Increase Women’s Participation in Lawmaking: Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday said women are excelling across sectors, including business, education, and science, and their participation in policymaking and lawmaking must grow accordingly.
Addressing valedictory session of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region West Zone (Zone VII) conference here, Birla also said that from panchayats to state assemblies and Parliament, women’s representation should be strengthened, with a greater role in shaping law.
“Women are excelling across sectors, including business, education, and science and their participation in policymaking and lawmaking must grow accordingly,” he said.
Birla’s comments came days before a special sitting of Parliament where the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, more commonly known as Women Reservation Act, would be amended for its implementation from 2029 general elections.
The Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women.
The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023, but it was expected to come into effect only in 2034 after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of 2027 Census.
To make it enforceable from the 2029 general elections, the government has proposed the amendments to the law.
The Budget session of Parliament has been extended and a special three-day sitting has been convened on April 16 to 18.
The speaker said India is entering a new era, and it is time to significantly increase women’s representation in legislative bodies.
“The Constitution of India has evolved through timely amendments to meet the nation’s changing need,” he said.