sir. Um I speak in favour and this is an intervention that you permitted me. I speak in favour of the Nati and, uh and this proposed 1 28th Amendment has actually been very thoughtfully crafted. Considering that we are at a very critical stage of our development process, we've seen the success and I certainly want to credit Ji's government for having brought in the 33% reservation in the Panchayat Raj at that time. And as a result, we've seen the ground swell at the panchayat level 33% reservation today by many states has been increased to 50% as well. About 20 states have already brought in 50% reservation and showing Therefore, the contribution of women at the panchayat although it started with 33% now has gone up to 50. There are no regrets. Actually, people are very happy that there is actual participatory process which is seen in the ground. And in this context, I remember one of the earliest steps that as Chief Minister, honourable Prime Minister in Gujarat had taken up, was also to encourage 50 per cent and also unanimous elections he would incentivize so that it should be nonpartisan and that it should be with a common call taken by the punch. So in a way, two ways of wanting people's participation has been always attempted to. So this one is long overdue because it partly also answers a lot of members who have been saying from the morning, Why did it take nine long years for you to bring the bill? Now I would like to respond, and equally as I'm going down talking about this bill, it is important that we build consensus and also show that we are committed for the economic social empowerment of women as well. We've heard several members today speaking about how, since 2014, there have been very sincere ground level attempts to provide house, provide drinking water, provide smoke free kitchen, provide dignity which was a word used by Mahesh Jalani just before me about providing toilets and so on. So these are also the fundamental bricks which build on empowering women, So social empowerment, economic empowerment I'll go into a bit of detail a bit later. So what this proposed bill provides for is the reservation of seats for women in the house of the people in Los. I've heard some members talk about reservation also should be brought in in for the upper house. With the indirect election process and the way in which preference is shown in the voting, it's just not going to be possible to do any reservation. Let us keep that outside of this discussion, although it's well meant and well meaning suggestion has come in. But that's not going to be workable if it is not a direct election. So this bill actually provides, therefore, for reservation of seats for women in the House of People Luba and also in the legislative assemblies of every state and also in the national capital territory of Delhi. It proposes again. People have picked up on this word, but I reiterate it. It proposes that as nearly as maybe one third seat shall be reserved for women, so that's the first two salient feature of this bill. So what it would do is to bring in a new article 330 A, which is intended for reservation of seats for women in the suburb. Second, it also bring brings in a new article 33 32 A, which proposes reservation of seats for women in the state Legislative Assembly. Another, which is an existing article, which is 239 AA, is proposed to be amended for providing reservation for Legislative Assembly of National Capital Territory of Delhi. So all these three are happening. It also then intends, uh, that there shall be a reservation for women belonging to scheduled CASS scheduled tribes in respect of the seats reserved for scheduled CAS and scheduled tribes. So consequential amendments over and above all this will also be made to the relevant acts for the cherry and for GNK. Now we come to the point on which again, the previous speaker has gone into greater detail with this legal acumen to say how exactly this is going to be implemented. I'll have a minute on that as far as the implementation of the proposed reservation for women. The new article, a new article 3 34 a is inserted into the Constitution. It intends that after the bill is enacted and after the bill comes into operation and thereafter, that whenever the first census takes place and the relevant figures for that census are published, a fresh delimitation exercise shall be undertaken and for the purpose of delimitation of streets for providing reservation for women in, uh, in the in the state, in the suburb, in the state legislative assemblies and also in the Legislative Assembly of Delhi. Now, this exercise of delimitation, sir, will be limited to identifying the number of seats and those seats which are to be reserved for women. And it shall not affect the interstate distribution of seats of Luba and the legislative assemblies of the state. So we just want to make this absolutely clear as to what this constitutional amendment bill is proposing to do, and the reservation of seats shall cease after a period of 15 years from the commencement of this very proposed law. So this is