Why Women’s Reservation must work differently for the Northeast

The Northeast is not under-represented by design—but within its limited political space, women remain nearly invisible. Reservation alone cannot fix what development and political systems have yet to enable.

With the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Act 2023, 106th Amendment) facing uncertainty, momentum on women’s reservation may have slowed—but the issue remains urgent, especially for the Northeast, a region often absent from national debates on representation.

This moment invites a sharper question: what would reservation mean where political space is already limited? This article connects parliamentary representation with women’s development indicators to bring Northeast women into clearer national focus.

It argues that while reservation is necessary, it is insufficient without stronger development outcomes and credible pathways that enable women to translate participation into political voice and influence.

The Northeast is not under-represented in a constitutional sense. Its share in Parliament broadly reflects its population. The eight states together send 25 Members of Parliament to the Lok Sabha—about 4.6% of the House—and roughly 11 to the Rajya Sabha.

But within this already limited space, gender representation is strikingly low. At present, only two women from the region sit in the Lok Sabha, and none in the Rajya Sabha.

The two women Members of Parliament from the Northeast in the current (18th Lok Sabha) are Bijuli Kalita Medhi—MP from Guwahati, Assam—and Kriti Devi Debbarma—MP from Tripura East, Tripura.

If the logic of 33% reservation were proportionately realised, the Northeast would have around eight to nine women MPs in the Lok Sabha. Instead, it has two. The gap, therefore, is not merely numerical—it is structural.

Most Northeastern states have just one or two parliamentary seats, creating a tightly constrained political space with limited entry points. Parties, operating within this structure, often prioritise “safe” candidates—incumbents or those embedded in established, male-dominated networks.

Even with reservation, rotating seats may disrupt continuity, making it harder for women to build sustained political careers. These structural limits mean representation cannot be addressed by design alone.

The more critical question is whether the broader ecosystem enables women to enter and advance in politics—something reflected in the region’s uneven development indicators.

A closer look at development indicators across the Northeast reveals a nuanced and uneven picture.

Women & Child Development Indicators: Northeast vs India: NFHS-5 (2019–21) snapshot of health, fertility, and reproductive access across states

This data tells a layered story. Several states perform as well as—or better than—the national average on key health indicators. Mizoram and Tripura, for instance, show high institutional deliveries and strong antenatal care coverage, while Manipur and Sikkim record notably low infant mortality rates. Female literacy is also relatively high across much of the region, with states such as Mizoram, Tripura, and Sikkim performing significantly above the national average.

Yet, this progress coexists with persistent gaps. Contraceptive use remains low in Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, alongside a high unmet need for family planning—pointing to limitations in reproductive autonomy and access to services.

Meghalaya’s higher fertility rate indicates an uneven demographic transition, while maternal health access continues to vary across states, with weaker antenatal care coverage in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

This duality is critical. It shows that the Northeast is neither uniformly disadvantaged nor uniformly empowered. Instead, it reflects uneven development that requires differentiated policy attention.

A similar paradox emerges when examining women’s economic participation.

Working, But Not Represented: Women’s Labour Participation in the Northeast: Economic presence remains high, political presence does not
Across the Northeast, women’s participation in the workforce is often equal to or higher than the national average.

In states such as Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim, female labour force participation is particularly high, reflecting women’s strong presence in agriculture, small trade, and local economies.

In many contexts, women are not merely participants but central to household and community livelihoods.

At first glance, this suggests a strong foundation for empowerment. But the more revealing insight lies in what does not follow: economic participation has not translated into political representation.

Much of women’s work remains informal, limiting access to financial capital and institutional networks, while political entry continues to be shaped by party structures and resources that remain largely male-dominated.

Where development indicators lag, women’s representation becomes critical to push for targeted investments in health, nutrition, and reproductive services.

Where indicators are relatively strong, it is equally important to sustain gains and ensure policy remains responsive to women’s needs. In both contexts, the absence of women in Parliament means that lived realities—whether of gaps or progress—remain underrepresented.

The Northeast’s structural realities—remoteness, weak infrastructure, and border dynamics—shape women’s access to education, healthcare, mobility, and public life. In conflict-affected states like Manipur, women and girls face heightened risks of displacement, insecurity, and violence.

Gender intersects with tribal representation, as many constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes, narrowing the candidate pool. Within this, women must navigate layered social and political hierarchies, further limiting their entry into formal political spaces.

This disconnect is evident in safety and justice indicators. Crime in India 2023 records over 4.48 lakh crimes against women nationwide, with nearly 30% involving cruelty by husbands or relatives, followed by kidnapping and sexual assault.

While the Northeast does not uniformly report the highest crime rates, the pattern of offences points to distinct vulnerabilities—especially trafficking, sexual violence, and risks linked to mobility and informal work. Lower reporting of dowry-related crimes reflects different social practices rather than lower risk.

At the same time, concerns around missing women and girls, trafficking networks, and cyber-enabled exploitation continue to grow, underscoring the need for more context-specific policy attention.

At the same time, the idea of the “empowered Northeastern woman” requires closer scrutiny. Visible economic participation—in agriculture, markets, and informal sectors—does not necessarily translate into decision-making power.

Customary laws and social norms continue to limit women’s access to property, institutional roles, and political authority. Even in matrilineal contexts, economic visibility often coexists with exclusion from governance.

Across the Northeast, women are visible in economic and community life but remain largely absent from structures of power.

Representation, therefore, is not just about numbers but about bringing region-specific gender realities into policy. For reservation to be meaningful, it must go beyond seat allocation—supported by investments in education, health, mobility, and pathways into politics.

Without this, representation risks remaining symbolic, with limited impact on women’s lives.

Views expressed are that of the author and do not reflect EastMojo’s stance on this or any other issue. The authors work extensively in Northeast India, engaging with issues of gender, livelihoods, and community development, with a particular focus on women’s agency and participation.

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