Women's reservation bill cleared at Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Modi; Congress reacts
The Congress welcomed the Union Cabinet's reported decision to clear the women's reservation bill in a key meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Union Cabinet on Monday cleared the women's reservation bill in a key meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced Union minister Prahlad Patel. There was a strong buzz over the Cabinet move but the government skipped the customary press briefing post the Cabinet meeting.
"Only the Modi government had the moral courage to fulfil the demand for women's reservation which was proved by the approval of the cabinet. Congratulations Narendra Modi ji and congratulations to the Modi government," the minister said on X (formally Twitter). Patel is the minister of state for food processing industries and sal Shakti.
Reacting to the development, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, “It’s 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.”
He also shared a detailed post he made on Sunday to underline how the Congress has been supporting the move.
"The Congress Working Committee has demanded that the Women's Reservation Bill must be passed during the Special Session of Parliament," he said quoting the CWC resolution that was passed at its meeting in Hyderabad this weekend.
Ramesh had on September 17 said former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi first introduced the Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation in panchayats and nagarpalikas in May 1989. It passed in Lok Sabha but failed in Rajya Sabha in September 1989, he noted.
He also said then Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao reintroduced Constitution Amendment Bills for one-third reservation for women in panchayats and nagarpalikas in April 1993. Both Bills passed and became law.
"Now there are more than 15 lakh elected women representatives in panchayats and nagarpalikas. This comes to about 40 percent.
"As PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh brought Constitution Amendment Bill for one-third reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. Bill passed on March 9, 2010 in the Rajya Sabha. But it was not taken up in Lok Sabha," Ramesh claimed.
He said Bills introduced/passed in Rajya Sabha do not lapse and the Women's Reservation Bill is still very much active.
"The Congress party has for the past nine years been demanding that the Women's Reservation Bill already passed by the Rajya Sabha should now get passed by the Lok Sabha as well," he said.
Key Union Cabinet meeting
The Union Cabinet met after the first sitting of the five-day special session of Parliament. The Cabinet meeting went on for over 100 minutes.
Cutting across political lines, leaders have demanded the introduction of the women's reservation bill, which guarantees a 33 per cent quota in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
What is the women's reservation bill?
- The women's reservation bill seeks to reserve 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.
- According to the bill, one-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be reserved for women from those groups. These reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory.
- Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. While the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, it was not tabled in the Lower House of Parliament until today.
- The bill says that the reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of the amendment act.
Earlier addressing the media, Modi said that "historic decisions" will be taken this Parliament session which may be of short duration but is big on occasion.
The cabinet meeting was attended by Union ministers including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi, S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari and Arjun Ram Meghwal.
Ever since it was announced that the Parliament session would be held from September 18-22, there has been speculation on various bills, including the women's reservation bill.
In his remarks in Lok Sabha on the discussion on 75 years of Parliament, he asserted that the contribution of women parliamentarians has been on the rise over the years.