where I think we are coming up with this constitutional amendment. Uh, it also sort of very clearly states that this reservation shall not apply until the loba, or legislative assembly of a particular state or the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is dissolved. So that is the main feature of this proposed constitutional amendment. Is this the first time we are talking about this reservation for women? Not at all. There have been four genuinely serious attempts to get this bill through, sir. The first ever attempt was in 1996 on 12th September in the 11th look Saba, where SHD David Gowda was the prime minister. And that bill, which was brought in, was referred to a joint committee headed by Sri Maha Mukherjee, who immediately took up the work. And within three months, on 9th December 1996 she gave her report, and the bill remained there for almost a year. But because of the dissolution of the the 11th Saba on 4th December 1997 this bill also lapsed. This bill, one particular feature which I'd like to highlight, is this bill provided for So it provides for reservation rotation of seeds. So that's so. The next one second attempt made was on 14 December 1998 by Sri Bahari by his government 12th in this again this The bill was almost identical to the one which was presented earlier, but a 15 year period was brought in. Now, this bill also lapsed due to the dissolution of the 12th Loba on 26 April 1999. A second attempt was made again by Prime Minister Buhari Bajpai on 23rd December 1999. That was the 13th Saba and then the bill hadn't been pursued at all because they couldn't develop any consensus of you. And again this also laxed on the dissolution of the 13th Lu Saba on 6 to 2004. The fourth attempt, which is the most recent attempt, happened on 6th May 2008 in the Raja Saba. The bill was introduced under Doctor Manmohan Singh's government UP a two very identical bill to the one which was previously tabled which couldn't be pursued in the Saba. And this bill, which was brought in in the Raja Saba, was referred to a standing Committee, a department related parliamentary Standing Committee on personnel, public grievances, Law and Justice on 8th May 2008 for examination and it got passed taken up for consideration and passed in the Raja Saba on March 2010 and then it was transmitted to the local Saba on 12th March 2010. It was just transmitted, but until 2014 it couldn't be taken up for various reasons. I'm not here going to go into the detail as to why it couldn't be cleared. But it didn't get cleared and it lapsed. It is important for us to know that it lapsed on the dissolution of the 13th Saba on 18 May 2014. So I may be pardoned if I'm repeating something which honourable members already know. There is no bill pending that I have to bring back here to say we will consider this one it's been waiting from then. No Bill is waiting with the dissolution of the Lok Saba. That bill, which was passed on the Raja Saba but which it didn't remain here, which naturally got transmitted to the Lok Saba, also lapsed. So there's no bill before us. Empowerment of women in India is not a new thing. I just would like to go back in history to identify a few names which stand out for a lot of, uh, proof that is so required to say this civilization always held women high. Now I'm not going to think that we treat them as goddess give us equality. I've heard a lot of members say with a lot of concern. We don't want to be treated like goddess treat us equal, but It is a fact that we have held women very highly, and the women also had the courage to stand up and speak for themselves. So it's not a new thing for us. I'll just give you the example of Sama's mother. An open has been given in his name. He was a bright star, but when he went in search of his guru, the guru asked him, Oh ok, you want to become my student? But who's your father? Would you please tell me he didn't know the name of his father? He goes back to his mother, Jabal, to ask her Mama, please tell me who's my father. I have to go tell my guru otherwise he will not admit me, and the mother had the courage to tell him I don't know who your father is. Go tell this to your guru and the boy in all his earnestness, goes back to the guru and says, Sorry. This is the reply given by my mother and the guru understands the situation and readily admits him for his curiosity. That's the civilization we are talking about. It's not a civilization we treat women of one particular group or another particular group different. We've treated all women with fairness. There can be differences during the age as we are coming down today. But that is Satya Ja Ja, the mother who could tell her boy to go save with pride that no, you know your mother's name. But the mother doesn't know. The father and the guru had no objection, sir. Similarly, when a shankara had an argument with man, there was a debate going on. And who was the judge there, a woman man's wife? Could she have been admitted or accepted as a judge between the two people debating? If only there was some hesitation about dealing