The Union Cabinet, has granted approval for a constitutional amendment bill that proposes reservations for women in Parliament and state assemblies. This marks a historic development, with numerous prior attempts dating back to 1996 having failed. While the UPA government successfully passed the bill in the Upper House in 2010, it couldn't proceed to the Lok Sabha due to pressure from its allies. The bill's approval signals progress towards achieving gender parity in India's legislative bodies.
#India #WomenEmpowerment #Reservations
~HT.98~ED.101~
#India #WomenEmpowerment #Reservations
~HT.98~ED.101~
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:05 In a significant move, Union Cabinet
00:07 has given its approval for the Constitution Amendment
00:09 Bill that seeks to provide reservations
00:11 for women in both Parliament and state assemblies.
00:14 This development paves the way for the introduction
00:16 of this historic bill during the ongoing special session
00:19 of Parliament.
00:21 Efforts to enact a law for legislative reservations
00:23 for women have been ongoing since 1996,
00:26 but all previous attempts had failed.
00:28 In 2010, the UPA government managed
00:31 to pass the bill in the upper house.
00:33 However, it couldn't be introduced in the Lok Sabha
00:35 due to pressure from allies.
00:37 The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2008
00:41 aims to allocate 33% of seats in a state legislative assemblies
00:45 and Parliament for women.
00:47 Additionally, it suggests sub-reservations
00:50 for SCs, STs, and Anglo-Indians within this 33% quota.
00:55 These reserved seats may rotate among various constituencies
00:58 in the state or Union territory.
01:00 According to the bill, the reservation for women's seats
01:03 will end 15 years after the Amendment Act
01:05 comes into effect.
01:07 Leaders from various political parties
01:09 have called for the introduction of the Women's Reservation
01:12 Bill, indicating a broad-based support for this initiative.
01:17 A campaign for a constitutional amendment
01:19 to enable women's reservation began in 1993
01:22 with the reservation of one third of Gram Panchayat Council
01:25 seats for women.
01:26 Subsequently, a bill for reservation
01:28 in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies
01:30 was introduced in Parliament in 1996
01:33 by the HD Devya Gowda government,
01:35 but it did not succeed.
01:37 Even the Vajpayee government attempted
01:39 to push the bill without success.
01:41 In 2010, the Manmohan Singh government
01:43 managed to get the bill passed in the Rajya Sabha,
01:45 but it remained pending in the Lok Sabha
01:47 and eventually lapsed with its dissolution in 2014.
01:52 The BJP had promised 33% reservation for women
01:55 in both 2014 and 2019, and now the bill
01:59 has received the cabinet's approval,
02:01 setting the stage for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
02:04 Currently, about 14% of Indian MPs
02:07 are women, the highest percentage to date.
02:09 However, India lags behind its neighboring countries,
02:12 such as Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh,
02:15 in terms of female representation in the Lok Sabha.
02:19 All eyes are now on parties like RJD and Samajwadi Party,
02:22 which vehemently opposed the bill in 2010.
02:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:32 (upbeat music)