Women Reservation Bill takes centre stage in parliament special session

The women's reservation bill, also known as the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008, has taken center stage of the five-day Parliament special session that began on Monday, with several parties pushing for the discussion and passing of the long-standing bill. The legislation, if passed, would reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. The women's reservation bill seeks to reserve 33 percent of seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.

According to the bill, one-third of the total number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be reserved for women from those groups. These reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory.

Despite being a crucial step towards gender parity and inclusive governance, the bill has remained in legislative limbo for far too long. While the bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, it has not yet been tabled in the Lower House of Parliament.

The bill says that the reservation of seats for women shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of the amendment act.

Ahead of the Parliament session, several leaders across the political divide pushed for the women's quota. On Monday, NCP leader Supriya Sule strongly defended the Congress over the bill, saying the first woman prime minister and president were from the Congress, and the legislation was also brought by it. “But the bill could not be passed due to lack of numbers,” she said. NCP leader and BJP-ally Praful Patel had also appealed to the government to pass the women's reservation bill in this Parliament session