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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

20/09/23 06:28 AM IST

Nari Shakti Vandan Bill

In News
  • The Women's Reservation Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha recently during the special session of Parliament.
  • The bill, called the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', proposes 33 per cent reservation for women in Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
Provisions of the bill
  • The bill seeks to reserve 33% seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies and the Delhi assembly. The quota won't apply to Rajya Sabha or state Legislative Councils.
  • From the said quota, one-third shall be reserved for women from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
  • Reservation of seats shall come into effect after delimitation is undertaken after the relevant figures for the first census have been published.
  • Rotation of the seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha and state Assemblies shall take place after each subsequent exercise of delimitation.
  • The bill excludes reservations for women from the OBC category.
  • The women's quota bill will be in force for 15 years after becoming an Act, but its term can be extended.
  • The quota will not apply to Rajya Sabha or state Legislative Councils. 
  • Currently, women only make up 14 per cent of parliament and legislatures in India, which is far lower than the world average.
  • The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, was listed for introduction in the lower House through a supplementary list of business.
  • In the present Lok Sabha, 82 women members were elected which account for less than 15 per cent of the total strength of 543.
  • In Rajya Sabha too, women's representation is about 14 per cent, according to the data shared by the government with Parliament last December.
Brief History
  • The 2008 Bill, which was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010 before it lapsed following the dissolution of Lok Sabha, also proposed reserving one-third of all seats in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies in each state for women.
  • The UPA was in power when the last attempt was made to pass the bill.
  • Before the failed attempt of 2008-2010, the issue had a chequered history as a similar bill was introduced in 1996, 1998 and 1999.
  • A Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee had examined the 1996 Bill and made seven recommendations.
  • Five of these were included in the 2008 Bill, including the 15-year reservation period and sub-reservation for Anglo Indians.
  • These also included reservation in cases where a state has less than three seats in Lok Sabha (or less than three seats for SCs/STs); reservation for the Delhi assembly; and changing "not less than one-third" to "as nearly as may be, one-third".
Significance 
  • The government said a women's reservation bill aimed at enabling greater participation of women in policy-making at state and national levels.
  • The statement of purpose of the Bill said the role of women is extremely important for achieving the goal of India becoming a developed country by 2047.
  • Women's reservation will come into effect after delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years. Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation exercise.
Source- The Hindu

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