with women differently, they readily accepted her. She had a scholarship as one thing, but to accept a woman to judge between them, too as to who is going to be the victor also reflects that men in India learned or otherwise did not have a different idea of women. And that's example tells us that there are, of course, 22 women who contributed very richly to ADA and opens and not taking each one of their names and Lura stand out. Similarly, I heard members this morning also recall from the South. Eminent fighters warriors. I also will name a boy who was a great simple two line of forests from her always enamels, all of us who was a great Bakti saint. She is treated as an iron man. So in India, women have had a role in literature, a role in very many different situations. Women, warriors, a knave, Raul Lakshmi Segal and, of course, John. All of them. I've just on a random list. So is their progress in science. EK Jake was one of the earliest scientists of India. As a Anna. Mani and Rana are all women of iIn in science. So we've had this culture of allowing women to do what their aspirations lead them to do, and they have respected it. Of course, as they say in Hindi, Vika have come into the system. We have to that and efforts are being made now in this, I want to highlight that the party that I represent, B JP, has been consistent in its support for women's reservation. B JP held its national convention in 1994 in and they very clearly stated that we stand for reservations of women reservation for women in the Parliament and also in the state assemblies, if that was in 1994 1998. B JP reiterated its commitment for women's reservation by introducing it in the Saba, which I just mentioned a while ago. Under Prime Minister in July 2003, B JP held a national executive in Raipur in chat, and there they passed a resolution seeking one third of all looks of our constituencies to be converted for reserving for women Progressively. That opinion has been refined now that in 2007 in the National Executive, it approved 33% reservation for all organisational position within the party. And in 2008, B JP amended its constitution to provide 30 33% reservation to women in its Canada post as well. And let me take this opportunity, sir, in all humility to thank my party. I am one of the beneficiaries of this reservation for women that I am here today and I thank my party for having given me that opportunity. So B JP has been consistently supportive of women's reservation. Sir, Um, I remember those days were early days for me as a party spokesperson. But the now lapsed bill, which was passed in Raja Saba in 2010 late Sri Arun Jari, supported it passionately in the Raja Saba and it was passed in the Raja Sabah. Of course, when it transmitted to look so I didn't get through. So B JP has been absolutely steady in its support for women's reservation, and this morning I heard some honourable members also refer to some very picturesque moments when Honourable Suraj had waited outside the parliament house received Brenda, the honourable former member of the Raja Saba, and they both hugged each other in joy that the Raja Saba passed the bill and it is now the return for Luke Saba. So there was a complete across party lines, a sense of wanting to achieve this. And today we remember later Sushma, Suraj and of course, even today the activists and also former members of parliament who have all been pursuing this agenda to further this point, Sir 2014. Prior to the looks of by election BJP's manifesto, the openly said that BJP is in favour of bringing reservation 33% reservation in parliament and also in the state assemblies. So did 2019. So just as Article 370 has always been in BJP's manifesto, so is women's reservation always been in B JP S election manifestos be it 2014 and now be it 2019. The principle which Honourable prime Minister follows very earnestly is also proven by the fact that everything that which is mentioned in the sun is taken up to the level of achieving. That is we follow it in earnestness. I also heard some members this morning talk about you were paying attention to Article 370. You were paying attention to triple, but you didn't do this. Women's reservation. I like to take this opportunity to say to you, sir, Article 3 70 has a very big women's component in it. You didn't have allow women to hold property in JNK. Is it not important for them to have that honour back? They have, after all, been born there. Well, if they married somebody else from anywhere else, how right is it under article 370 to deny them ownership of property? Is it that is that not important? Therefore, when we restored the normalcy and also removed Article 370 women CST Barker. All of them get their rights. That is why the principle of honourable prime minister makes complete sense. And between 2014 and today, these are the kind of achievements to empower women which have been happening. Similar is I heard our honourable National president Nada speak about triple this morning, he said. Triple is not a country B country, C country, all of which are Muslim dominated