Amidst protests from Opposition members citing the Parliament security breach on December 13, Parliament on Monday passed two crucial Bills —Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2023– that among other things extend Women’s reservation in J&K and Puducherry Assemblies.

The draft legislation was tabled for consideration by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, who urged immediate passage of the bills because they were important for the “respect and dignity of women.”

The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill 2023 seeks to reserve one-third of all elected seats for women in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. This Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 12, 2023.  

The reservation for women will also apply to the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the J&K Assembly.

One-third of seats under Section 14 will be reserved for women from scheduled castes or tribes. Additionally, one-third of the total seats in the assembly, including those reserved for women from these categories, will be reserved for women. These reservations will come into effect after the boundaries of constituencies are redrawn following the next census. Based on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women.  The reservation will be in place for 15 years.

Also, the new law on J&K provides that seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law made by Parliament. 

Similarly, the Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill 2023 reserves one-third of all elected seats in the Puducherry Legislative Assembly for women. Both the Bills were passed in the lower house last week.

Mr Rai requested all members to support the Bills "in favour of women's rights". Both the Bills were passed by the Upper House through voice vote.

Image source: ANI