India’s lower house of parliament has passed a “historic” bill that would reserve one in three legislative seats for women.
The women's reservation bill passed late on Wednesday and proposes 33 per cent of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha (lower house) and 1,370 of the 4,109 seats in state legislative assemblies are reserved for female politicians. It will also give sub-reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The legislation is unlikely to be implemented until after 2027, triggering allegations from the opposition that it is a political gimmick ahead of next year's national elections.
The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with the support of 454 parliamentarians.
Only two members, Asaduddin Owaisi and Syed Imtiyaz Jaleel of the All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, opposed the bill, saying it should reserve places for Muslim women.
It will now be tabled in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, for debate on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who introduced the bill, officially titled Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, said he was “delighted” with the passage of the “historic” legislation.
“The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam is a historic legislation which will further boost women empowerment and will enable even greater participation of women in our political process,” Mr Modi said on X, formerly Twitter.
The debate lasted for eight hours and saw 60 members including 27 women take part. The voting process took two a further two hours, with members casting their ballots using paper slips.
Home Minister Amit Shah said that a census will be carried out to implement the bill after next year's elections.
The census will be followed by the demarcation of new boundaries for parliamentary and assembly constituencies.
Opposition parties have demanded that the bill be implemented immediately.
“It is the demand of the Congress to implement the bill immediately,” said Sonia Gandhi of the Indian National Congress, who led the debate.
She also urged the inclusion of the provisions for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other minority groups in the bill.
Schedule Caste are reserved categories for people belonging to lower caste in the Hindu caste hierarchy system. Scheduled Tribes are reserved categories for indigenous tribal communities. The Other Backward Classes are described as groups who are educationally or socially disadvantaged.
The bill was first introduced in Lok Sabha in 1996 but failed to win approval. It was later proposed in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002 and 2008.
It was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010 following two days of tense debate, with marshals escorting some of the opposition politicians. The bill then lapsed after failing to make it through the lower house.
The government, which is holding a five-day special session of parliament this week, met cabinet ministers late on Monday before introducing the bill.
There are currently 78 female politicians in the lower house, about 14 per cent of the 543 members. Most state assemblies are made up of 10 to 12 per cent women, the government said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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SQUADS
Bangladesh (from): Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Soumya Sarkar, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Mahmudullah Riyad, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Mosaddek Hossain, Nayeem Hasan, Mehedi Hasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Abu Jayed
Afghanistan (from): Rashid Khan (capt), Ihsanullah Janat, Javid Ahmadi, Ibrahim Zadran, Rahmat Shah, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Asghar Afghan, Ikram Alikhil, Mohammad Nabi, Qais Ahmad, Sayed Ahmad Shirzad, Yamin Ahmadzai, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Afsar Zazai, Shapoor Zadran
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
BMW M5 specs
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Power: 727hp
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Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 10.6L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh650,000
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5
How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
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What are the regulations?
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The bio
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite travel destination: Maldives and south of France
Favourite pastime: Family and friends, meditation, discovering new cuisines
Favourite Movie: Joker (2019). I didn’t like it while I was watching it but then afterwards I loved it. I loved the psychology behind it.
Favourite Author: My father for sure
Favourite Artist: Damien Hurst
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
INFO
Everton 0
Arsenal 0
Man of the Match: Djibril Sidibe (Everton)
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
