The Lok Sabha approved the Women’s Reservation Bill on Wednesday, which aims to provide 33 percent reservation for women in the legislatures. After a discussion of about eight hours, the parliament voted on this bill. In this voting, 454 members voted in favor of the Women’s Bill. MIM leader, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi and the party’s Aurangabad MP Syed Imtiaz Jalil voted against it. The bill will be debated in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Here approval is formal. However, if the bill is passed in the Rajya Sabha, this bill will give 33 percent quota to women in the Lok Sabha as well as the Assembly.
Women’s Reservation Bill was named ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Act’. After this bill comes into force, there is a provision to reserve 33 percent of the total seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies for women. That means one in three members of every Lok Sabha and Assembly is a woman. According to the provisions of the Nari Shakti Vandan Act Bill, out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, 181 seats will be reserved for women. Currently there are only 82 women MPs. If the bill comes into force, their representation will increase.
Now 33 percent of the seats already reserved for SC and ST category will be reserved for women. For example 84 seats in Lok Sabha are reserved for SC and 47 seats for ST. If this bill becomes a law, 28 out of 84 SC seats will be reserved for women. Similarly, out of 47 ST seats, 16 ST seats are reserved for women. According to the Women’s Reservation Bill, it is possible for women to contest not only reserved seats but also unreserved seats.