Dicussion on Women reservation Bill 2023
The Women reservation Bill 2023 gained 214 votes in favor and drew no opposition in the Upper House, becoming the first law to be approved by both chambers in the new Parliament building. Under the direction of Speaker Jagdeep Dhan Khad, there were no limitations or objections throughout the vote.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Eighteenth Amendment) Bill, 2023, which calls for the reservation of 33% of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies for women, was unanimously approved by the Rajya Sabha one day after it was approved by the Lok Sabha.
The Women’s Reservation Bill gained 214 votes in favor and drew no opposition in the Upper House, becoming the first law to be approved by both chambers in the new Parliament building. Neither limitations nor complaints were raised during the voting that was presided over by Speaker Jagdeep Dhan Khad.
The extraordinary session of Parliament was adjourned indefinitely by both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked all of the lawmakers for their support of the measure before the vote started at night.
A momentous time in our democratic path, Modi said on Twitter. Thank you to India’s 1.4 billion citizens. I appreciate the votes for the Women’s Reservation Bill from every Rajya Sabha member. Such unanimity of opinion is genuinely delightful.
We enter a new era of strong representation and empowerment for Indian women with the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament. It is more than simply a rule; it is a celebration of the innumerable women who helped to create our country. As a result of their tenacity and contributions, India has thrived.
We honor the resilience, bravery, and unbreakable spirit of all the women in our nation as we celebrate today. Their views will now be heard even more forcefully thanks to this historic move, he continued.
Where there is a will, there is a means, said Union Home Minister Amit Shah in praising the bill’s approval. A significant milestone in the development of equitable governance has been reached today.
Political Faces on Women reservation Bill:
According to Shah, Prime Minister Modi has delivered a strong message of female equality and inclusive government to the globe by granting a long-overdue demand. “My sincere gratitude to Modi Ji and congratulations to every citizen,” he remarked.
Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal responded to the discussion in the Rajya Sabha by expressing amazement at the Congress’ newfound passion for OBCs and accusing the group of seeking to abolish reservation for the group.
While supporting the Women’s Reservation Bill before, opposition leader Mallikarjun Kharge had questioned when the government intended to enact quota for women and if OBCs would be included.
“It is crucial that we build consensus and get ready for the economic and social empowerment of women,” said Nirmala Sitharaman, minister of central finance.
She responded to criticism from the opposition that the administration had introduced the measure after a nine-year hiatus by pointing out that the government has since 2014 undertaken a number of programs for the socioeconomic empowerment of women.
According to her, “the government has taken steps that are in line with gender balance under schemes like Ujjwala, which provided more than 9 crore gas connections, 11.72 crore toilets, programs like “Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao,” which promote gender balance, increasing maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks, and providing 9.82 crore households with piped water connections.”
She said that there was a reserve for female constables in the Central Armed Police Forces in addition to the National Defence Academy and military colleges opening their doors to women.
Sitharaman made a connection between the repeal of Article 370 and the criminalization of quick triple talaq in order to advance women’s equality. She stated, “Article 370 prohibited women from inheriting property if they were married outside of the state (Jammu and Kashmir). In many nations with a majority of Muslims, immediate triple talaq may not be a problem, but it has long been a problem here. While we do not support appeasement, we do feel that fairness for women is crucial.
Because there are no direct elections for the Rajya Sabha, she claimed, Women reservation Bill 2023 cannot be made there.
She noted that the BJP has repeatedly backed this legislation, and she recalled Arun Jaitley’s passionate backing of a related bill in the Upper House in 2010.
Sitharaman responded to the query of why a special session was held to adopt the bill by saying that the government wanted to start the new building’s operations with this significant measure and thanked members from all parties for their cooperation.When asked why the deadline was set for 2026, she said that the 42nd Constitutional Amendment Act had delayed it until 2000 during the state of emergency and that it had been further extended to 2026 in 2002. She said that pursuant to Article 82, seats must be redistributed following each census, not just in the Lok Sabha but also within each state.
Because there are no direct elections for the Rajya Sabha, she claimed, reservations cannot be made there.
She reacted to C. Venugopal’s criticism of her when he noted that senior BJP leaders had opposed the 1989 constitutional amendment that sought to give Women reservation Bill 2023 in local bodies. The initiative, which may have stripped states of their authority, was opposed by a number of regional leaders, including M. Karunanidhi, Jyoti Basu, and N.T. Rama Rao, according to Sitharaman.
Prior to this, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress was the subject of BJP President and Rajya Sabha member J.P. Nadda’s criticism of the demand for OBC reservation within women’s quotas.
Out of the 90 secretaries in the cabinet, just three were from the OBC community, according to Gandhi, who also declared in the Lok Sabha that “a leader should remain a leader and not become a tutor; a tutor cannot do the job.”
He highlighted that only the BJP could be credited for giving India its first OBC Prime Minister. “The BJP and the NDA appointed Narendra Modi as India’s first OBC prime minister. He discusses OBCs. 85 of the 303 MPs in the BJP, or 29%, are members of the OBC. Of the 1358 MLAs, 27% come from the OBC.
40% of the 163 MLCs are OBCs. In the Lok Sabha, there are more members of the OBC than members of the Congress combined.
The Janata Dal (Secular) disagreed with Nadda’s statement and stated right away, “This is about the Congress party, not the Janata Dal (Secular),” in their initial response. One among us is Deve Gowda.
Women reservation Bill 2023
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