Omkar Dattatray
PM Narendra Modi is creating a history by giving the cabinet nod to the tabling of the long overdue women’s reservation Bill in Parliament and in fact his government has tabled this important bill of empowering the women who constitute half of the population of the country in Lok Sabha .Women’s reservation bill is tabled in the new parliament on the second day of the special session of the parliament .It now seems that the myth of the women’s reservation is now becoming a reality .Modi is not only tabling this important piece of legislation in parliament having far reaching importance but will get it passed after the debate ,discussion and deliberation in both the houses of the parliament .He has the guts ,will power and the political will to get this important bill to passed in the parliament .The issue of the reservation to women in the parliament and state assemblies dates back to pre independence days and in the modern times it has been lingering on for the last 27 years .The women reservation bill seeks to reserve one-third -33% of the total number of seats in the state legislative assemblies and parliament for women .The bill also proposes sub -reservation for SCs ,STs and Anglo Indians within the 33 % quota .The union cabinet on Monday cleared the Women’s Reservation Bill -WRB in a key meeting chaired by the PM Narandra Modi .”Only the Modi government had the moral courage to fulfill the demand for women’s reservation which was proved by the approval of cabinet .Congratulations to Narendra Modi Ji and congratulations to the Modi government. ”minister of state for Food Processing Industries and Jal Shakti Prahlad Patel wrote on the X .Reacting to the development senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X ,”It has been a long standing demand of the Congress party to implement women’s reservation .We welcome the reported decision of the union cabinet and await the details of the bill .This could have very well been discussed in the all party meeting before the special session and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy.’ ‘Recently ,Bharat Rashtra Samiti -BRS leader K Kavita begun a day long hunger strike in New Delhi ,demanding passage of the WRB .She was accompanied by TRS minister Sabitha Indra Reddy and Satyavati Rathod .BRS claimed that twelve political parties which include AAP ,Akali Dal ,TMC,JDU,RJD and the left parties such as CPIM had participated in the event .The reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory .The bill says that the reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist after the commencement of the act.BJP government has tabled the women’s reservation bill called as Nari Shakti Vandan Adiniyam in LoK sabha on September 19, and the high voltage debate and discussion is taking place and congress has supported the women’s reservation bill but wanted provision of reservation to STs and SCs also and it also wanted that the reservation should be implemented in 2024.But it cannot be implemented in 2024 as the constitutional provisions prescribe the holding of the census and then delimitation and therefore it will take some years for its implementation .It was former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who in May 1989 first planted the seed of women reservation in the elected bodies by introducing Constitution Amendment Bill to provide one-third reservation for women in rural and urban bodies .The bill was passed in Lok Sabha but failed to get passed in Rajya Sabha in September 1989.In 1992 and 1993 ,the then PM P.V.Narasimha Roa reintroduced the Constitution Amendment Bills 72 and 73 ,which reserved one -third -33% of all seats and chairperson posts for women in rural and urban local bodies .The bills were passed by both houses of parliament and became the law of the nation .Now there are nearly 15 lakh elected women representatives in Panchayats and nagarpalikas across the country .On September 12,1996 ,the then Dave Gowda-led United Front government for the first time introduced the 81st constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha for reservation of women in the parliament .After the Bill failed to get approval in Lok Sabha ,it was referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee chaired by Geeta Mukherjee .The Mukherjee committee presented its report in December 1996 .However the bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Lok sabha .Two years later ,the A.B.Vajpayee -led NDA government pushed the WRB in the 12th Lok Sabha in 1998.However this time too Bill failed to get support and lapsed again .It was subsequently reintroduced in 1999,2002 and 2003 under the Vajpayee government ,but with no success .Five years later ,the WRB again gained some traction during Manmohan Singh -led UPA government -1.In 2004 ,the government included it in its common minimum programme and finally tabled it on May 2008 this time in Rajya sabha to prevent it from lapsing again .The legislation was sent to standing committee on May 9,2008 .The standing committee presented its report on December 17,2009.It got the stamp of approval from the union cabinet in February 2010.The Bill was eventually passed in the Rajya sabha with 186-1 votes on March 9,2010.However the Bill was never taken up for consideration in the Lok sabha and eventually lapsed in 2014 with the dissolution of the Lok Sabha .Bills introduced /passed in Rajya Sabha do not lapse ,hence the WRB is still very much active .Dimple Vadav of SP,MP pleaded for giving reservation to Muslim women .But reservation on the basis of religion is against the constitution and it should not be given .Lastly the Modi government showed its courage and commitment to women empowerment and thus Law minister Arjun Ram Megwal introduced the women’s reservation Bill titled as ,”Nari Shakti Vandan Adiniyam.’ ‘in Lok sabha and the debates ,discussions and deliberations are going on the Bill and this time it is hoped that this legislation will be passed in both the houses of the parliament and it will become a law and the women will be empowered politically and the political empowerment will result in the social and economic empowerment of the women .in fact the new history is being created by the Modi when the women reservation Bill will be passed in the new parliament building as the very first legislation .The passage of the women’s reservation Bill will be written in the golden letters in the history of the independent India .Thus Modi has created a history by tabling the reservation Bill and he is making serious efforts to get the Bill passed in both the houses of the parliament and the passage of this bill will be a master stroke of Modi and it will be a game changer in the general elections of 2024 and BJP will be the gainer in the five state assembly elections and ultimately in the general election .In short the myth of women’s reservation is now turning into reality in the tenure of Modi government and he will definitely get the credit of women’s reservation if the bill in this regard is passed by both houses of parliament .This bill shows the commitment of the Modi government to uphold the Sanatan ideology so far as it relates to the improvement in the status and representation of the women .The empowerment of the women is important and so the women reservation bill is all the more necessary .Our Shastras declare ,”Yatra Sitristo Samanta ,Tatra Ramante Deva .”meaning where women are respected ,gods travel there .Thus all the political parties without doing politics should support the women’s reservation Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha by union Law minister and make the women’s reservation a reality.
(The author is a columnist,
social and KP activist).
