In a historic move, Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar constituted an all-women panel of vice-chairpersons in the Upper House. As many as 13 women members were nominated to the panel amid the ongoing discussion on the 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam 2023' in the House.
The vice-chairpersons are eligible to preside over the House in the absence of the chairman or the deputy chairman. Dhankhar emphasized that their presence on the chair would send a powerful message to the world at large and it would symbolize that they held a ‘commanding position’ during this epochal moment of change.
Here are names of the nominated members
- Shrimati PT Usha
- S Phangnon Konyak
- Jaya Bachchan
- Saroj Pandey
- Rajani Ashokrao Patil
- Fauzia Khan
- Dola Sen
- Indu Bala Goswami
- Dr Kanimozhi NVN Somu
- Kavita Patidar
- Mahua Maji
- Dr Kalpana Saini
- Shrimati Sulata Deo
Women's Reservation Bill tabled in Rajya Sabha
Earlier on Thursday, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal tabled the historic Women's Reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha. The bill seeks to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. Introducing the 128th Constitution Amendment Bill, which was approved by a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Meghwal recounted the measures initiated by the Narendra Modi government for the empowerment of women over the last nine years.
What the Law Minister said?
Meghwal said the 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be both horizontal and vertical, thereby applying to the SC-ST category as well. The delimitation commission, he said, will decide which seats will go to women. Earlier, Rajya Sabha Chairman Dhankhar said he has dispensed with the provision of giving a two-day notice before the introduction of a bill so as to allow the women's reservation bill to be tabled and discussed in the Upper House the very next day of its passage in the Lok Sabha.
Key changes in the bill
- 181 seats in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.
- 33 per cent of 84 seats for Scheduled Castes in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.
- 33 per cent of 47 seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Lok Sabha will be reserved for women now.
- 33 per cent of constituencies in all state assemblies will be reserved for women now.
- Rotation of seats reserved for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies to take place after each delimitation exercise.
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