More than one-third of the newly elected lawmakers of India’s Lower House of Parliament face criminal charges, while women comprise barely 10 per cent of the legislators. The 16th Lok Sabha Parliament met last week for the first time since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a majority in the May general elections.

All candidates have to fill in a detailed form about their assets, educational qualifications and background. Data from the Lok Sabha Web site and analysis by Delhi-based research organisations the Association for Democratic Reforms and PRS Legislative Research provided revealing facts about the new house of representatives.

* Criminal cases : More than one-third, or 185 of the 542 legislators analysed by the ADR declared they had criminal cases against them.

That was a 4 per cent increase from the outgoing Lok Sabha.

It said 112, or 21 per cent of the winners, faced serious criminal cases including murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, creating communal disharmony and crimes against women.

Ten lawmakers ackownledged murder cases against them. Of those, four belonged to the BJP, one to the Indian National Congress and the rest to smaller parties.

* Female representation : A record number of 62 women were elected, up slightly from the 59 in the previous house.

The number fell far short of the one-third target of 181 members set by the Women’s Reservation Bill, which has been approved by the house of elders but is pending in the Lok Sabha.

The BJP, with a parliamentary majority, has said it supports the one-third reservation and hopes are high among women’s rights activists that the bill could finally become law.

* Age : The average age of members of the Lok Sabha is 54.

An estimated 64 per cent of the Indian population is 50 years old or younger, but only 37 per cent of the Lok Sabha lawmakers are below 50 years. Nearly two-thirds are aged between 51 and 70.

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