countries. But in India it took us a whole process of going through the courts and again, politically convincing our people and then bringing it in. But Prime Minister Modi did not hesitate. He said. If that has got to be done for giving the rights to the Muslim women, we shall do it to reserve 33 person posts at the constant level for women in CRPFC and to begin with 14 to 15% posts at the constable level. In the bordering guards border, guarding forces such as the BS FSB and I have been brought in in a faced manner. That's equality that's treating men and women equal literally in the uniformed services. Similarly, sir. Admission of girls in scenic schools unimaginable because there was so much resistance. No, no, you can't do it. Admission of girls in scenic schools with effect from academic session 21 22 girl cadets have been admitted in all existing 33 training schools. That was clearly a step which was taken as a decision by Prime Minister Modi's government. Indian Army Sir has opened up entry for women candidates in the National Defence Academy. You know how prestigious that centre is, and it is one of the male domains which you could never breach. But today it has been opened for female cadets. 19 candidates, including 10 for Indian Army, joining academy every six months. Women candidates, women, cadets. Some permanent commission is also being granted to women officers in the armed forces. You may think that it is only in the Armed Forces Medical Corps or it's in the dental cop and so on. No, or it is in the nursing service. No, over and above that. Now women are being given permanent commission in the armed forces as women officers. Similarly, Indian Army has opened up avenues for women officers to serve as pilots in the core of army aviation, so flying the helicopters for the army is done by women. Now, women officers are also being considered for colonel rank and are being given command appointments so they can lead commands. Also, sir, there are other ranks which are also getting in into the core of the military police in the Indian Army, which has been introduced from 2019. So it is the case with the Navy. I wouldn't want to read each one of those steps. But today, whether it's army, whether it's Navy or whether it is the Air Force, they are all being treated at equal with men. Sir, I was very happy to hear Honourable Member Sumitra Baulk. Is she here now? Yes, she mentioned it, sir. Women are getting recruited as women. Agnes, I was going to mention it, but I was glad to hear it from another member of this house. From the first batch itself, we have women, Agnes. So now, without taking more time on talking about the larger issues, I'll come to responding to some of the members who have raised some issues where I wish to explain some members Rana Takuji Casey veal, uh, have all raised this issue about You came to power in 2014. Why didn't you take? Why have you taken nine years to bring this bill? I think sort of. I've explained it that we've spent a lot of time and attention on delivering on social, social empowerment and also on economic empowerment. In the meanwhile, you also saw how they have been empowered to get into the armed forces and the central armed paramilitary forces as well. Explanations and details with facts Facts have been given by the home minister. Women have become now job creators. 29 core women have also benefited because of the Mudra scheme, where 70 per cent of all beneficiaries are women. So there are several schemes which has helped women to come up to some level. That's what we've been doing since 2014. Then there was this question. I think in general several members have raised saying why a special session for this bill said that simply we have come into a new, complex new building for Parliament. New India. We would like this parliament to deal with one of the best bills that it can deal with where all of us agreed. And I'm glad to say this. I thank from the bottom of my heart for the consideration that all the parties have shown, irrespective of the little reservations. They may have questions they have in their mind for extending support for this historic bill and this new building as a first bill handling This is, I think, a very good start for a building which is being built for the next 100 years for the country. Even if delimitation is going to come up with newer members, there's enough space to accommodate a lot of new ones up. It was a bit disheartening to hear some members say, Oh, this bill is a This is a very catchy word. A lot of people love using that word, but no whoever said it, I'm not particularly naming the members. It is not. This bill is not a I want you all to please. I attend to the points that I'm trying to talk, and the context in which the home minister said I think, has been well understood. But it's convenient for us to use Zuma again, so we forget the context in which the honourable minister said it. So the legal process? No, no, thank you. That was misunderstood, or you're interpreting it differently. I don't want to get into it. Now I'm talking about the