In the 18th Lok Sabha, seven women have been inducted into the council of ministers. This includes two with Cabinet rank: Nirmala Sitharaman and Annpurna Devi. The other women ministers are Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, Nimuben Bambhaniya, and Anupriya Patel, who have been sworn in as ‘Ministers of State’ (MoS). This figure of 7 women ministers is the lowest since the 13th Lok Sabha (1999 to 2004).
In the 18th Lok Sabha, seven women have been inducted into the council of ministers. This includes two with Cabinet rank: Nirmala Sitharaman and Annpurna Devi. The other women ministers are Shobha Karandlaje, Raksha Khadse, Savitri Thakur, Nimuben Bambhaniya, and Anupriya Patel, who have been sworn in as ‘Ministers of State’ (MoS). Nirmala Sitharaman continues to be the Cabinet Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs while Annpurna Devi has become the Minister of Women and Child Development.
The first woman joined the US cabinet in 1933, more than 130 years after its establishment. In the UK, a woman was included in the cabinet in 1929, relatively late in their democratic timeline. Many European democracies followed a similar pattern, inducting women into cabinets around the same period. Contrastingly, India included women in the Union Council of Ministers from its very first government. This inclusion could be attributed to the global trend of accepting women in such roles or India’s commitment to equal opportunities, as reflected in the provision of ‘Universal Adult Franchise’ from the first election.
India ensured women were part of the Union Council of Ministers since the first Lok Sabha. Inclusion of women in the Council of Ministers, rather than just as Members of Parliament (MPs) is vital because ministers hold executive power to implement policies and make crucial decisions that directly affect the governance. Their roles enable them to influence significant areas such as healthcare, education, and social welfare effectively. In this story, we look at the representation of women in the Union Council of Ministers during various Lok Sabha terms and the portfolios they held.
The data is collated from various sources, which includes – an archived compilation of the Council of Ministers since independence, information with respect to the change in portfolios since 1952, the archival data of Council of Ministers since 1990s, the handbook on the Council of Ministers 1947-2015, and various press releases. A comprehensive dataset on the same is available on Dataful. Factly also has a detailed dashboard on the same, where one can find all the information & data related to Women in the Union Council of Ministers, since the first Lok Sabha.
85 women have been Ministers since 1952
As of June 2024, a total of 85 women have been a part of India’s Council of Ministers since 1952. They have taken up various positions & portfolios in the Union Council of Ministers such as Cabinet Minister, Deputy Minister & Minister of State (MoS).
The first woman cabinet minister was Rajkumari Amrit Kaur of the Indian National Congress. She became the cabinet minister during the first Lok Sabha (1952-57). The first Lok Sabha also included another woman in the position of deputy minister, Maragatham Chandrasekar. Both held the Health portfolio.
The first non-congress women in the Union Council of Ministers were Sathiavani Muthu and Abha Maiti of AIADMK & Janata party respectively. Both were part of Charan Singh’s and Morarji Desai’s Cabinets respectively, between 1977-79. Muthu was the Cabinet Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment while Maiti was MoS in the Ministry of Industries.
Women were usually given the rank of MoS in their first stint
Out of the 85 women who were part of the Union Council of Ministers, only a small number were given the rank of Cabinet minister in their first stint. Most new women ministers were given the rank of MoS during their first stint. The following chart shows the number of women ministers holding the rank in each Lok Sabha. It should be noted that the numbers pertain to rank wise number of women ministers irrespective of their portfolio. However, if the minister has held two ranks in a Lok Sabha, the number has been counted for each rank. For instance, in the 4th Lok Sabha, Nandini Satpathy held the rank of both Deputy Minister and Minister of State in different tenures. This has been counted as one under Deputy Minister and one under Minister of State during the 4th Lok Sabha.
18th Lok Sabha has only 7 women ministers, the lowest in the last 25 years
Irrespective of rank or portfolio, the total number of women Ministers in each Lok Sabha is provided in the below chart. As highlighted earlier, the first Lok Sabha during 1952-57 had only two women ministers. Since then, the women representation in the Union Council of Ministers has been higher with the exception of the 9th Lok Sabha (1989-91), where only 2 women served as ministers. The highest number of women ministers was reported during the 15th Lok Sabha (2009 to 2014) with 15, followed by the 17th Lok Sabha with 13 and the 10th Lok Sabha (1991 to 1996) with 12. The current 18th Lok Sabha has only 7 women ministers, the lowest figure since the 13th Lok Sabha (1999 to 2004).
