Reservation of Seats For Women

Minister of Law & Justice, Shri Salman Khurshid has said that political empowerment of women is a powerful and indispensable tool for eliminating gender inequality and discrimination. With a view to achieving the said purpose, a Bill, namely, the Constitution (One Hundred and Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2008 providing for reservation for women in as nearly as one-third of the total seats of the House of the People and of the State Legislative Assemblies, including the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, for a period of 15 years was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on 6th May, 2008. Giving this information in written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha recently, Shri Khurshid said that the Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on 9th March 2010. Now, the Bill is to be passed by the Lok Sabha and is also required to be ratified by the Legislatures of not less than one-half of the States.