Women Reservation Bill News: The five-day special session of Parliament started from Monday (September 18). During this special session of Parliament, 8 bills are to be introduced by the Central Government. Meanwhile, there is discussion that Modi government can bring Women’s Reservation Bill only in the special session of Parliament. According to sources, this bill has been approved in the cabinet meeting of Modi government held on Monday evening.
In the all-party meeting held on Sunday (17 September) before the special session of Parliament, most of the opposition leaders had advocated bringing the Women’s Reservation Bill. According to the information received, the Modi government can present the Women’s Reservation Bill on coming Wednesday (September 20).
Let us know everything related to the Women’s Reservation Bill…
Women’s Reservation Bill is pending in the Parliament since 1996
The Women’s Reservation Bill was introduced in the Parliament on 12 September 1996 during the government of HD Deve Gowda. From then till now this bill has been pending for more than 27 years. The main goal of this bill is to reserve 33 percent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and all state assemblies for 15 years.
Efforts to implement it were made from Vajpayee to UPA government.
Former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government pushed this bill in the Lok Sabha in 1998, but it was still not passed. Atal Bihari Vajpayee had mentioned 33 percent reservation in his Independence Day speech in 1998.
This bill was re-introduced in the Rajya Sabha on May 6, 2008 during the UPA-1 government. The Women’s Reservation Bill was sent to the Standing Committee on May 9, 2008. The report of the Standing Committee was presented on 17 December 2009. The Union Cabinet approved this bill in February 2010. After this, it was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, but was pending in the Lok Sabha. RJD and Samajwadi Party opposed this, demanding women’s reservation according to caste.
![]("https://feeds.abplive.com/onecms/images/uploaded-images/2023/09/18/ce853fe2b630977327289b52989fa30b1695050345737626_original.jpg")
Women’s participation in Panchayati Raj institutions
Reservation was provided to women in Panchayati Raj institutions through Article 243D of the Constitution. Article 243D ensured the participation of women in Panchayati Raj institutions. There is at least one-third reservation for women in the total number of seats to be filled by election and the number of posts of Presidents of Panchayats.
21 states have made a provision for 50 percent reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions in their respective states. These states are Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.< /p>
What is the importance of women’s votes in elections?
The votes of half the country’s population play an important role in every election. It is believed that the one with whom women votes wins the elections. Some figures can be seen as an example.
| Lok Sabha Elections | BJP | Congress |
| 2014 | 29% | 19% |
| 2019 | 36 % | 20 % |
(Source – CSDS-Lokniti)
What was its role in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
If we talk about voters in India, the number of male voters is 47.27 crore and the number of female voters is 43.78 crore. In percentage figures, male voters are about 52 percent and female voters are about 48 percent. At the same time, women have been ahead of men in the matter of voting also. Male voters voted approximately 67.01 percent and female voters voted approximately 67.18 percent.
Reservation for women in about 40 countries
If we talk about reservation for women in politics, it is applicable in many other countries also. Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral According to Assistance (IDEA), about 40 countries have quotas for women in parliament, either through constitutional amendments or by changing electoral laws.
In addition to countries where quotas for women are mandatory, major political parties in more than 50 countries have voluntarily set quota provisions in their own laws. 60 seats are reserved for women in the National Assembly of Pakistan. 50 seats are reserved for women in the Parliament of Bangladesh. 33 percent seats are reserved for women in the Parliament of Nepal.
Before Taliban rule, 27 percent seats were reserved for women in the Parliament of Afghanistan. 50 percent seats are reserved for women in the Federal National Council (FNC) of UAE. There should be at least 30 percent representation of women among candidates in Indonesia. There is reservation for women in politics in many African, European and South American countries also.
Women in Politics (Lower House) – By January 2023
Rwanda – 61.3 %
Cuba – 53.4 %
Nicaragua – 51.7 %
Mexico – 50 %
New Zealand – 50%
United Arab Emirates – 50%
South Africa – 46.3%
Australia – 38.4%
France – 37.8%
Other important information…
-Countries with female heads of state – 17/151 = 11.3% (except countries with monarchy-based systems)
-Countries with female heads of government – 19/193 = 9.8%
-Countries with female Speakers of Parliament Countries – 62/273 = 22.7%
-Countries with female Deputy Speaker of Parliament -153/529 = 28.9%
-Women cabinet members heading ministries – 22.8%
-Countries where 50% or more of cabinet ministerial positions are held by women – only 13
-The five most common portfolios held by female cabinet ministers – Women and Gender Equality, Family and Children’s Affairs, Social Inclusion and Development, Social Security and social security, and indigenous and minority affairs.
-At the current rate, gender equality in the highest positions of power will not be achieved for the next 130 years
How many women candidates from which party won in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
In the Lok Sabha elections 2019, BJP had given tickets to 55 women candidates, out of which 41 candidates won. The victory figure of BJP’s women candidates was 75 percent. At the same time, Congress fielded 54 women candidates, out of which only 6 could win the election. The victory figure of women candidates of Congress was 11 percent.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) fielded 24 women candidates in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, but only 1 of them could win. In this way, the victory percentage of women candidates of BSP was only 4 percent. Trinamool Congress (TMC) defeated other parties in terms of winning women candidates. TMC gave tickets to 23 women candidates, out of which 39 percent i.e. 9 won.