The proposed women reservation bill was given the nod by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday and today it was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The BJP leaders from State have hailed the decision terming it as a historic decision for half the population of the Country.
The proposed bill, which has been pending for nearly 27 years, seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The proposed legislation seeks 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. While the government is yet to confirm the news and give out details of the proposed legislation, here's what the structure of the bill was when it was last introduced in Parliament in 2008.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the introduction of 'Nari Shakti Vandan Act' in the Lok Sabha today. He said that this is a decision by which our Nari Shakti will get their rights in the true sense. Under the Nari Shakti Vandan Act, there is a provision for reservation of 33 percent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Out of this 33 percent, one-third seats are to be reserved for women belonging to Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Munda said that out of 81 seats in the Jharkhand Assembly, 27 seats will be reserved for women. At present the total number of members in the Lok Sabha is 543. At present the number of women MPs is 82. After the bill is passed, the number of women MPs in the Lok Sabha will increase to 181. On behalf of crores of countrymen, I congratulate Modi ji from the bottom of my heart for this historic decision.
BJP national vice president and former Chief Minister Raghubar Das welcoming the women reservation bill said that by introducing ‘Shakti Vandan Act 2023’ Prime Minister has taken big steps for women empowerment since 2014, which has given women the right to live with dignity and security.
Under the Swachh Bharat Mission, toilets were built across the country, women were given houses through the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Women were given relief from smoke through the Ujjwala scheme, the sex ratio was vastly improved by running the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign. Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana was started to promote savings in the name of daughters. Similarly, when there was a double engine government in Jharkhand led by the Prime Minister, at that time also many works were done for women power. Right to registry of property for one rupee, free stove and refill under Pradhan Mantri Yojana, 40 thousand rupees under Sukanya Yojana from the birth of the daughter till the age of 18 years and 30 thousand rupees separately on the marriage of the daughter under the Chief Minister Kanyadaan Yojana. Rs. were being given. Women were being linked to employment by forming Sakhi Mandal. Under the Tapaswini scheme, girls from tribal areas were being linked with employment by developing their skills. Rani Mistry status was given for house construction under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Apart from this, women were added by nominating Ujjwala Didi and Poshan Sakhi.