Women and Child Development is the most common portfolio held by women
15 women were the Ministers in the Women and Child Development Ministry (including all ranks), making it the most common portfolio held by women. Other common portfolios include Health and Family Welfare (14), Social Justice and Empowerment (13), and Culture (12). As mentioned earlier, there can be instances where a woman has held multiple portfolios in a single tenure, and each of these has been counted separately. On the other hand, ministries like Chemicals and Fertilizers, Science and Technology, and Labour & Employment have been held by women only once.
Nirmala Sitharaman and Indira Gandhi are the only two women cabinet ministers of Finance and Defence.
A total of four women held the Information and Broadcasting portfolio in a cabinet rank, the most common portfolio for the rank. Three women each were cabinet ministers for Women and Child Development, Social Justice and Empowerment, Health and Family Welfare, and Culture. The 3 women who held the post for Women and Child Development are Maneka Gandhi, Smriti Irani, and Annpurna Devi, all under the three BJP-led NDA governments with Narendra Modi as Prime Minister. Nirmala Sitharaman and Indira Gandhi are the only two women to have held the Finance and Defence portfolios in a cabinet rank. No woman has been made the cabinet minister for Agriculture, Civil Aviation, Education, Environment or MSMEs. Mamata Banerjee was the only woman Railway Minister and Indira Gandhi was the only woman Home Affairs Minister in the country since 1952.
Indira Gandhi served as the Prime Minister of India partially or fully during the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, and 8th Lok Sabha. Not only was she India’s first and only woman Prime Minister but during her tenure, she also held many portfolios in addition to her position as the Prime Minister including key portfolios like Home, Defence, Finance & External Affairs. She was the cabinet minister 30 times. (Each portfolio held during a Lok Sabha term has been counted separately.)
Smriti Irani and Ambika Soni held the cabinet rank for six different ministries, the highest after Indira Gandhi. Selja Kumari and Sheila Kaul became ministers 11 times each. However, they held the position of Minister of State/MoS in Charge the most.
13 out of the 85 women have held ministerial positions in different portfolios for at least 4000 days
The number of days various women MPs in India have held ministerial positions has been calculated by adding the number of days each woman MP held a certain position and portfolio separately. For instance, if a woman MP was made the MoS for two portfolios, the days served is the sum of days served for each portfolio.
Undoubtedly, Indira Gandhi stands out with the highest tenure, having served a total of 27,204 days in various ministerial roles, including her significant time as Prime Minister. This is also because she held multiple portfolios with her when she was the PM.
Following her, Margaret Alva served for 7,883 days, primarily as Minister of State. Selja Kumari has held ministerial positions for 7,620 days across multiple roles such as Cabinet Minister, Deputy Minister, and Minister of State. Sheila Kaul and Nirmala Sitharaman have held substantial tenures with 6,107 days and 5,844 days respectively, both serving in multiple capacities. Vasundhara Raje, Smriti Irani, and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti have also had notable tenures (more than 4500 days) in various ministries.
Sarojini Bindurao Mahishi and Krishna Sahi served for significant durations as Ministers of State, with 5,736 and 4,303 days respectively. Other notable mentions include Sushma Swaraj with 4,041 days and Maneka Sanjay Gandhi with 4,038 days, reflecting their long-standing involvement in the government.
Women continue to be underrepresented even though there has been improvement
The representation of women in India’s Union Council of Ministers has improved since the country’s first government. From the pioneering roles of Indira Gandhi and Rajkumari Amrit Kaur to the contemporary MPs Nirmala Sitharaman and Annpurna Devi, women have held significant ministerial positions across various portfolios. Despite the notable presence of women in ministries like Women and Child Development, Health and Family Welfare, and Social Justice and Empowerment, there remains a disparity in their representation in other ministries and by rank. This low representation of women in the Council also stems out of the poor share of women MPs out of all as well as their poor participation in elections.
Nonetheless, with about 1.4 million elected women representatives or sarpanches at the grassroots, India became a part of a cohort of 20 countries with more than 40% of local seats held by women, thanks to reservations for women at the local levels of government. With the passage of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ legislation that aims to reserve one-third of seats for women in the Assembly & Lok Sabha, its effects remain to be seen till after the next elections.
