Page 2 - Women Reservation Bill

Delimitation, UT quota Bills put on hold after women's quota Bill loss

"Opposition loses historic opportunity to honour women," Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said after the Constitution Amendment Bill was defeated in the Lok Sabha

'Time to give half of population its rights': PM Modi on women's quota bill

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday appealed to all Lok Sabha members to vote in favour of the women's reservation bill and to not do anything that might hurt the sentiments of the country's 'nari shakti'. Hours before the voting on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies, Modi also said that for four decades, a great deal of politics has been played on the issue of women's quota and it is now time that half the country's population gets its rights. Members of the Lower House will also vote on the Delimitation Bill and the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill for delimitation of constituencies and increasing the strength of the Lok Sabha to 816 to implement the proposed amended women's quota law. "In just a short while, voting will take place in the Lok Sabha. I urge all political parties... I appeal...Please, after due consideration and with complete sensitivity, take a decision and vo

No discrimination against any state under women quota Bills, says PM

PM Modi and HM Shah defend women's quota amendments in Lok Sabha, reject Opposition claims of bias against southern states and warn against blocking the legislation

PM allays delimitation fears, says 'no injustice' will be done to any state

As Parliament debates women's reservation, PM Modi says those opposing the bill will pay a long-term price, urging all parties to support greater role for women in policymaking

Women quota law: Voting on 3 Bills in LS to be held at 4 PM on Friday

Voting on the three bills in Lok Sabha to amend the women's quota law and set up a delimitation commission will be held at 4 PM Friday, according to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Birla said there would be a debate of around 15-18 hours on the bills as voting would take place on 4 PM on Friday. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju suggested a 12-hour debate on the bills but said the decision to extend that would be taken by the Speaker. Earlier, Union ministers Arjun Ram Meghwal and Amit Shah moved to introduce three bills in Lok Sabha to amend the women's quota law and set up a delimitation commission amid protests by the opposition, which termed the proposed legislations anti-constitutional. 'The Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill, 2026', 'The Delimitation Bill, 2026' and 'The Union Territories Laws (Amendment Bill), 2026' were introduced in the House. According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to a maximum o

Women's quota Bill faces hurdle as Opposition flags delimitation concerns

Opposition cries gerrymander as delimitation debate intensifies

Democracy will be stronger, vibrant if women quota implemented in 2029: PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that Indian democracy will be become stronger and vibrant if elections to Lok Sabha and various assemblies in 2029 are held with the women's reservation fully in place. In a letter to the women of the country, Modi also said that with women excelling in several fields, it is only fitting that there is an increase in the participation of women in legislative bodies. He said the 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 in the letter posted on his personal handle of X. The prime minister said the daughters of India cannot be asked to wait endlessly for what is rightfully theirs. "

Women's Reservation Act will fulfil future resolutions, says PM Modi

Ahead of a special Parliament session, PM Modi termed amendments to fast-track Women's Reservation Act implementation by 2029 as a key reform and urged Opposition support

Govt rushing delimitation, women's quota for political gain: Sonia Gandhi

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday asserted the real issue with the government's move to bring bills in a special sitting of Parliament this week is delimitation, not women's reservation, and claimed that the reported delimitation proposal is "extremely dangerous" as well as an "assault on the Constitution itself". Gandhi stressed that any delimitation involving an increase in the strength of the Lok Sabha must be politically, and not just arithmetically, equitable. In an article published in The Hindu, she also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's real intention now is to further "delay and derail" the caste census. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making appeals to opposition parties to support bills that the government wants to bulldoze through Parliament in a special session when the election campaign in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal will be at its peak, she said. "There can be only one reason for the extraordinary hurry, which is to derive ...

Pass women's quota Bill in 'one voice': PM to Parliament floor leaders

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 flood 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 Apri

Women's reservation bill amendment shouldn't become political tool: Tharoor

Ahead of the special three-day Parliament session when the women's reservation law is expected to be amended, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said the proposed amendments should not be a political tool that undermines federalism and vitiates the vitality of Parliament. In a post on X, he alleged that the government is convening a "special session" to derive political mileage ahead of state polls with an eye on delimitation before the 2029 general elections. He also asserted that Congress is committed to a one-third reservation for women, but the same should be inclusive and fair. Sharing his pictures at the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met on Friday to take a stand on the proposed amendments to the women's reservation law (Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam), he said, "While the Congress has always championed the 33% quota, and the first to introduce a Bill and pass it in the Rajya Sabha in 2013, the current government's approach raises serious alarms." The meeting

Stalin accuses Centre of 'using' women's quota, slams EPS over delimitation

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population. "The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview. "Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added. Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K ...

