For 33% quota for women before next polls, Lok Sabha seats to be increased to up to 850
NEW DELHI, April 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the Women’s Reservation Act was passed with the support of all parties after a long wait and urged them to back the amendments in laws to ensure its implementation in the 2029 elections, calling it the “collective sentiment” of the nation.
“Let all political parties come together to unanimously take forward this initiative, which concerns the rights of the sisters and daughters of the nation,” he said at a public meeting here ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament from April 16 to consider a legislative package, including amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, to implement quota for women from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
In September 2023, Parliament passed the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act, that provided for the reservation of one-third of seats for women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies.
PM Modi said that women have a pivotal role to play in the making of a developed India and asserted that Indian democracy will become stronger and more vibrant if elections to the Lok Sabha and various assemblies in 2029 are held with women’s quota fully in place.
“Today, from Devbhumi (Uttarakhand), I once again appeal to all political parties across the country to extend their full support to the amendment of the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’. In 2029, we will ensure that 50 per cent of our country’s population receives their rightful due,” Modi said.
He observed that all political parties had come forward to extend their support to this landmark Act which was passed after a wait of four decades.
There should be no further delay in delivering this rightful entitlement to women, and the Act should be fully implemented starting with the Lok Sabha elections scheduled for 2029, Modi said.
“This reflects the collective sentiment of the nation. It is the cherished wish of every sister and daughter across the country,” the prime minister said at the public meeting after the inauguration of the Delhi-Dehradun economic corridor.
Prime Minister Modi said he has written a letter addressed to “all the sisters of the country”, requesting them to become partners in this endeavour. “I have firm faith that the mothers and sisters of my country will certainly read this letter.” Modi said that when women become active participants in policy and decision-making, the journey towards a ‘Viksit Bharat’ is strengthened.
“Thus, it is imperative that we do whatever is possible to add more vigour to our development trajectory and for that, the active participation of women is absolutely non-negotiable,” he said.
The prime minister said it is this principle that led to the passage of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in 2023 and it is the same principle that has made this constitutional amendment the need of the hour.
LS SEATS TO INCREASE TO 850
Lok Sabha seats will be increased to up to 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls following a delimitation exercise to be carried out on the basis of last published census.
According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, which will be introduced and expected to be passed in the upcoming special sitting of Parliament, seats would also be increased in state and Union territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.
The seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies “shall be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in a state or Union territory,” the bill circulated among Lok Sabha members said.
Besides other provisions, the bill seeks to amend Article 81 of the Constitution.
It states that “The House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall consist of not more than 815 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the states; and not more than 35 members to represent the Union territories, chosen in such manner as Parliament may by law provide.”
The expression “population”, according to the bill, means the population as ascertained at such census, “as Parliament may by law determine”, of which the relevant figures have been published.
As of now figures of 2011 Census are available. The 2027 Census exercise, which began on April 1, is ongoing.
The government plans to bring a Constitution amendment bill, a bill on delimitation law and an enabling bill to apply the proposed law in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Puducherry — three Union territories with legislature — on Thursday in Lok Sabha to fast track implementation of the women’s reservation Act of 2023.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said this week that amendments to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ should be passed in the three-day special sittings of Parliament, beginning April 16, and “any further delay will be unfortunate and a gross injustice to the women of India”.
“Our democracy will become stronger and more vibrant if the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and various Assembly elections that year are held with women’s reservation fully in place,” he said.
According to the statement of objects and reasons of the draft Constitution amendment bill, “The next census and the consequential delimitation exercise thereafter will take considerable time and thus, delay the effective and dedicated participation of women in our democratic polity.
“Hence, the objective of the proposed bill is to operationalise one-third reservation for women, including women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in the House of the People and the legislative assemblies of the states, the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union territories through delimitation exercise to be undertaken on the basis of the population figures of the latest published census.” The reservation of seats for women in Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies will end after 15 years from the commencement of the women’s reservation law of 2023 unless Parliament extends the period for “such further time as it may specify in this behalf”.(PTI)
