Rajya Sabha Passes Bills To Extend Women’s Reservation To J&K, Puducherry

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned till 4 p.m. on Monday after two Bills to introduce reservation for women in legislative assemblies of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir were passed by voice vote in the House amid an uproar by the opposition over the Parliament security breach.

The Government of Union Territories (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Second Amendment) Bill were passed by the Lok Sabha last week.

The Bills were passed by the Upper House amid continuous sloganeering by opposition parties, who have been demanding that Union Home Minister Amit Shah make a statement on the December 13 security breach in the House.

After the passage of the Bills, Chairman Jagdeep 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. Its findings will be shared with the House in due course," the chairman said.

As the uproar continued, Dhankhar 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.

Rajya Sabha proceedings witnessed two adjournments in the morning session and met again at 2 p.m. 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 passed within nearly 20 minutes of being tabled by Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai.

Rai requested all members to support the Bills 'in favour of women's rights'.

Members spoke briefly on the Bills, extending their support to the proposed legislations. Some members urged the central government to hold elections in Jammu and Kashmir at the earliest.