Parliament LIVE: Lok Sabha unanimously passes Women's Reservation Bill 2023

On the third day of the special session of Parliament, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi to lead as the party's speaker for the debate on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam or women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha today.

The women's reservation bill aims to reserve one-third of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. Union law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Tuesday tabled the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building.

Meghawal, while introducing the amendment, said the number of women members in the 543-member Lok Sabha will rise to 181, from 82 currently, after the law comes into force.

The bill has proposed that the reservation will continue for a period of 15 years and there will be a one-third quota for women also within the seats reserved for SC/STs. The reservation of "as nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election" will come into effect after a delimitation exercise is undertaken and will continue for 15 years.

Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each subsequent delimitation exercise, according to the bill.