 2008	65	9	13.8%	---	---	---	---
"	Swaziland	9 2008	65	9	13.8%	10 2008	30	12	40.0%
85	Republic of Korea	4 2008	299	41	13.7%	---	---	---	---
86	Grenada	7 2008	15	2	13.3%	8 2008	13	4	30.8%
"	Ireland	5 2007	166	22	13.3%	7 2007	60	13	21.7%
"	Jamaica	9 2007	60	8	13.3%	9 2007	21	3	14.3%
"	Slovenia	9 2008	90	12	13.3%	11 2007	40	1	2.5%
87	Sierra Leone	8 2007	121	16	13.2%	---	---	---	---
88	Malawi	5 2004	193	25	13.0%	---	---	---	---
89	Liberia	10 2005	64	8	12.5%	10 2005	30	5	16.7%
"	Paraguay	4 2008	80	10	12.5%	4 2008	45	7	15.6%
90	Niger	12 2004	113	14	12.4%	---	---	---	---
"	Syrian Arab Republic	4 2007	250	31	12.4%	---	---	---	---
91	Bahamas	5 2007	41	5	12.2%	5 2007	15	9	60.0%
92	Uruguay	10 2004	99	12	12.1%	10 2004	31	4	12.9%
93	Guatemala	9 2007	158	19	12.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Maldives	1 2005	50	6	12.0%	---	---	---	---
94	Bosnia and Herzegovina	10 2006	42	5	11.9%	3 2007	15	2	13.3%
95	Thailand	12 2007	480	56	11.7%	3 2008	150	24	16.0%
96	Indonesia	4 2004	550	64	11.6%	---	---	---	---
97	Azerbaijan	11 2005	123	14	11.4%	---	---	---	---
"	Romania	11 2008	334	38	11.4%	11 2008	137	8	5.8%
98	Botswana	10 2004	63	7	11.1%	---	---	---	---
"	Hungary	4 2006	386	43	11.1%	---	---	---	---
"	Montenegro	9 2006	81	9	11.1%	---	---	---	---
"	Saint Lucia	12 2006	18	2	11.1%	1 2007	11	3	27.3%
"	Togo	10 2007	81	9	11.1%	---	---	---	---
99	Benin	3 2003	83	9	10.8%	---	---	---	---
"	Malaysia	3 2008	222	24	10.8%	N.A.	59	17	28.8%
100	Antigua and Barbuda	3 2004	19	2	10.5%	3 2004	17	4	23.5%
"	Central African Republic	3 2005	105	11	10.5%	---	---	---	---
"	Morocco	9 2007	325	34	10.5%	9 2006	270	3	1.1%
101	Mali	7 2007	147	15	10.2%	---	---	---	---
102	Barbados	1 2008	30	3	10.0%	2 2008	21	4	19.0%
"	Guinea-Bissau	11 2008	100	10	10.0%	---	---	---	---
103	Kenya	12 2007	224	22	9.8%	---	---	---	---
104	Gambia	1 2002	53	5	9.4%	---	---	---	---
"	Japan	9 2005	480	45	9.4%	7 2007	242	44	18.2%
105	India	4 2004	541	49	9.1%	6 2008	243	23	9.5%
"	Turkey	7 2007	549	50	9.1%	---	---	---	---
106	Brazil	10 2006	513	46	9.0%	10 2006	81	10	12.3%
107	Cote d'Ivoire	12 2000	203	18	8.9%	---	---	---	---
108	Malta	3 2008	69	6	8.7%	---	---	---	---
109	Bhutan	3 2008	47	4	8.5%	12 2007	25	6	24.0%
110	Armenia	5 2007	131	11	8.4%	---	---	---	---
"	Colombia	3 2006	166	14	8.4%	3 2006	102	12	11.8%
"	Democratic Republic of the Congo	7 2006	500	42	8.4%	1 2007	108	5	4.6%
111	Samoa	3 2006	49	4	8.2%	---	---	---	---
"	Ukraine	9 2007	450	37	8.2%	---	---	---	---
112	Ghana	12 2004	228	18	7.9%	---	---	---	---
"	Madagascar	9 2007	127	10	7.9%	4 2008	33	5	15.2%
113	Algeria	5 2007	389	30	7.7%	12 2006	136	4	2.9%
"	Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	3 2006	468	36	7.7%	---	---	---	---
114	Congo	6 2007	137	10	7.3%	8 2008	70	9	12.9%
"	Sao Tome and Principe	3 2006	55	4	7.3%	---	---	---	---
115	Albania	7 2005	140	10	7.1%	---	---	---	---
116	Nigeria	4 2007	358	25	7.0%	4 2007	109	9	8.3%
117	Saint Kitts and Nevis	10 2004	15	1	6.7%	---	---	---	---
118	Jordan	11 2007	110	7	6.4%	11 2007	55	7	12.7%
