Women's Reservation Bill : Live Updates From Rajya Sabha

Finance Minister: Heard a lot of things said about not wanting to be worshipped etc.

But it is a fact that we have held women highly, and women have also had the courage to speak up for themselves. This is not a new thing. We have had this culture of respecting women choosing to pursue their aspirations. I also want to highlight that my party, Bharatiya Janata Party, has been consistent in its support for women's reservation.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman offers historical background of bill, with a focus on last attempt to introduce women's reservation -

"No bill which is pending, that must be brought back. The earlier bill lapsed."

Finance Minister: Heard a lot of things said about not wanting to be worshipped etc.

But it is a fact that we have held women highly, and women have also had the courage to speak up for themselves. This is not a new thing.

Jethmalani: Members who insist on implementation of this bill before '24 elections have not understood in-built safeguards for reservation procedure, and a demand for this is at your own peril.

Scheduled '21 census will commence in beginning of '24. Because of digitalisation, it can be concluded by the end of next year. Next two steps can be completed by 2025. By 2026, reservation for women in state elections can be a reality, and in general election by 2029.

Jethmalani: The alternative to this established procedure is to leave it to arbitrary diktat of election commission with inevitable discontentment and heartburn it will cause the opposition.

Jethmalani: The procedure involves publishing proposal for constituencies to be reserved for women, specifying a date on which such proposal will be considered, and considering all objections before date specified for consideration and holding one or more public sittings.

This is important for transparency, fairness, natural justice, and protects interests of stakeholders. No member of either House would want to do away with this procedure.

Jethmalani: Now, even if we could omit first two steps, procedure of identifying reserved constituencies for women cannot be completed by February or March '24 because there's a mandatory procedure involved to be followed by election commission.

Jethmalani: Even if we could omit first two steps by using census of 1971, which prevails today as per Constitution...In 1971, there were 54 crore people, and today there are 1.4 billion people...You would have to go by a census which is dated. You will have twice no of seats if fresh census is conducted today.

Jethmalani: Next question that is raised is can this be implemented before 2024. It cannot be. Every time there is reservation, three procedures have to be followed: latest census figures, readjustment of boundaries by delimitation commission, identification and notification of constituencies for purpose of reservation by election commission.

Nominated member Mahesh Jethmalani reads out objects of the bill -

"I would like to remind them what they, in their long tenure, have not been able to do. Had they done their job...First five year of our tenure was spent empowering women through financial inclusion, social justice, and dignity."

#BJP MP K Laxman accuses #Congress of crying crocodile tears over OBC inclusion -

"I don't understand why they are making an issue now. From Nehru to Rahul Gandhi, Congress has always been against OBC reservation."