New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed two bills that extended the provisions of the women's reservation law to the Union Territories of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir.
The Bill extends the provisions of the Constitution (106th Amendment) Bill, which grants 33 per cent of reservation to women in Parliament, to the two UTs.
“Whether it was the Mughal rule, the British rule or Congress governments, women’s rights were snatched by everyone,” Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said.
Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party wanted to know when will elections be held in J&K and when will statehood be restored, in line with the Supreme Court’s verdict on the abrogation of Article 370.
“The home minister said the other day that a plausible date for the election will be announced after his speech but we were yet to know the date,” Sule said.
Malook Nagar of the Bahujan Samaj Party said that when Mayawati brought in the women’s reservation bill, she did not get support from the Congress.
Hasnain Masoodi of the National Conference said that J&K has had no MLA for the past six years, and that the UT was run by “four officers”.
The women’s reservation bill, the Nari Shakti Adheeniyam, was passed by Parliament in the special session called by the government in August. The reservation will come into effect only after the delimitation process, which will have to follow the next census, and will be applicable for a period of 15 years.
Published 12 December 2023, 18:09 IST