Cabinet clears historic women's reservation bill

The Union cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the constitution amendment bill to provide reservations for women in Parliament and state assemblies, paving the way for the introduction of the historic bill in the ongoing special session of Parliament, officials said.

- Smriti Kak Ramachandran

Some BJP functionaries claimed that the new bill won’t be identical to the 2010 bill and might expand the scope of reservation beyond the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies. In the 2010 bill, there ws also no provision for ‘quota within quota’—a key demand of many regional parties.

Since 1996, several attempts have been made to enact a law for legislative reservation for women, but all the attempts failed. In 2010, the UPA government managed to get the bill passed in the Upper House but couldn’t bring it into the Lok Sabha under pressure from allies.

This time, the bill is likely to see smooth passage. The ruling NDA, its supporter BJD and key opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool, BRS and Left are expected to support the bill in Parliament. Together, the bill is set to enjoy the support of 431 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 175 in the Rajya Sabha.