Time has come to implement Women’s Reservation Act: PM Modi’s letter to LS, RS floor leaders

NEW DELHI (TIP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the time has come for the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act in its true spirit and the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with the quota for women in place. In a letter to the floor leaders of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, ahead of the three-day special sittings of Parliament, Modi also asked all members to come together in one voice to pass the amendments to the women’s reservation law, officially known as Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam. “After extensive deliberations, we have reached the conclusion that the time has now come to implement the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam in its true spirit across the country. “It is imperative that the 2029 Lok Sabha elections and Assembly elections are conducted with women’s reservation in place,” the Prime Minister said in his letter dated April 11. The Budget Session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened on April 16 to 18. The Women’s Reservation Act will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816, of which 273 will be reserved for women. The provision to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution in 2023. However, the women’s quota would have come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. This meant the reservation would not have become enforceable before 2034 if the present law remains as is. To implement it from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, changes were needed in the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam; hence, the government is holding a special session to pass the amendments to the law.

Govt hurrying women’s quota law implementation for ‘political mileage’: Kharge to PM Modi

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that calling Parliament’s special sitting amid state polls reinforces belief that the government is hurrying the implementation of women’s reservation law for “political mileage”. In a letter to PM Modi, Kharge reiterated the demand that an all-party meeting be called to discuss the delimitation issue, which is being linked to the amendments to the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, after April 29. Kharge’s letter came in response to a missive from the prime minister on the special sitting of Parliament for a discussion on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam from April 16. “I have just received your letter on the special session of Parliament for a discussion on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam from the 16th of April,” the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha said in his letter to Modi dated April 11. “As you are aware, the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed by Parliament unanimously in September 2023. At that time, on behalf of the Indian National Congress, I had demanded that this important law should become effective immediately,” Kharge said. The Congress president pointed out that though in his letter, the PM has mentioned that there was broad consensus for its immediate implementation, he did not implement the same. “It has been 30 months since then, and now this special sitting has been called without taking us into confidence and your government is seeking our cooperation again without revealing any details on the delimitation going to be done. You will appreciate that without details of the delimitation and other aspects, it would be impossible to have any useful discussion on this historic law,” Kharge said.

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