New Delhi : Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ in Lok Sabha of new Parliament building on Tuesday, reviving a bill, seeking to reserve 33 per cent of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, stuck for 27 years for want of consensus among parties.
It was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Monday.
Addressing the MPs in the Central Hall, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that that God has chosen him to implement the women quota. “Discussion on Women’s Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s regime, the Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the Bill, and because of this, this dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward. Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women’s participation in both Houses…,” he said.
However, it is unlikely to be implemented in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The legislation will come into effect after the next delimitation exercise, which might be conducted after the first census to be taken after 2026. The Census was meant to be held last in 2021, but was delayed because of COVID.
“We want more and more women to join the development process of the country,” he added, before Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal presented the bill to lawmakers.
Women account for almost half of the country’s 950 million registered voters but make for only 15% of parliament and about 10% of state legislatures.
The bill, once approved, will see the number of women MPs in Lok Sabha go up to 181 from the current 82, Meghwal said.
Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury credited his party for the women’s quota bill. “Former Congress governments under Rajiv Gandhi, PV Narasimha Rao, and Manmohan Singh had consistently tried to pass the bill to provide reservation for women,” he said.
Chowdhury also claimed that the Women’s Reservation Bill, which was passed in the Rajya Sabha during the Congress regime under Manmohan Singh, was still pending.
However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah countered the claim by stating that the bill had already lapsed.
WOMEN’S RESERVATION BILL – HIGHLIGHTS
The, Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to introduce three new articles and one new clause in the Constitution.
1. New clause in 239AA: Seats shall be reserved for women in the Delhi Legislative Assembly, 1/3rd of the seats reserved for SCs shall be reserved for women, 1/3rd of total number of seats to be filled by direct elections shall be reserved for women through law determined by parliament
2. New Article – 330A: Reservation for women in Lok Sabha – 1/3rd of seats reserved for SCs and STs shall be reserved for women, 1/3rd of total seats to be filled by direct elections to the Lok Sabha shall be reserved for women
3. New Article – 332A: Reserved seats for women in every state Legislative Assembly, 1/3rd of seats reserved for SCs and STs shall be reserved for women, 1/3rd of total seats to be filled by direct elections to the LA shall be reserved for women
4. New article – 334A: Reservation shall come into effect after the delimitation is undertaken after the relevant figures for the first census have been published. Rotation of seats for women shall take effect after each subsequent exercise of delimitation
A bill to provide reservation for women in Parliament and assemblies were first introduced in the Lok Sabha in 1996 by the Deve Gowda-led United Front government. It failed to get the approval of the House and was referred to a joint parliamentary committee which submitted its report to the Lok Sabha in December 1996. But the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.
In 1998, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led NDA government reintroduced the Bill in Lok Sabha. This bill also failed to get support and lapsed again. The bill was reintroduced in 1999, 2002 and 2003. Even though there was support for it within the Congress, the BJP and the Left parties, the bill failed to receive majority votes.
In 2008, the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government tabled the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, and it was passed in 2010. However, the Bill was never taken up for consideration in the Lok Sabha and lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014.
