Women's Reservation Bill Moved In Rajya Sabha Today After Lok Sabha Clearance — 10 Points

The Women's Reservation Bill, pending for nearly three decades, was passed in the Lok Sabha with the support of 454 votes in its favour and just two votes against it.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the Women’s Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. This comes a day after it got clearance in the Lok Sabha after over seven hours of debate. The Bill received the support of 454 votes in its favour and just two votes against it.

The bill, pending for nearly three decades, was introduced by the Centre on Tuesday to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The bill proposes that the reservation will come into effect after the next census and delimitation exercises are conducted and continue for a period of 15 years.

Here Are 10 Points:

• If the Bill gets a clearance from the Rajya Sabha, the implementation of the legislation may still take some time as the reservation will come into effect only after a delimitation exercise based on the next census is completed. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said that the census will be carried out after the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.


• Terming the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' a “historic legislation”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed delight over the passage of the Bill in the Lower House.


• The Opposition targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre over this clause. The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government over the issue of the Women Reservation Bill and said that this is a 'Mahila Bewakoof Banao' Bill. AAP MP Sanjay Singh called the bill another "jumla" and said that women and political parties understand that these are election tactics. He said that if the Centre wants to implement this bill in 2024, then AAP will stand by it. He further stated that there is no point in bringing a bill that will probably be passed in 20–25 years.


• During the debate in Lok Sabha on the Bill, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi stated unequivocally his support for the legislation on Wednesday (September 20). Gandhi emphasised the important role women played in India's independence struggle, as well as their equal capabilities in comparison to men. He did, however, point out the bill's shortcomings and expressed a desire for reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC). Furthermore, he questioned the need for a census and delimitation process, arguing that the bill could be implemented immediately to grant women 33% reservation in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.


• Rahul Gandhi pressed for a separate quota for OBCs within the scope of the Women's Reservation Bill, as well as the release of Caste Census data. He said that the government has 90 secretaries and only three of them are from the OBC community and control only 5% of India's budget.


• Union Home Minister Amit Shah responded to Rahul Gandhi's claim that only three Other Backward Classes (OBC) members hold positions as secretaries in the government during a heated debate on the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament on Wednesday (September 20). Earlier in the day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pressed for a separate quota for OBCs within the scope of the Women's Reservation Bill, as well as the release of Caste Census data.


• While welcoming the passage of the Bill, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said there were lingering concerns around its implementation as the government has not set a date on the census and delimitation exercise. Speaking to ANI, he said, “It is good that the bill got passed but we have concerns, it is a bit of a jumla (gimmick) because of reference to delimitation and census, neither of it has been scheduled, which makes it very unclear when this(bill) will actually be implemented.”


• Voting against the Women's Reservation Bill, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi said, "There are seven percent Muslim women in the Indian population and their representation is 0.7%. We voted against the Bill so that they would know that there were two MPs who were fighting for the inclusion of the OBC and the Muslim women.”


• Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday extended support to the Women's Reservation Bill as she opened the debate for her party in Lok Sabha. She said it was Rajiv Gandhi's dream but questioned the delay in implementation. She said, "Immediate implementation of women's reservation bill by removing all obstacles not only necessary but also possible," adding, that "any delay in implementing women's reservation bill will be a gross injustice to Indian women."


• The Bill, named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was tabled in Lok Sabha by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Monday and will be taken up for discussion in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.