On Tuesday, news came out that Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal would be introducing the Women's Reservation Bill in Lok Sabha. The bill provides for 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies. One-third of the seats are expected to be reserved for women from the SC and ST communities.
The women's reservation won't come into effect immediately after it is passed. The 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be held without reservations. The Census and delimitation exercises have to be completed for the provisions to come into effect. This is going to take at least till 2027.
In fact, many experts are of the view that the reservation might not be implemented till the 2034 Lok Sabha elections.
Meanwhile, the Congress party has tried to take the credit for the idea. "Congress was the author of the Women's Reservation Bill.
Dr Manmohan Singh's government was the mover of the Bill in the Rajya Sabha and got it passed on 9-3-2010. Congress is proud that the Bill will be introduced in the current session of Parliament," wrote P Chidambaram.
Some opposition to the Bill has already been raised. AIMIM chief said that the Bill is flawed because it doesn't provide for OBCs and Muslims.Asaduddin Owaisi
