New Delhi [India], March 24 (ANI): MPs from the ruling National Democratic Alliance have welcomed the government’s plans to bring amendment bills for the implementation of the Women’s Reservation Act ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha polls, while the opposition MPs said that they were not aware of the details of the proposal.
According to sources, the Government has planned amendments in the Nari Shakti Vandan Act.
Due to census delays, the plan is to proceed with the 2011 census data. The 2011 census is expected to be the basis for delimitation and seat redistribution. Sources said the proposal is to increase Lok Sabha seats from 543 to 816. A separate Delimitation Bill is also expected to be introduced. Both bills need to be passed as Constitutional amendments for women’s reservation.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Dharmshila Gupta said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to women’s empowerment.
“I would like to express my gratitude to PM Modi… The Prime Minister always says that women are the backbone of the nation… In 2023, he gave 33% reservation for women’s empowerment. Today, talks about 50% reservation are happening. Prime Minister is committed to women’s development and self-determination,” she told ANI.
Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Singh said they are awaiting details of the bill.
“We are all waiting for this bill to come. We earlier also supported this, and we are still supporting this… so this women’s empowerment will get some ground reality,” Virendra Singh said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said they were not aware how the government intends to implement reservation for women.
“It is a very important bill… Everyone has supported women’s reservation… as far as it is concerned, they have taken some new measures to implement it. When will the census end? The census will start in 2026. It will go till 2027-28. After that, when will the reservation be implemented? In 2034. Now, they are thinking that instead of waiting so much, the government wants to implement the reservation in 2029,” he told ANI.
“They have thought that the number of seats in the Lok Sabha should be increased. If it is 548 or 542, then we can increase it to 816. In the same way, 50% of the seats of every state will be increased… They have made an effort in that. We are not able to find out the details of how it will be done, how the reservation will be done, how the schedule will be done, or how the schedule of the tribe will be done. So, we have to discuss the details about that,” he added.
JD(U) MP Lovely Anand welcomed the proposed bills.
“The Women’s Reservation Bill is a welcome step… Women of our country have always ruled the country… Whether it is the Central Government or the Bihar Government, everyone understands that our country cannot prosper until women come forward,” she said. (ANI)