The passage of the historic reservation for women by both Houses of Parliament is the major highlight of the five-day-long special session which began on Monday.
The landmark 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' will provide 33 percent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the women's reservation bill on Wednesday for its passage in the Lok Sabha saying it is a very important bill and urged all members to pass it unanimously.
Mr. Meghwal said that the government would consider whatever suggestions come up during the discussion on the bill. He asserted that if Parliament decides, the quota for women can be extended beyond 15 years.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill 'Narishakti Vandan Adhiniyam' was introduced in the Lower House. It was also the first bill introduced in the new Parliament building. The reservation will come into effect only after the completion of the delimitation exercise.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Union Minister Anupriya Patel, Rajiv Ranjan Singh of JD(U), Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar of the Trinamool Congress, Sangeeta Azad of Bahujan Samaj Party, Nama Nageswara Rao of Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Bhavana Gawali of the Shiv Sena (Shinde), Sunita Duggal of the BJP, Dimple Yadav of Samajwadi Party and Harsimrat Kaur Badal of Shiromani Akali Dal are among others who participated in the discussion.
In the Rajya Sabha, Elamaram Kareem of CPI(M), Ram Nath Thakur of the JD(U), K Keshava Rao of Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Saroj Pandey of the BJP, Birendra Prasad Baishya of Asom Gana Parishad, H D Devegowda of JD(S), Manoj Jha of the RJD, V Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP, KC Venugopal, Rajani Ashokrao Patil of Congress, Mausam Noor of the TMC, Sulata Deo of the BJD, Subhas Chandra Bose Pilli of YSRCP, Ravichandra Vaddiraju of BRS and K Ravindra Kumar of TDP, Derek O'Brien of Trinamool Congress, Jaya Bachchan of Samajwadi Party, Sushil Kumar Modi of BJP, Priyanka Chaturvedi of Shiv Sena (UBT), Amee Yajnik and Phulo Devi Netam of Congress, Manas Ranjan Mangraj, Sujeet Kumar and Muzibulla Khan of Biju Janata Dal, Ghanshyam Tiwari and Kavita Patidar of BJP, Ryaga Krishnaiah YSRCP, Jayant Chaudhary of RLD, Seema Dwivedi, S Phangnon Konyak, Sumitra Balmik, Darshana Singh (all BJP), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), G K Vasan (TMC-M), Ramji (BSP), Ajit Kumar Bhuyan (Ind), PT Usha (Nom) and Santosh Kumar P (CPI) also participated in the discussion and supported the bill on Thursday.
Arjun Ram Meghwal said that it was part of a series of measures the government has taken for the empowerment of women while Introducing the bill, which was approved by a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. Meghwal recounted the measures initiated by the Narendra Modi government for the empowerment of women over the last nine years.
He said that from opening zero-balance, Jan Dhan accounts in the name of women to constructing lakhs of toilets, making women owners or co-owners of dwelling units given under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and giving free cooking gas connections to women were steps to give dignity and respect to women. He added that 68 percent of the beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana are women.
Meghwal said the 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will be both horizontal and vertical, thereby applying to the Scheduled Castes Scheduled Tribes category as well.
He said that the delimitation commission would decide which seats would go to women.
Bidding farewell to the old Parliament building, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday sang paeans to first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and subsequent leaders, including Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, P V Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, but also reminded the Lok Sabha of the 'cash-for-vote' scam during the Manmohan Singh government.
Initiating the discussion in the Lok Sabha on "Parliamentary Journey of 75 years starting from Samvidhan Sabha — Achievements, Experiences, Memories and Learnings", Modi also said there were celebrations everywhere when three new states of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were created during Vajpayee's time but lamented that Telangana being carved out of Andhra Pradesh led to only bitterness and bloodshed in both the states.
PM Modi said, it is a very emotional moment to bid farewell to this building. As we leave this building our mind is filled with many emotions and memories.
In his 52-minute speech, the Prime Minister recalled the bravery of Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt who hurled bombs in the same Parliament to wake up the British Empire from its slumber. The echo of that bomb still gives sleepless nights to those who wish well for this country.
Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt had hurled bombs in the Delhi Central legislative assembly-The Present Parliament House.
Modi said it was in this Parliament that Pandit Nehru delivered his "tryst with destiny" speech "at the stroke of midnight hour" and his words continue to inspire everyone.
He said that "in the same House, Atalji's words about 'sarkarein aayegi, jayegi; partiyan banegi, bigdegi; lekin yeh desh rehna chahiye' (governments may come and go; parties may be formed or disbanded; but this nation has to live on) continue to echo even today". The Prime Minister said the biggest achievement of these 75 years was that the common person's trust in Parliament continues to grow.
"We may as well move to the new building, but this old building will always inspire generations to come," Modi said.
He said that it was also an occasion to hail everyone who had led this House and shared their vision for India, ranging from Pandit Nehru to Vajpayee.
