In a historic move, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar reconstituted the panel of vice chairpersons on Thursday, comprising 13 women Rajya Sabha members for the day as the House discussed the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill, 2023.
The Rajya Sabha Chairman emphasized that the presence of women MPs on the chair would send a powerful message to the world at large and it would symbolise that they held a ‘commanding position’ during this epochal moment of change. The women Rajya Sabha members nominated to the panel of vice-chairpersons are P T Usha, SPhangnon Konyak, Jaya Bachchan, Saroj Pandey, Rajani Ashokrao Patil, Fauzia Khan, Dola Sen, Indu Bala Goswami, Kanimozhi NVN Somu, Kavita Patidar, Mahua Maji, Kalpana Saini and Sulata Deo.
The decision was taken as the discussion is going on in the Rajya Sabha on the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam (Women’s Reservation Bill) 2023 during the Special Parliament Session held in the new parliament building.
The Lok Sabha passed the bill on Wednesday. The reservation bill has been introduced by various governments since 1996 and has failed to reach consensus every time. This is not only a historic moment for the bill, which ensures equal representation of women in the lower house of Parliament, but it is also the first bill to be tabled in the new parliament building.
