Shillong, Sept 20: The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the landmark Women’s Reservation Bill.
454 MPs voted in favour of the bill while two MPs voted against it.
The Bill grants reservation of 33% seats to women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
The BJP-led NDA government has named the Women’s Reservation Bill as the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Bill’.
The Bill was brought in as soon as the proceedings started in the new Parliament House on Tuesday. Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced this bill.
Addressing the Parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the day historic and urged the opposition to unanimously pass the Bill. With the bill failing to clear the hurdles of Parliament for nearly 3 decades, PM Modi said empowering women through passing the Bill will further empower the democracy.
The Bill, which is the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeks to introduce three new articles and one new clause in the Constitution. The new clause is 239AA, and the three articles are: 330A, 332A, and 334A.
These amendments will ensure that women have 33 percent reservation in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies in general as well as SC and ST quota.
This is a developing story, more details awaited.