Posted on : 09-03-2010 | By : India Current Affairs | In : Polity, Womens Issues
Rajya Sabha passes Women’s Reservation Bill given women 1/3rd seats in parliament and State Legislatures. 
The bill is passed by 186 votes in support and only one vote against the bill. This is the first step towards law. The bill has to be passed by Loksabha by 2/3rd majority. It should also be passed by atleast 14 State Assemblies.
The 14-year journey of the Women’s Reservation Bill was marked by high drama and hit roadblocks in each of its outings in Parliament before the historic measure cleared the first legislative hurdle.
The battle for greater representation to women in Lok Sabha and state legislatures, was routinely punctuated by frayed tempers and war of words which sometimes got physical, as different governments since 1996 tried to get the Women’s Reservation Bill passed in Parliament without success. Snatching of papers from presiding officers and ministers and scuffles became a familiar scene each time the Bill made its way to Parliament before it was aborted.
The Bill also lapsed each time the House was dissolved and was reintroduced by the government of the day.
The Bill was first introduced in the Lok Sabha by the Deve Gowda government on 12 September 1996. The then law minister M. Thambidurai tried to introduce the bill on 13 July 1998. But he couldn’t do it. The NDA government re-introduced the bill in the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999.
It moved the Bill again in 2002 and Left parties and the Congress give assurances to support the Bill if it is taken up.
The Bill was introduced twice in Parliament in 2003. In 2004, the UPA government includes it in the Common Minimum Programme, which said: “The UPA government will take the lead to introduce legislation for one-third reservations for women in Vidhan Sabhas and in the Lok Sabha.”
In 2005, BJP announced complete support for the bill. In 2008, the government tabled the bill in the Rajya Sabha so that the legislation does not lapse. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, and Personnel recommended passage of the Bill in Dec 2009. The Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on 25 February 2010.
