[Women’s Reservation Bill] Government introduces ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ in Lok Sabha

On 19-9-2023, the Constitution (One hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha by the Law Minister, Arjun Ram Meghwal to amend the Constitution of India.

This Constitutional Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha w.r.t. the “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam” which aims to promote women led development resulting in substantial improvement in financial independence of women and availability of equal access to education and health.

Objective of Bill:

1. To enable greater participation of women as public representative in policy making at State and National level.
2. A fresh legislation for Constitutional amendment to provide for 1/3rd of total seats in the House of People, the legislative assembly for every State and Legislative Assembly (‘Assembly’) of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (‘NCT’) to be reserved for women.

Proposed Amendments in the Constitution:

1. In Article 239AA, clause (2) (ba) should be inserted which will reserve seats for women in the Assembly of NCT:
   • 1/3^rd of the seats reserved for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes in Assembly of NCT will be reserved for women;
   • 1/3^rd of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in Assembly of NCT will be reserved for women (including number of women belonging to SCs)
2. Article 330-A should be inserted which will reserve seats for women in the House of People or Lok Sabha.
3. Article 332-A will be inserted which will reserve seats for women in the Assemble of every State.
4. The Act will expire after a period of 15 years from the date of commencement.
5. Rotation of seats will be exercised after delimitation exercise.

Note: Last attempt was made in 2010 to introduce women reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies which was passed by Rajya Sabha, but it could not pass the Lok Sabha.