119	Bangladesh 4	12 2008	300	19	6.3%	---	---	---	---
120	Equatorial Guinea	5 2008	100	6	6.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Georgia	5 2008	150	9	6.0%	---	---	---	---
121	Sri Lanka	4 2004	225	13	5.8%	---	---	---	---
122	Chad	4 2002	155	8	5.2%	---	---	---	---
123	Lebanon	5 2005	128	6	4.7%	---	---	---	---
124	Kiribati	8 2007	46	2	4.3%	---	---	---	---
125	Haiti	2 2006	98	4	4.1%	2 2006	18	2	11.1%
"	Mongolia	6 2008	74	3	4.1%	---	---	---	---
126	Vanuatu	9 2008	52	2	3.8%	---	---	---	---
127	Kuwait 5	5 2008	65	2	3.1%	---	---	---	---
"	Tonga 6	4 2008	32	1	3.1%	---	---	---	---
128	Comoros	4 2004	33	1	3.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Marshall Islands	11 2007	33	1	3.0%	---	---	---	---
129	Iran (Islamic Republic of)	3 2008	286	8	2.8%	---	---	---	---
130	Bahrain	11 2006	40	1	2.5%	12 2006	40	10	25.0%
131	Egypt	11 2005	442	8	1.8%	6 2007	264	18	6.8%
132	Papua New Guinea	6 2007	109	1	0.9%	---	---	---	---
133	Yemen	4 2003	301	1	0.3%	4 2001	111	2	1.8%
134	Belize	2 2008	32	0	0.0%	3 2008	13	5	38.5%
"	Micronesia (Federated States of)	3 2005	14	0	0.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Nauru	4 2008	18	0	0.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Oman	10 2007	84	0	0.0%	11 2007	70	14	20.0%
"	Palau	11 2008	16	0	0.0%	11 2008	13	2	15.4%
"	Qatar	7 2008	35	0	0.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Saudi Arabia	4 2005	150	0	0.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Solomon Islands	4 2006	50	0	0.0%	---	---	---	---
"	Tuvalu	8 2006	15	0	0.0%	---	---	---	---
135	Somalia	8 2004	475	?	?	---	---	---	---
"	Turkmenistan	12 2008	124	?	?	---	---	---	---

* Figures correspond to the number of seats currently filled in Parliament Guinea: The parliament was dissolved following the December 2008 coup 1 - South Africa: The figures on the distribution of seats do not include the 36 special rotating delegates appointed on an ad hoc basis, and all percentages given are therefore calculated on the basis of the 54 permanent seats. 2 - Ecuador: The 2008 Constitution provides that the National Congress shall be replaced by a 124-member National Assembly. Elections to that body are due to take place on 26 April 2009. During the transitional period, a Legislative and Oversight Commission, comprising the members of the Constituent Assembly, assumes the legislative and oversight functions. The date refers to the date when the Commission held its first session. 3 - United States of America: The total refers to all voting members of the House. 4 - Bangladesh: 45 reserved seats reserved for women are yet to be filled. 5 - Kuwait: No woman candidate was elected in the 2008 elections. Two women were appointed to the 16-member cabinet sworn in in June 2008. As cabinet ministers also sit in parliament, there are two women out of a total of 65 members. 6 - Tonga: No women were elected in 2008, however one woman was appointed to the Cabinet. As cabinet ministers also sit in parliament, there is one woman out of a total of 32 members.