Women’s reservation Bill gets Parliament seal

Subject :Polity

Section: legislation in news

Context: The Women reservation bill was passed unanimously by Rajya Sabha, a day after it sailed through Lok Sabha.

What is the 128th Constitutional Amendment Bill 2023

According to the Bill, as nearly as maybe, one-third including the seats reserved for women belonging to the SCs and STs of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election to the House of People i.e Lok Sabha shall be reserved for women.
The Bill proposes a similar provision for Assemblies in the states and Delhi.
However, the quota will not apply to the Rajya Sabha or state Legislative Councils.
The Bill proposes to introduce new articles – 330A and 332A – in the Constitution to introduce the changes for Lok Sabha and Assemblies respectively.
The bill makes the implementation of women’s reservation contingent upon the delimitation process and also has a sunset clause, mandating that the reservation will be for a period of 15 years from the date of commencement of the Act.

How will the Reserved Seats be Identified:

The Bill doesn’t specify how these seats (one-third) will be identified. It only proposes the rotation of reserved seats.
It’s important to remember that this proposed constitution amendment is enabling in nature and it will grant the government the power to enact a law for its implementation.

What is the status of reservation for Women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies:

Article 243D inserted by the 73rd Amendment Act 1992 of the Constitution provides for reservation of seats for SCs, STs, and women in Panchayats.
As per the provisions of Article 243D, not less than one-third of the total number of seats reserved for SCs and STs shall be reserved for women.
According to government data, the percentage of women elected representatives in PRIs was more than 50%, in at least 18 states like Uttarakhand, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Rajasthan, MP, etc).
The highest proportion of women representatives was in Uttarakhand (56.02%) and the lowest was in UP (33.34%). Overall, there were 45.61% women representatives in PRIs in the country.