Women’s Bill debate dominates House
A special mention on the International Women’s Day to mark the occasion in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday turned out to be a full fledged debate over Women Reservation Bill with Speaker Meira Kumar assuring the House that she would call a meeting of leaders of all the political parties to thrash out differences on the issue.
Meanwhile, the passionate debate over the issue forced the poet in Ms Kumar to come out, as she, while wrapping up the discourse, said, pankh bhi hai, khula aasmaan bhi hai, par na ud pane ki majburi kyon hai, so arakshan zaroori hai (They possess wings and clear sky, but are unable to fly, therefore making reservation necessary).
The Speaker’s announcement came after Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee along with other leaders suggested that Ms Kumar should take the initiative for arriving at a consensus over the issue by calling a meeting after the April-May Assembly elections in five states.
Mr Mukherjee while expressing the government’s commitment to pass the Bill in the Lok Sabha sought the Opposition’s cooperation in this endeavour. The Speaker’s response came during the Zero Hour after several members had spoken on the issue. However, on the expected lines there were sharp differences over the quota for women in the Lok Sabha and Assembly, as proposed in the Bill, which has been passed by the Rajya Sabha. It was Ms Swaraj, who took the lead when she made a forceful plea for extending 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament ans state Assemblies, saying it would go a long way in their empowerment in the same way as the 74th Constitution Amendment Bill providing for reservation in panchayats and local bodies had done. Responding to the members’ views, Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee said, “I entirely agree with the Leader of Opposition. It will be highly appreciative if some initiative is taken by you to try to find a solution, if possible through reconciliation.” Supporting reservation for women, the Speaker said that after the Assembly polls, a meeting of parties should be called to evolve a consensus. “I feel reservation is important. I am fully hopeful that some solution will emerge,” she added. But Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP), Sharad Yadav (JD-S) and Raghuvansh Prasad Singh (RJD) warned of dire consequences if quota within quota was not provided.
Post new comment