Chairman takes Oppn to task for uproar during bill
*Some MPs call for Assembly polls in UT
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 18: The Rajya Sabha today passed Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill granting 33 percent reservation to women in the Union Territory Legislative Assembly within 20 minutes following pandemonium in the House by the Opposition members who were demanding Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on December 13 Parliament security breach,
After passage of the bill, Chairman Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar said it was painful that when the issue of rights to half of the humanity including mothers, sisters, and grandmothers was being taken up in the House, the behaviour of Opposition members was not appropriate.
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“The Upper House was expected to aid progressive legislation as women were getting rights after seven decades in the form of one-third reservation to them in Lok Sabha and State Legislatures. This behaviour by some of the Opposition members isn’t appropriate. I’m in deep pain,” Dhankhar remarked.
“There are slogans…uproar…Where are we heading?” the Chairman asked.
Dhankhar said the security breach is a matter of ”collective concern”.
”Incidents of such nature have also occurred in the past. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that this august institution works in the safest and most conducive atmosphere. A high-level enquiry committee for an in-depth investigation of the incident and formulating a concrete action plan to ensure that such incidents do not occur has already been constituted by Speaker Lok Sabha (Om Birla). Its findings will be shared with the House in due course,” the Chairman said.
He said he was in a ”helpless situation”, expressing hope that Leader of Opposition (Mallikarjun Kharge) would see him in his chamber. The Chairman then adjourned the House till 4 pm.
As the bill was passed by Lok Sabha on December 12, it has now been cleared by both Houses of the Parliament and will become law following nod by the President.
Rajya Sabha passed Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) bill granting 33 percent reservation to women in the UT Assembly within 20 minutes due to din in the House. The House also cleared similar reservation for Puducherry Assembly.
Rajya Sabha proceedings witnessed two adjournments in the morning session and met again at 2 pm as opposition parties led by the Congress raised the issue of Parliament security breach.
The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill were tabled by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on behalf of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
V Vijayasai Reddy (YSRCP), Kavita Patidar (BJP), M Thambidurai (AIADMK), S Phangnon Konyak (BJP), Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar (TDP), Rakesh Sinha (Nominated), Jaggesh (BJP) and Birendra Prasad Baishya (Asom Gana Parishad) were among the members who spoke in support of the Bills amidst continued sloganeering by the Opposition members.
Some Opposition members were on their feet raising slogans in support of their demand.
Meanwhile, members of the Treasury benches and some other parties spoke in favour of the Bills, asserting that they seek to provide reservation to women in Assemblies of Puducherry, and Jammu and Kashmir.
Some members urged the Central Government to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill stipulates that seats shall be reserved for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
It states that as nearly as may be, “one-third of the seats reserved under Sub-Section (7) of Section 14 (of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019) shall be reserved for women belonging to the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in the Legislative Assembly of the Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir”.
These provisions shall be inserted in the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
In the House of 90 in Jammu and Kashmir, seven seats are reserved for SCs (eight percent) and nine for STs (10 percent). Out of seven seats reserved for SCs, two will be reserved for SC Women while among nine seats reserved for STs, three will be reserved for ST Women.
Among 74 General Category seats, 25 will be reserved for General Category Women, the bill stated.
“A total of 30 seats will be reserved for Women including those for SCs and STs in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly,” as per provisions of the bill.
This reservation will be over and above two seats to be nominated from among the Women in the Legislative Assembly. Out of two seats proposed to be filled from Kashmir Pandit migrants, one will be compulsorily a woman.
This will take strength of elected and nominated women in the Legislative Assembly to at least 34.
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