Women’s Reservation Bill was on Tuesday introduced in the Lok Sabha by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal. Discussion for passing of the Bill in the House will be taken up on September 21. The Bill will be taken up in Rajya Sabha on 21st September, sources said.
The government said the women’s reservation bill is aimed at enabling greater participation of women in policy-making at the state and national levels. The statement of purpose of the bill said the role of women is extremely important for achieving the goal of making India a developed country by 2047.
The reservation will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise, according to the bill.
Key changes in the Bill
- 181 seats in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.
- 33% of 84 seats for Scheduled Castes in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.
- 33% of 47 seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.
- 33% seats in Rajya Sabha will be reserved for women now
- 33% constituencies in all state assemblies will be reserved for women now
- Rotation of seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies to take place after each delimitation exercise.
Several political parties, including from the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc, on Sunday made a strong pitch for the passage of the women’s reservation bill during the five-day Parliament session beginning Monday, with the government asserting that an “appropriate decision will be taken at an appropriate time”.
At an all-party meeting convened by the government on the eve of the session, the government also formally informed parliamentarians about the move to the new Parliament building on Tuesday on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi.
The demand for discussing issues like caste census, price rise, unemployment, border row involving China, Manipur situation and alleged social conflicts at some places was raised by the Congress, its leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said. A few other opposition parties also spoke in the same vein on some of these matters.
The Congress has been reiterating its demand that the Women’s Reservation Bill must be passed during the special session of Parliament which is set to start from September 18. Congress former chief Sonia Gandhi who will be attending the Parliament Special Session also asserted that the Bill was Congress’ brain child. On Tuesday, while the Congress leader was entering the old Parliament building, she said, “It is ours, Apna Hai.”
