From Margins to Mandate
Devyani Rana
In the evolution of modern democracies, there are moments that do not merely reform institutions but reconstitute their very logic. The endeavor to institutionalise 33 percent reservation for women in legislatures under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi Ji is gearing up to be one such flashpoint in India’s constitutional journey.
The grammar of governance is not being altered in isolation but is instead being recalibrated alongside a broader restructuring of women’s participation in economic opportunity, capability and participation. To welcome this reform, therefore, is not an act of political alignment, but of intellectual clarity. India is not only correcting a historical asymmetry but also enhancing the epistemic diversity of its policy making apparatus. Today’s India is primed to be bold in this pursuit of equitable access to power precisely due to being bolstered by five interlocking forces we can term as the 5Ms of Modern India: Mahila, Mudra, MSME, Manufacturing, Make in India. The power of the 33% reservation for women lies in the ecosystem that precedes it, spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mudra has unlocked access to capital, MSMEs have converted that access into enterprise, manufacturing has embedded women within productive systems, and Make in India has scaled their participation to national and global ambition. At its apex stands the Mahila, not as an afterthought but as the defining force that gives direction, depth and legitimacy to the entire framework.
The continuum establishes the centrality of Mahila by redefining who governs not as an isolated intervention but as the logical progression of a governance model that has pursued aligning representation with capacity. The political representation is not merely ornamental but is undergirded by economic participation, thereby enhancing both the substance and efficacy of governance.
In regions like Jammu and Kashmir, it is starkly visible that women are no longer confined to the margins of economic activity but are increasingly part of a spectrum that links opportunity with participation and participation with sustainable scale. Yet, the progress from participation to power remains incomplete. In November 2025, Jammu and Kashmir achieved its highest-ever representation of women in the Assembly. That historic milestone was achieved with four women being elected into the House. When contextualized, just four MLAs who are women currently sit in a house of 90, amounting to a staggeringly low 4.4%.
This stark disproportion underscores the structural imbalance that persists in getting women into positions of power. It is precisely this gap that the 33% reservation seeks to address while ensuring not only token inclusion but a necessary realignment of political
participation with the on-ground representation of the population of women in India.
We owe it to ourselves and generations after us to pursue this with intellectual rigor and policy coherence. This legislature will not merely expand India’s growth trajectory, it will redefine who shapes it thereby placing women, not at the periphery of progress, but at the commanding core of our great nation’s growth story.
(The author is MLA Nagrota J&K Legislative Assembly)
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