On September 19, during his speech at the Parliament, Prime Minister Modi announced the Women"s Reservation Bill [The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008] in the Lok Sabha. The Bill, when passed, is set to provide one-third reservation to women in the lower house of Parliament, state assemblies and the Delhi legislative assembly.
As per the bill, one-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be reserved for women of those groups in the Lok Sabha and the legislative assemblies. Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory. The bill says the reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of the amendment act.
The Women"s Reservation Bill started its challenging legislative journey nearly three decades ago, back in September 1996, when it was introduced in Parliament during the tenure of the HD Deve Gowda-led government. Since then, nearly every subsequent administration has made efforts to pass it into law. In 2010, the UPA government even managed to secure its passage in the Rajya Sabha. But, due to a shortage of political determination and agreement, the initiative ultimately did not succeed.
PM Modi, during his speech, said: “Discussion on Women’s Reservation Bill happened for a long time. During Atal Bihari Vajpayee"s regime, women"s reservation bill was introduced several times but there was not enough majority to pass the bill, and because of this, the dream remained incomplete. Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward. The "Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam" will ensure more women become members of Parliament, assemblies."
First Published: Sep 20, 2023, 13:34
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