Speaker chairs Commonwealth workshop

Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta chaired a Commonwealth workshop on inclusivity in resource-constrained parliaments at the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in Cape Town on Monday, saying capacity may vary across legislatures but democratic dignity cannot.

The Joint Network Workshop on “Delivering Inclusivity Measures in Capacity Strained Parliaments” featured Yukon Legislative Assembly Speaker Yvonne Clarke, Turks and Caicos Islands MP Akierra Missick, and Trinidad and Tobago House Clerk Brian Bernard Caesar, discussing how legislatures with limited resources could advance gender sensitivity, disability inclusion and accessibility.

Gupta noted women held only 27.5 percent of seats in national parliaments as of January 2026, with roughly one-fifth of Speakers being women. Citing WHO data that 1.3 billion people experience significant disability, he said representation alone was insufficient without leadership access, procedural support and independent participation for all members.

Highlighting India’s experience, Gupta referenced the Constitution’s 106th Amendment providing one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, noting nearly 1.4 million women constitute 46 percent of Panchayati Raj representatives, with Bihar’s 50 percent reservation across all tiers.

On technology, Gupta cited the National e-Vidhan Application, BHASHINI, and Delhi Assembly’s own AI-enabled research tool Vidhan Saathi, while cautioning that digitisation must not create new forms of exclusion through inaccessible platforms. Gupta proposed periodic inclusion audits, measurable common indicators and shared institutional resources across Commonwealth parliaments, referencing the National Legislative Index, originally conceived by the Delhi Assembly, as a benchmark framework.