Thiruvalla (Kerala): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Budget session of Parliament has been extended for three days so that the law enacted in 2023 for providing 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies can be implemented from 2029 and urged all parties to support it.
Addressing an NDA election rally here, Modi also said the government will ensure, during the April 16-18 Parliament sitting, a legal stamp that no state, whether it is Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, or Telangana, will see a reduction in Lok Sabha seats.
The prime minister said that the NDA government has given 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies through a law in 2023.
He said the government has extended the Budget session and it will meet again for three days — April 16, 17, and 18.
“Do you know why it will reconvene? The law we have passed for 33 percent reservation for women, so that its benefits can begin from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections, and 33 percent of our sisters can sit in Parliament. For this, further legal provisions are needed,” he said.
The Women’s Reservation Act was passed by Parliament in 2023. The provision to provide 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies was brought by amending the Constitution, but it will come into effect after the completion of the delimitation exercise.
If the proposal to implement the law even before the delimitation exercise actually materialises, another amendment to the Constitution will be required. The government is expected to amend the law to this effect in the three-day sitting of the Parliament.
The prime minister urged all parties that this is an issue related to women’s empowerment, so they should, with an open mind and without any political calculations, fully support it and become partners in winning the trust of the country’s mothers and sisters.
He said that the government had invited members of Congress for discussions and hoped that they would come and agree with it.
“We have also spoken to our friends in the INDI Alliance. You should also inform people, tell Congress members, and inform those in the LDF that a law for women’s rights should be passed unanimously,” he said.
Asking people to take this commitment from the opposition parties, Modi also said that this “right of the country’s mothers and sisters” has been pending for 40 years, and it should not be delayed again.
“Therefore, I urge all political parties that the mothers and sisters of this country should put pressure so that everyone comes to Parliament and passes this law,” he said.
Prime Minister Modi said that, considering the need to increase the number of women representatives, amendments will be made to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan law’.
“It is essential that this amendment be passed unanimously so that its benefits can begin from the 2029 elections themselves,” he said.
Modi also said that in Kerala, Tamil Nadu or other states that have done well in population control, people are spreading false information that if the population decreases, their seats will also be reduced.
“This time, we want to ensure in Parliament, and put a legal stamp on it, that whether it is Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa or Telangana, no state will see a reduction in Lok Sabha seats,” he said.
To formalise this, and secondly, to ensure that the seats reserved for women are added as additional seats so that southern Indian states receive such a significant benefit, “we are calling this session for a legislative amendment,” he said.
