General category women to get 25 seats
RS may take up Reservation Bill on Monday
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 15: One-third of the total seats reserved for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, will be reserved for same category of women while one-third of the rest will be reserved for the women from the general category, as per Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Second Amendment) bill tabled in the Rajya Sabha for discussion and passing which couldn’t be taken up due to uproar but is expected to figure on Monday if everything goes well.
In the House of 90, seven seats are reserved for SCs (eight percent) and nine for STs (10 percent). Out of seven seats reserved for SCs, three 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 31 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.
The Women Reservation Bill, which was passed in Lok Sabha on December 12, said the provisions related to reservation of seats for women in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir shall come into effect after an exercise of delimitation is undertaken for this purpose after the relevant figures for the first census Taken after commencement of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Second Amendment) Act, 2023, have been published and shall cease to have effect on expiration of a period of 15 years from such commencement.
As per the bill, seats reserved for women in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir shall continue till such date as Parliament may by law determine. Further, rotation of women reserved seats shall take effect after such subsequent exercise of delimitation as Parliament may by law determine.
“In order to enable greater representation and participation of women as public representatives in law making processes of the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, it is decided to introduce the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Second Amendment) Bill, 2023 to provide for as nearly as may be, one third of total seats in the Legislative Assembly to be reserved for women,” the bill said.
The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on December 12 and was listed in Rajya Sabha on December 14 but wasn’t taken up due to protests by the Opposition members. It is now expected to figure in the Rajya Sabha on Monday if everything goes well.
In Lok Sabha, the bill was introduced by Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai on behalf of Home Minister Amit Shah. He also replied to the debate.
Besides taking up the Women Reservation Bill, the Parliament had passed two bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir during ongoing winter session including the one providing two nominated seats to Kashmiri Pandit migrants, one of them a woman, and one Pakistan occupied Jammu Kashmir (PoJK) refugee. Another bill providing reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for the first time in Jammu and Kashmir has also been cleared by the Parliament.
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