A precondition of the passage of the failed Women’s Reservation Bill which proposed awarding them 33 percent of seats in Parliament was that the number of seats in the Lok Sabha would increase from the current 543 to 800-850 after completion of Census 2027 for which enumeration commenced on April 1.

Although legislation of the Women’s Reservation, aka Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill, foundered on these preconditions, a broader issue that needs to be addressed is cost-benefit analysis of a substantially larger number of MPs at the Centre and in state legislative assemblies.

In the Union Budget 2026-27, a sum of Rs.8.17 lakh crore — equivalent to 15.42 percent of total revenue of the Government of India — is budgeted under the head of ‘establishment expenditure’. This substantial amount is expended towards salaries, rent, travel, furbishing and other expenditure incurred for the pay and maintenance of the Central government’s 4 million employees (including MPs) translating into an impressive Rs.20.4 lakh per capita cf. the national per capita income of Rs.2.38 lakh per annum.

Moreover, citizens should bear in mind that the annual cost of every Member of Parliament (MP) is estimated at Rs.4.30 crore when salary, allowances, rent-free accommodation, secretarial allowance and unlimited air and rail travel for family members is computed. For the current batch of 543 Lok Sabha and 245 Rajya Sabha members the aggregate annual expense is Rs.3,388 crore, a sum which would rise to Rs.4,708 crore if another 307 are added to their number after delimitation/expansion. And for 10 percent of MPs awarded ministerial status, the annual expense borne by the public would rise ten-fold to Rs.43 crore per capita.

In the circumstances, it is important to debate the opportunity cost of adding another 300 MPs at the Centre and additional members in state legislative assemblies. Curiously, despite the lavish lifestyles of MPs, ministers and MLAs, there is a blanket of silence on the subject of rising establishment expenses of the Central and state governments.

According to a schema presented to the public by EducationWorld conterminously with the Union Budget 2026-27 (see https://educationworld.in/resource-mobilisation-schema-for-public-education/), if the Union government’s establishment expenditure is reduced by a mere 3.40 percent, the Centre could save and allocate an additional Rs.1.83 lakh crore for public education almost doubling the Rs.1.48 lakh crore budgeted. Given the situation, instead of increasing the number of non-performing MPs and ballooning establishment expenses, carving out the women’s quota from the existing 543 is the preferable, even if inconvenient, option.