women's reservation bill. Legal processes, which need to be adopted for enabling this provision, has been defined and described by a legal luminary. But I will certainly repeat it for us to know. And I'm sure many of our senior members here will appreciate that without amendments as regards duties and without the delimitation happening and delimitation process is a quasi judicial process. It needs an appointment. By law, it needs a Supreme Court judge to retire to head it. It needs its members from the election Commission. It will also have member representatives from every party recognised party. So it is not, you know, exercise to push the decision further. But once we pass and once the states also pass, their respective law is when this and in the meanwhile census taking place with the number or the figures of the census notified the ball sets rolling for a delimitation commission to come into play. So unless we do it and in that I'll get into the detail why this 2026 stands out for us. Why 2026? Why can't it be earlier? I'll try to explain it as well. It is not something which we have done it. We are carrying a legacy where the limitation dates have been frozen, not once frozen twice and for long periods of time. I'll get into that. But with these handicaps or with these realities before us, it shall not be possible to implement it. Now, in 24 itself, our intention is clear. Clear it all up. And once the census is over and the de limitation sets rolling, you're going to have it the moment it is finished. So no, ma'am, whoever said it, but truly it's going to set that course, which was very clearly from a legal side, explained. It also says one of the discussions this morning, sir, saying Why did you have to bring it? Now you're going for an election? You're probably worried about the election? No, As I said earlier, it is an article of faith, whether it is now whether it is all the four times when it was brought to this house. Every time BJP has supported the bill. Even that time, when it was brought into the Raja Saba by Dr Manon Singh, BJP stood out to support the bill. So why would there be any hesitation in our mind? So I just want to be sure that the points that has been raised by some of the members are addressed. Um, sir, before I get into talking about the de limitation details I want to pick up on who seems to have forgotten the bill and said many other things about, you know, Where are the women? Why did you want to form a separate organisation? Aside from ours, why do you need AC and so on? I it's they are 100 year old organisations. All of us know how they are involved in public service, particularly when there is a disaster, a cyclone, a flood. Men and women are their first unclaimed dead bodies. They do the cremation or as per the law, whatever process for the ultimate end rituals, they are completely dedicated for social service and keeping people together. And if that is worrying the honourable member about why the women have not been taken or please honourable member I'm not giving you a Please. Please. No, don't do it. Why? Why should they be a separate organisation? Why they cannot be part of RSS and so on. At least there is an organisation keeping all the women working together at Park. If you don't mind me, sir. And if you allow me this little bit of indulgence and with the Honourable Member not taking any offence because he's spoken quite a lot, I'd rather respond with just one fact. Let me ask him. How long did it take for former member Brenda car to get into the Communist Bureau to get into the pot? How long did it take for Brenda? Kara? Nobody else. It was public debate. It was a public debate to say, Communist Party. You don't have one woman in the Politburo. And it's not as if you don't have women at all. Poor Brenda had to fight away. And now you're talking about our please look at that. So I heard, uh, Honourable Member. I heard Honourable member couple talking about Finance Commission cannot allocate resource fairly till the census takes place and so on, and that we are using a old census because I'm talking about he referred to Finance Commission. I'm also referring to that, but the idea was that the census old censuses are being used. I just want to tell you, sir, it was Prime Minister Modi, who, after forming the government, said 2011 census data was first used for the 15th Finance Commission, which is whose period is now current 2020 to 2025. Before that, that is prior to that since the Seventh Finance Commission until the 14th Finance Commission, which is before us before 2014, that is eighth Finance Commission for the Finance period. 9 1979 2020 have used the census date of 1971. 71 Sensor has been used in 2014, and Honourable Member worries that we are using 71 laws from the 15th Finance Commission, which is currently holds currency, which runs between 2020 to 2025 2011. Census is already being used, so I'm sorry. I want to just correct that perception of Honourable Member All the earlier census all the earlier finance commissions have used 71 census figures. We have updated it. Um
