Rajya Sabha unanimously passes Women's Reservation Bill

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday unanimously passed the Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill, 2023 (Women's Reservation Bill) which reserves one-third of the seats in parliament and State legislative assemblies for women..The Bill was discussed for nearly ten hours in the upper house before being passed unanimously by 214 members who were present and voting.The Bill was introduced by Union Minister of State for Law & Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.It was passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday with a 452:2 majority after a discussion that lasted nearly eight hours.All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MPs Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel opposed the Bill.Owaisi argued that the Bill was crafted to primarily benefit savarna women and raised questions about why Muslim women and women from other backward classes (OBCs) weren't being granted a quota similar to the one provided for women belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).In the Rajya Sabha, the Bill was discussed for nearly ten hours before being passed unanimously by 214 members present and voting.In total, 132 MPs participated in the discussion in both houses..Notably, the Bill states that the reservation will be implemented once an exercise of delimitation is undertaken following the first census after the commencement of the Act.The census, conducted every 10 years, was scheduled for 2021. However, it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and is now expected to take place in 2024..Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda stated the exercises of census and delimitation were necessary to decide which seats were to be reserved."There's a way to work Constitutionally. After all, we have to give women reservation. But who will decide which seats are to be and not to be reserved? Government can't do it. A quasi judicial body does it. It has to be nominated. If I'm in the government and reserve Wayanad? What if I reserve Amethi? What is I reserve Rae Bareli, Kalaburagi? Two things are essential. First, census. Then a public hearing through the quasi-judicial authority, determining seats to be reserved," he said..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."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.Read more about the Bill here.[Read Bill as passed by Lok Sabha]