Madhya Pradesh’s Bold Move 35% Reservation for women in Government Jobs

Government recruitment in the state of Madhya Pradesh will now include 35% reservation for women in Government Jobs for all posts, with the exception of those in the Forest Department. In order to implement this reservation, the state government modified the 1997 Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (Special Provisions for the Appointment of Women) Rules.

The announcement states that 35% of all government jobs, save those in the Forest Department, shall be earmarked for women during direct recruitment, regardless of any stipulations in service standards. The reservation will be made departmentally and horizontally.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the chief minister, has already proposed 50% reservation for women in teaching roles as well as 35% reservation for women in the police and other government positions. Women will be given preference in municipal authorities, including posts as aldermen. Girls’ tuition will be covered by the government, giving their access to high-quality education. The Women’s Reservation Bill just passed in Parliament with President Draupadi Murmu’s blessing.

How will MP Government implement the 35% reservation for women in government jobs?

“Regardless of any provisions in service rules, 35% of positions in all state departments, with the exception of the Forest Department, will be reserved for women during direct recruitment,” the state’s General Administration Department announced in a notice on Thursday. Direct hiring will be done across departments and with the aforementioned reservation. Notably, this action was taken immediately before Madhya Pradesh’s scheduled assembly elections.

MP Government recently “Women’s Empowerment Initiatives”

Madhya Pradesh was the first state to introduce 50% reservation for women in Panchayat and municipal body elections, according to reporting by India Today. The state also offers reduced rates for property registration in a woman’s name and has a 30% reserve for women in the police force. The state government will pay for the admission of girls to prestigious educational institutes, Chouhan also declared in May.

Under the Ladli Behna Yojana:

• The Chief Minister has announced that starting from October 1st, 1.25 crore women will receive ₹1,250 (under the Ladli Behna Yojana), and this amount will gradually increase to ₹3,000 per month. The goal is to uplift the economic and social status of women.

• According to government figures, eligible women have received a total of ₹3,628.85 crore as financial assistance under the Ladli Behna Yojana, which commenced on June 10th this year.

• Women aged 23 to 60 years receive ₹1,000 per month under the scheme if they are not income taxpayers and their family’s annual income is less than ₹2.5 lakh.

• The Chief Minister aims to increase women’s income to at least ₹10,000 per month through this government initiative.

• He also announced an increase in reservation for women in government jobs from the existing 30% to 35%, and in teacher recruitment, this reservation will be raised to 50%.

Out of the 230 legislative assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, which includes tribal regions like Balaghat, Mandla, Dindori, Alirajpur, and Jhabua, at least 18 seats had more female voters than male voters. According to officials, since 2018, there have been 2.79% more new female voters in MP than new male voters, who have climbed by 2.30%. 7.07 lakh of the 13.39 million new voters are women.

Initiatives in the State Focused on Women:

The BJP has prioritised women-centric projects in Madhya Pradesh in preparation for the 2018 assembly elections. For the first time, the state implemented a 50% female reservation for Panchayat and municipal body elections. Additionally, there is a 30% reserve for women in the police department. The state also offers reduced costs for registering property in a woman’s name.

The BJP administration, led by Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has also introduced the Chief Minister Kanyadan Yojana, a programme for wedding expenditures.The Ladli Behna Yojana, which Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan unveiled earlier this year, is the most latest and comprehensive programme assisting women. According to India.com, this programme provides women from middle-class households in the state with ₹1,000 every month. Additionally, this programme is open to women from all groups and has a special budget of ₹3,628.85 crore set aside for it.

The cornerstone of the BJP’s campaign plan for the 2018 parliamentary elections in Madhya Pradesh is a focus on women’s issues.

The first state to introduce a 50% reservation for women in elections for Panchayats and urban local governments was Madhya Pradesh. In addition, women are given a 30% reserve in the police department. If the property is registered in a woman’s name, the state additionally offers a reduced charge.
The BJP administration launched the “Mukhyamantri Kanyadan Yojana” to support weddings under Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s direction.

The ‘Ladli Behna Yojana,’ which provides qualifying women with Rs 1,250 per month, is the most recent and comprehensive effort for women’s empowerment. Up to this point, 13.2 million people have received benefits statewide.

The Madhya Pradesh government has introduced a new programme called the “Ladli Behna Yojana,” under which women in the middle-income range are given Rs. 1,000 each month. A specific budget of Rs. 3,628.85 crores is available for this programme, which is open to all women from various backgrounds.

The Ladli Behna Yojana funds are transferred by the government of Madhya Pradesh :

On Wednesday, Chouhan stated that as part of the Ladli Behna Yojana, 1.25 crore women will get a direct deposit of Rs. 1,250 into their bank accounts. To improve the social and economic position of women, this payment would progressively rise to Rs. 3,000 each month. The Chief Minister also promised that women will be given industrial land on which to build small-scale businesses.

33% of Lok Sabha seats are reserved for women

The Rajya Sabha overwhelmingly approved the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,’ which grants women 33% of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures, making it the first measure to be approved in the new Parliament building.

After debate, the measure was approved on September 20 with 454 votes in favour and 2 against. Voting took taken on the bill’s different parts after opposition members offered objectionable modifications.

According to the Hindu calendar, the “Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam” was approved “unanimously” on September 21, the day the Prime Minister was born.

When introducing the bill in the Lok Sabha, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, “This constitutional change is both horizontal and vertical. Because the census and delimitation are required, it also offers reservations for women who are SC and ST. He emphasised that following the delimitation process, the Delimitation Commission will decide which seats women would receive.

Principal Elements of the Bill:

Women’s Seat Reserving:
The law ‘as far as practical’ reserves one-third of the Lok Sabha, state legislature, and National Capital Territory of Delhi legislative assembly seats for women. It also applies to the Lok Sabha and state legislature seats set aside for SC and ST citizens.

Reservations will start to be honoured when the census is released, which will happen after this bill is published. According to population, seats will be set aside for women.

Rotation of Seats:
In accordance with the legislation approved by Parliament, the seats designated for women will change following each delimitation.
BJP’s Position

High-ranking According to BJP insiders, the delimitation and census procedures are proper. “The issue of reservation in Parliament is both vertical (SC/ST) and horizontal (for women).” According to reports, it makes sense to impose reserve after delimitation in this situation.

It would be inaccurate to refer to women’s reservations as horizontal. This is due to the fact that the Lok Sabha already reserves 120 seats for members of the SC/ST community. Given that women’s reservation also affects SC/ST reserve, there would be an overlap. Therefore, if reservation is implemented after delimitation, it would ensure that the problem of “overlap” is adequately managed without any legal issues, which may entirely stall the process of women’s reservation. Additionally, it will guarantee that women have sufficient seats and According to the census, low-attendance districts have appropriate representation,’ sources added.