The Women’s Reservation Bill, named Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, September 20 with 454 MPs voting in favour of it and only two voting against the bill. The bill, which was tabled on Tuesday, seeks to reserve one-third (33%) of the total seats in the Lok Sabha, state Assemblies and Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, for women. The implementation of the bill, however, will be undertaken only after the census and delimitation process is completed.
The Bill will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha where it needs to be passed with a majority. The Bill appears as a welcome move, having come at the end of more than three decades of debates over the reservation of women in Parliament and state Assemblies. The reservation will be in place for 15 years. However, it includes a clause that says that it will be implemented only once delimitation of constituencies is undertaken. The Bill also provides internal reservation for women from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe.
While most of the political parties have supported the bill, many of them have also raised questions about the delay in presenting the bill for so long and even criticised the timing of the bill. Questions on exclusion on internal reservation for minorities and Other Backward Classes (OBC) also were raised by members of the Opposition.