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‘God has given me the opportunity’, says PM Modi as women quota bill tabled in LS
The bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was cleared by the Union cabinet on Monday.
The Women's Reservation Bill was tabled by Union law minister Arjun Meghwal in the Lok Sabha at the new Parliament building. The bill seeking to reserve 33 per cent of the seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was cleared by the Union cabinet on Monday.
“On this historic occasion in the new Parliament building, as the first proceeding of the House, the beginning of all the Parliamentarians opening gateways for women power is being done with this crucial decision. Taking forward our resolve of women-led development, our government is bringing an important constitutional amendment bill”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Lok Sabha today.
"The bill is aimed at expanding the membership of women in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will further empower our democracy", he added.
“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 this dream remained incomplete”, Modi said.
“Today, God has given me the opportunity to take this forward...Our government is bringing a new Bill today on Women's participation in both Houses”, he added.
The 128th Amendment Bill 2023 says,"Seats shall be reserved for women in the House of the People. As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (2) of Article 330 shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes'.
“As nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of the People shall be reserved for women”, the bill states.
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On the issue of reserving seats for women in the state assemblies, the legislation said that one-third of the total number of seats will be reserved for women from SC/ST category.
The bill states that rotation of seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha, state assemblies and Delhi assembly shall take effect after each subsequent delimitation exercise “as the Parliament by law may determine”.
‘First & historic session of new Parliament building’: PM Modi
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led all the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs on his walk from the old parliament building to the new complex. The PM was flanked by defence minister Rajnath Singh, home minister Amit Shah and BJP president JP Nadda as he marked the symbolic shift of the Parliament proceedings from the one designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker to a sprawling new building.
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“This is the first and historic session of the new Parliament building. I congratulate the parliamentarians and people of India. Whatever we do in this new Parliament building, it should be an inspiration to every citizen of the country”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his address to the Lok Sabha in the new building.
“Samvatsari is also celebrated today, this is a wonderful tradition. Today is the day when we say 'micchami dukkadam', this gives us the chance to apologise to someone we have hurt intentionally or unintentionally. I also want to say 'micchami dukkadam', to all the members of Parliament and the people of the country”, he added.
