Women’s Reservation Bill of Uttarakhand has got the approval of the Governor on Tuesday. With the approval of the Raj Bhavan, women candidates have also got the legal right of 30 percent horizontal reservation in government jobs.
On November 30, 2022, the state government passed the bill unanimously in the assembly and sent it to the Raj Bhavan. The Women’s Reservation Bill, along with 14 Bills passed in the House during the winter session of the Legislative Assembly, mostly amended Bills, also had to get the assent of the Governor.
Most of the Bills got approval from the Raj Bhavan, but the Women’s Horizontal Reservation Bill remained under consideration. Raj Bhavan got the bill examined by justice and legal experts before approving it. Because of this, it took a month to get the bill approved. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami had recently indicated about the early implementation of the Women’s Horizontal Reservation Act. According to Raj Bhavan sources, the bill has been sent to the Legislative Department with the approval of the Governor.
What happened when the women’s horizontal reservation
- On July 18, 2001, the interim government issued a mandate for 20 percent reservation.
- On July 24, 2006, the then Tiwari government increased it from 20 to 30 percent.
- On 26 August 2022, the High Court stayed the mandate of reservation during the hearing of a petition.
- On 04 November 2022, the Supreme Court stayed the order of the High Court in the hearing on the Government’s SLP.
- On 29 November 2022, the government introduced the bill in the House of Assembly.
On 30 November 2022, the government passed the bill unanimously and sent it to the Raj Bhavan. - On 10 January 2022, the Governor approved the bill.
ND Tiwari government had ordered
On July 24, 2006, the Congress’s Narayan Dutt Tiwari government issued an order for 30 percent horizontal reservation for women of Uttarakhand in state government jobs. The petitioners challenged this order in the High Court. On this the High Court had stayed the order. It was submitted by the counsel for the petitioners that the State Government does not have the power to provide reservation based on the residence of the State. The Constitution of India only allows the Parliament to make reservations on the basis of domicile. The 2006 order of the State Government is in violation of Articles 14, 16, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.
12 Bills approved, two remaining
14 Bills were sent to the Raj Bhavan for approval. Of these, 12 including women’s reservation have been approved. While the Indian Stamp Uttarakhand Amendment Bill and the Haridwar University Bill are yet to be approved by the Raj Bhavan.
