Government introduces women’s quota Bill in Lok Sabha
The first piece of legislation Parliament will consider after moving into the new precincts is the “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam” or Women’s Reservation Bill that proposes to provide one-third reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state legislatures.
With much fanfare, the government introduced the Bill on Tuesday but it will be rolled out only after census and delimitation exercise is completed which, in effect, pushes it at least until 2029.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, which was introduced in the Lower House through a supplementary list of business, provides for 30 per cent reservation for women for a period of 15 years.
Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each subsequent delimitation exercise. It may be noted that Constitution amendment requires ratification by at least 50 per cent of the states.
Also, within the reservation of seats provided for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under Article 330 of the Constitution, a provision has been provided for reservation of women for these categories.