Women in Legislature

Right from the inception of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly, women as legislators have played a significant role. In the year 1956, when the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly was constituted by  unifying Andhra and Hyderabad Legislative Assemblies, there were eleven elected women members in the House.

As the years progressed, the number of elected women members in the Andhra Pradesh Legislature kept steadily increasing. At present there are 4 women MLCs and 14 women MLAs, representing various constituencies of the state of Andhra Pradesh.

To give special thrust to the welfare of women and to focus on alleviation of their problems, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly constituted the Committee on Welfare of Women and Children in the year 1993.

The year 1999 , the Eleventh Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly unanimously elected Mrs. K. Prathibha Bharathi as the Speaker of the House. She was the first Woman Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has taken up several new initiatives like providing Zero Hour opportunity to all the women legislators on the occasion of International women's day.

The 13th Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly has given a new dimension to the theme of Common Wealth Parliamentary Association by felicitating eight women from different walks of life as ‘Agents of Change' in recognition of their exemplary service to the society with commitment and passion.