Congress demands PM Modi's apology over delay in women's reservation

The Congress on Friday alleged that the Modi government's "U-turn" on the implementation of the women's reservation law is aimed at covering up his "monumental failures" in governance and "severe setbacks" to foreign policy. The opposition party claimed that the PM owes an "apology" to the women of India as he did not accept the Congress' demand of implementing the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023, from the 2024 polls itself. "Actually he owes an apology to the women of India. When the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 was passed by Parliament in 2023 unanimously, the Indian National Congress had demanded its implementation from 2024 itself," Ramesh said on X. But this was not acceptable to the PM who made the reservation dependent on the delimitation and census exercises that he had failed to conduct and then dithered on for many years, the Congress leader said. Ramesh claimed that 30 months later, facing defeat in the assembly elections, in spite of the Election Commission ..

'Together, let us empower our Nari Shakti!': Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Amid festive celebrations, India stands at a historic moment to advance women's reservation and strengthen inclusive democracy

Cabinet clears draft bill for amendments to Women Reservation Act

The Union Cabinet is learnt to have cleared on Wednesday the draft bill for amendments to the Women's Reservation Act that will ensure an increase in the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 with 273 reserved for women, and its implementation in the 2029 general elections. Sources privy to the development said that a meeting of the Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the draft bill for the amendments to the law, Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, more commonly known as the Women's Reservation Act. The government has extended the budget session of Parliament and a special three-day sitting will be held from April 16 to 18, where the amendment bill is expected to be passed. 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, but it would have come into effect after the completion of the delimitation exercise on the basis of the 2027 Census. Therefore, it was expected to come int

SC bench hears pleas on discrimination against women at religious places

A nine-judge Supreme Court bench on Tuesday commenced hearing on petitions related to discrimination against women at religious places, including Sabarimala temple of Keralam, and on the ambit and scope of religious freedom practised by multiple faiths. The Constitution bench comprises Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices B V Nagarathna, M M Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi. Ahead of the hearing, the Centre filed written submissions and requested the top court to uphold restriction on the entry of women of menstruating age into Sabarimala temple. The Union of India said the issue falls squarely within the domain of religious faith and denominational autonomy, and lies beyond the scope of judicial review. In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench, by a 4:1 majority verdict, had lifted the ban that prevented women between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the Ayyappa shrine at Sabarima

Cong slams PM bid for 'special session' to pass women quota law amendments

Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress on Wednesday said the "U-turn Ustad" now wants to implement the women's reservation law without completing the delimitation and census operations. It said the prime minister has let it be known that a "special two-day session" will be convened in the next fortnight to pass the amendments necessary to implement the law. The opposition party alleged that this was a "weapon of mass diversion" to change the narrative from "foreign policy failures and setbacks and from the LPG and energy crisis facing the country". Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, said the Modi government is also planning to increase the size of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas by 50 per cent, which also needs careful deliberation. In September 2023, the new Parliament House was inaugurated with the passage of the women's reservation bill -- or Nari Vandan Adhiniyam, 2023 -- that amended the Constitution to provide for

Call all-party meeting to discuss Women's Reservation Act: Kharge to Rijiju

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has told Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju that an all-party meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should be convened at the earliest to discuss the "modalities and roadmap for the implementation" of the Women's Reservation Act. Responding to a letter by Rijiju to him, Kharge noted that the Act, 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam', was passed unanimously by Parliament in September 2023. "Thirty months later, the government is, in your own words, 'seeking an opportunity to interact with me and the senior members of my party to deliberate upon the modalities and roadmap for the implementation of this landmark constitutional amendment'," the Congress president said in his letter to Rijiju on Monday night. "You spoke with me on this matter a few days back. I have already conveyed to you, as has Jairam Ramesh, chief whip of the Congress Parliamentary Party in the Rajya Sabha, that the INC's view is that the government should convene

SC notice to Centre on plea to implement women's reservation in Parliament

A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan asked the government to respond to the PIL seeking the implementation of the women's reservation law

Delimitation row: Can women's quota change political power dynamics?

The women's reservation law mandates one-third seats for women but awaits implementation which is to be done after the delimitation process