God has chosen me to empower women, says Modi
New Delhi, Sep 19: Paving the way for one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, the government on Tuesday tabled the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lower House. But this reservation is likely to come into effect in 2029 and not by the time of the general elections next year even if the bill gets parliamentary approval during the 17th Lok Sabha.
Shortly before the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed the House about the Union Cabinet's approval for the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, issued the previous evening.
“Perhaps God has chosen me for this sacred work, to empower women and harness their power. Once again, our government has taken steps in this direction,” he said.
The proposed legislation, tabled as the 128th Amendment Bill, 2023, provides for the implementation of reservation for women after a delimitation exercise, based on the figures of the first census undertaken post the bill receiving parliamentary assent, is conducted.
Though the bill proposes quota within quota, it is only for women from Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), not from Other Backward Classes (OBCs). This was among the many contentious issues that hampered attempts by past governments to introduce reservation for women in the legislature — United Front governments led by H.D. Deve Gowda and Inder Kumar Gujral in 1996 and 1997, respectively, NDA governments led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1998 and 1999, and the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government in 2010.
In 2010, the Rajya Sabha passed the bill but the UPA government let it lapse in the Lok Sabha despite having the numbers, given that they had the support of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left on this issue.
With their demand for OBC quota within the 33 percent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) emerged as the most vocal opponents of the bill.
