The Constitution (One Hundred Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023

LOK SABHA ———— The following Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 19th September, 2023:— BILL NO. 124 OF 2023 A Bill further to amend the Constitution of India. BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-fourth Year of the Republic of India as follows:— 1.(1) This Act may be called the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2023. (2) It shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint. 2.In article 239AA of the Constitution, in clause (2), after sub-clause ( b), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:— “(ba) Seats shall be reserved for women in the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. (bb) As nearly as may be, one-third of the seats reserved for the Scheduled Castes in the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi shall bereserved for women. (bc) As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats to be filled by direct election in the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi(including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes)shall be reserved for women in such manner as Parliament may by law determine.”.Short title andcommencement.vlk/kkj.k EXTRAORDINARY Hkkx II — [k.M 2 PART II — Section 2 izkf/kdkj ls izdkf'kr PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY lañ 24] ubZ fnYyh] eaxyokj] flrEcj 19] 2023@Hkknzin 28] 1945 ¼'kd½ No. 24] NEW DELHI, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2023/BHADRA 28, 1945 (SAKA) bl Hkkx esa fHkUu i`"B la[;k nh tkrh gS ftlls fd ;g vyx ladyu ds :i esa j[kk tk ldsA Separate paging is given to this Part in order that it may be filed as a separate compilation.xxxGIDHxxx jftLVªh lañ Mhñ ,yñ —(,u)04@0007@2003 —23 REGISTERED NO. DL—(N)04/0007/2003—23 Amendment of article 239AA. CG-DL-E-20092023-248832 CG-DL-E-20092023-248832 CG-DL-E-20092023-248832 3.After article 330 of the Constitution, the following article shall be inserted, namely:— “330A. ( 1) Seats shall be reserved for women in the House of the People. (2) As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (2) of article 330 shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or theScheduled Tribes. (3) As nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes) of the total number of seatsto be filled by direct election to the House of the People shall be reserved for women.”. 4.After article 332 of the Constitution, the following article shall be inserted, namely:— “332A. ( 1) Seats shall be reserved for women in the Legislative Assembly of every State. (2) As nearly as may be, one-third of the total number of seats reserved under clause (3) of article 332 shall be reserved for women belonging to the ScheduledCastes or the Scheduled Tribes. (3) As nearly as may be, one-third (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) of the total numberof seats to be filled by direct election in the Legislative Assembly of every State shallbe reserved for women.”. 5.After article 334 of the Constitution, the following article shall be inserted, namely:— “334A. ( 1) Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provision of this Part or Part VIII, the provisions of the Constitution relating to the reservation of seats forwomen in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State and theLegislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi shall come into effectafter an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevantfigures for the first census taken after commencement of the Constitution(One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2023 have been published andshall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of fifteen years from suchcommencement. (2) Subject to the provisions of articles 239AA, 330A and 332A, seats reserved for women in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State and theLegislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi shall continue till suchdate as the Parliament may by law determine. (3) Rotation of seats reserved for women in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State and the Legislative Assembly of the National CapitalTerritory of Delhi shall take effect after each subsequent exercise of delimitation asthe Parliament may by law determine. (4) Nothing in this article shall affect any representation in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State or the Legislative Assembly of the NationalCapital Territory of Delhi until the dissolution of the then existing House of thePeople, Legislative Assembly of a State or the Legislative Assembly of the NationalCapital Territory of Delhi.”. 6.The amendments made to the Constitution by the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 2023 shall not af fect any representation in the House of the People, the Legislative Assembly of a State or the Legislative Assembly of the NationalCapital Territory of Delhi until the dissolution of the House of the People, the LegislativeAssembly of a State or the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi,as the case may be, in existence at the commencement of the said Act.Insertion of newarticle 330A. Reservation of seats forwomen in theHouse of thePeople. Insertion of new article 332A. Reservation of seats for womenin theLegislativeAssemblies ofthe States. Amendment not to affect reservation in the House of thePeople, the Legislative Assembly of aState or the Legislative Assembly of theNational Capital Territory of Delhi.Insertion of new article 334A. Reservation of seats for womentake effect. SEC. 2] THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY 3 STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS After completing 75 years of Independence, the nation has begun its journey into Amritkal with a goal of becoming ‘Vikasit Bharat’ by 2047. Realisation of this goal willrequire contribution of all sections of society in the spirit of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas’. The role of women, constituting a half of the population, isextremely important in realisation of this goal. 2. Government has taken a number of steps to bring ‘Nari Shakti’ to the forefront through women’s empowerment and women led development resulting in substantialimprovement in financial independence of women and availability of equal access to educationand health. Government has also emphasised ‘Ease of Living’, especially of women, throughvarious initiatives including Ujjawala Yojana, access to toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission,financial inclusion through the Mudra Yojna, etc. However, true empowerment of womenwill require greater participation of women in the decision making process as they bringdifferent perspectives and enrich the quality of legislative debates and decision-making. 3. While women participate substantively in the Panchayat Raj institutions and municipal bodies, their representation in the State Legislatures as well as in Parliament isstill limited, Providing for higher representation of women at State and National level hasalso been a long pending demand. There have been several efforts to introduce women’sreservation in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. The last such attempt wasmade in 2010, when the Rajya Sabha had passed a Bill for women’s reservation, but the samecould not be passed in the Lok Sabha. 4. In order to enable greater participation of women as public representative in policy making at State and National level, it is decided to introduce a fresh legislation forConstitutional amendment to provide for, as nearly as may be, one-third of total seats in theHouse of the People, the legislative assembly of every State and the Legislative Assemblyof the National Capital Territory of Delhi to be reserved for women. 5. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives. New Delhi; ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL. The 18th September, 2023. MGIPMRND—344GI(S3)—19-9-2023.UPLOADED BY THE MANAGER, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PRESS, MINTO ROAD, NEW DELHI–110002 AND PUBLISHED BY THE CONTROLLER OF PUBLICA TIONS, DELHI–110054.FINANCIAL MEMORANDUM The Bill, if enacted, is not likely to involve any expenditure, either recurring or non-recurring, from and out of the Consolidated Fund of India. —————— UTPAL KUMAR SINGH Secretary-General.4 THE GAZETTE OF INDIA EXTRAORDINARY [P ART II— S EC. 2]