Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) congratulated women across the country for the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill known as ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’. PM Modi was felicitated and garlanded by the women workers of the BJP. The Prime Minister greeted them back by bowing down with joined hands.
“The nation which had been waiting for this decision, that dream has been fulfilled,” Modi said. “Today, every woman’s self-confidence is touching the skies. Our daughters and mothers are celebrating and blessing us today,” he said.
The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was passed in the Lok Sabha with a majority vote of 454 and was passed unanimously in the Rajya Sabha.
Reaching out to women voters, the PM launched a scathing attack on the opposition. He said that attempts to pass the Bill had been made for the past three decades but it wasn’t materialising.
#WATCH | Women's Reservation Policy | When an absolute majority of Government came to power in the country, such a huge work could be completed…We did not let anyone's selfishness become a wall before women's reservation. Before this, whenever this Bill came before the… pic.twitter.com/HuQxpVQGTZ
— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2023
“We did not let anyone’s political greed block women’s reservation. Before this, whenever this Bill was introduced in Parliament, they whitewashed it by merely registering names but did not make dedicated attempts. They created a ruckus, they even attempted to insult women,” the PM said hitting out at the previous UPA alliance and Congress governments.
Moreover, PM Modi highlighted that while votes were cast in the Lok Sabha on 20 September but some people had a problem with the usage of the term ‘Nari Shakti Vandana’. “Should the woman of this nation not be worshipped? Should mothers and sisters not be greeted? Should their respect not be encouraged? Should us men become so arrogant, should political ideologies become so arrogant that the usage of ‘Nari Shakti Vandana’ term irks them?”
PM said that those who used to tear the Bill apart, today they had to support it because women have emerged as a “Shakti” in the nation in the past 10 years. He said, “And we assimilated strength and willingness in the country before we entered the Parliament so that no one is able to move in the Parliament. We went to the Parliament prepared.”
PM said, “The BJP had been fighting for this Bill for the past three decades. This was our commitment and today we have fulfilled it.” He thanked all political parties and Members of Parliament for supporting the Bill while also recalling that the Bill had to face several obstructions in the past.
The Prime Minister listed the various schemes and campaigns organised by his government for women’s upliftment including Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samridhi Yojana, Nirbhaya Fund, Ujjawala Scheme, Mahila Shakti Kendra, Mudra Yojana, and so on.
PM said that his government abolished notorious practices like Triple Talaq which were used to subject women to atrocities. “We stopped such atrocities by making a law against the practice. Today, crores of our Muslim sisters are protected from the practice of Triple Talaq. They too are now coming forward for their rights,” PM said.
PM Modi in his concluding remarks said that the biggest benefit of this Bill would be that it will boost the confidence of the women of the nation. The bill, when becomes law, will provide one-third (33%) reservation to women in the lower house of the parliament, and state assemblies including Delhi.
