Parliament Special Session: Central government introduces Women's Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha

The Central government on Tuesday introduced the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 ((Women's Reservation Bill)) in Lok Sabha..The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the State legislative assemblies.The seats already reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will also come within the purview of the women's reservation. Union Minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal sought leave to introduce the Bill in Lok Sabha before ruckus ensued and the proceedings were briefly adjourned.Members of Parliament objected as they had not seen the Bill. However, the Central government, through Parliamentary affairs Minister, Pralhad Joshi maintained that the Bill had been 'uploaded in the supplementary list of business'.Shortly after, the proceedings resumed and the Bill was introduced by voice vote before the house was adjourned to 11am on Wednesday..Notably, the Bill states that the reservation will come into effect once an exercise of delimitation is undertaken in the first census after the commencement of the Act.This reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Amendment Act..As per the statement of object and reasons of the Bill, the role of women, who constitute half the country's population, is extremely important in realisation of the goal of becoming Vikasit Bharat by 2047."After completing 75 years of Independence, the nation has begun its journey into Amritkal with a goal of becoming Vikasit Bharat' by 2047. Realisation of this goal will require contribution of all sections of society in the spirit of Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas. The role of women, constituting a half of the population, is extremely important in realisation of this goal," the Bill states..The Bill says that despite a number of steps to bring Nari Shakti to the forefront, true empowerment of women will require greater participation of women in the decision making process as they bring different perspectives and enrich the quality of legislative debates and decision-making.