Prof. Neelam Mahajan Singh
In any kind of reservation is done, only when a particular section is weak and deprived. So it’s to be understood that women in India have been denied their rightful representation. Reservation in the Constitution of India is given on the basis of social and economic backwardness. In the last 35 years of journalism, I have shouldered the tall task of raising the voice of women’s empowerment. Women did not get enough representation and justice in the political and social field. For this reason women’s power was considered to be weak. There is no antecedent of women’s reservation in Europe, America and other developed countries, because women’s political participation has always been strong in these countries.
It is necessary to clarify at the outset that women’s reservation has always been politicized. The Narendra Modi government has passed the Women’s Reservation Bill, in Lok Sabha; which should be passed in Rajya Sabha without any delay, immediately! The Women’s Reservation Bill has been passed in Lok Sabha on 20th September 2023. 454 votes were cast in favor of the bill while two MPs voted against it. On the very first day of proceedings in the new building of Parliament, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Women’s Reservation Bill – 2023. This bill has a provision to provide 33 percent reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies. This bill of Women’s Reservation is the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill. To implement this bill, Rajya Sabha has to pass it with two-thirds majority. Women’s reservation can become effective only after completion of the delimitation process and the dissolution of Lok Sabha and state assemblies. After all, what is the Women’s Reservation Bill and what has happened so far? What’s the big hu-ha about it?
This bill states that one-third of the seats in Lok Sabha, state assemblies and the Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi will be reserved for women. This means that out of 543 seats in Lok Sabha, 181 seats will be reserved for women. The seats are reserved for women of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. One third of these reserved seats will now be for women. At present 131 seats of Lok Sabha are reserved for SC-ST. After the Women’s Reservation Bill becomes a law, 43 of these seats will be reserved for women. This means that out of 181 seats reserved for women, there will be 138 on which women of any caste can be the candidates. Implicitly, men can not be candidates on these seats. Still, there may be some obstacles in implementation of the Women’s Reservation Bill. When it be implemented? In 2024 or 2029? Responding to the discussion on the Women’s Reservation Bill – 2023; Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, “Today we are giving justice to women. By passing this bill, we are further empowering women. This is the right time for the bill to be passed. We will not allow the bill to be stalled. India is the mother of democracy.
By passing this bill, we are creating a new history in the journey of democracy.” Meghwal recited a poem, “We praise the women’s power, salute and congratulate, the respect of women will increase, dreams will now get wings, we will work together, our country will develop to lead the world”! Why was BJP silent on this bill in 2 February 2019? On 22 September 2017, 9 March 2016 etc., the bill was presented several times but it did not get any support. Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the long fight for women’s rights will end once the Women’s Reservation Bill is passed. Amit Shah said, “For some parties, women empowerment can be a political agenda, a political issue, this slogan can be a weapon to win elections, but for my party and my leader Narendra Modi, women empowerment is not a political issue, it is a question of their recognition”! Women have been given an important place in the Vedas. Some people are propagating on social media platforms that they do not support this bill because it will not be implemented immediately; due to the process of delimitation. Some OBCs and Muslims are talking about reservation. PM Narendra Modi gave the slogan of ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’. Safety, respect and participation of women have become both the breath and soul of the government since the day Narendra Modi took oath as Prime Minister and formed the government.
“Congress ruled for more than five decades but Modi ji got 11 crore 72 lakh toilets built within the first five years. Mothers, sisters, daughters were respected and empowered. L.P.G. connections were installed, houses were given to more than three crore mothers,” said Home Minister Amit Shah. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has said that there should be a quota for OBC (Other Backward Classes) in the Women’s Reservation Bill. Rahul Gandhi said, “OBC reservation should be included in this bill. A large section of India’s population should get reservation which is not there in it”. He said, “According to me, there is one thing in this bill due to which it is incomplete. That is OBC reservation. A large female population in India should have been included in this reservation. Two factors are road blocks for immediate implementation of this Act. which is strange. One is that to implement it this bill, census is needed and secondly delimitation has to be completed”, Rahul Gandhi said. “There is no need for delimitation and census, give 33 percent directly to women,” Rahul Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi supported the Women’s Reservation Bill and described it as ‘the dream of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’.
Demanding immediate implementation of reservation, Sonia Gandhi said, “I want to know from the government how long will women have to wait for this?” Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar has claimed that Trinamool Congress is a party where more than 33 percent of the MPs have always been women. In retrospect, it may be summarized that Women’s Reservation Bill-2023, is a landmark historical decision. 33% women reservation is also necessary in the organizational structure of all political parties. If women are to be empowered in politics then it is mandatory for them to participate in the organization too. Under no circumstances should there be any kind of reservation in the judiciary and health sectors. These are the areas where talent, experience and expertise are essential. People representing women also have to think that they should not use women as mere dummies or merely be gender centric. Women should not be used as a mask or pawns of men! In a country that has a history of warrior women, yet the have not been empowered for 76 years. It is surmised that it’s political impact wil reverbate in the 2024 elections. Women’s Reservation Bill- 2023 should be passed in Rajya Sabha and should be implemented it at the earliest. This would help at practical level, the essence, spirit and objectives of this bill.
(Writer is Sr. Journalist, Political Commentator, Doordarshan News Personality, Solicitor for Human Rights Protection and Philanthropist singhnofficial@gmail.com)
