Women's Bill

 

Govt introduces Women’s reservation Bill

DELHI, 20th Sep' 2023:  THE. government on Tuesday introduced a constitutional amendment bill reserving 33 per cent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, reviving a bill pending for 27 years and blending history, politics and societal imperatives on the first day in the new Parliament building.

The women’s reservation bill, named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam and introduced in the Lower House by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise is completed and is therefore unlikely to be in force during the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
It was the first bill to be introduced in the new Parliament building.
September 19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, is a date that will be etched in history and god has chosen him for the “noble work”.

“The Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam will further strengthen our democracy…I assure all mothers, sisters and daughters of the nation that we are committed to making this bill into a law,” Modi said in the first speech in the first session in the new premises amid thumping of desks by members of both treasury and opposition benches.
The government, PM stressed, wants more and more women to join the development process of the country. Modi also urged opposition members of both Houses to pass the bill unanimously.

Pending since 1996 when the first bill on the matter was introduced but could not be passed due to lack of political consensus — several regional parties demanded ‘quota within quota’ — it is likely to see smooth passage this time with most parties pushing for guaranteeing women one-third representation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

However, provisions in the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill make it clear the reservation will come into effect only after the delimitation exercise, or the redrawing of constituencies, taking into account data of the census conducted after the bill becomes a law. Meghwal said number of women members in the Lok Sabha will rise to 181 from 82 currently after the bill comes into force.

MPs move to new Parliament complex, Old building renamed ‘Samvidhan Sadan’