Women reservation bill will give wings to Indian women

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SHUBHRA SINGH CDRI

05 March, 2010

This time there are strong indications that the bill may get Cabinet nod as the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself, along with the BJP want the Bill to get through, in this session of Parliament.

INDIAN WOMEN have proven themselves in every sphere of life. They are no longer a weaker sex. They have reached top positions in every possible field which were once dominated by their male counterparts.

Their dedication and perseverance to excel have often made men feel insecure in many areas and now with the women reservation bill coming to Parliament for its approval, they will be getting some 33 per cent of the total seats reserved for them in all the legislatIVE constituencies of the state assemblies and in the Parliament as well, which has made alarm bells ringing amidst the male members who don’t want to lose their majority and hold in the house.

There has been a great divide among the members of this august house over making 33 per cent of the seats reserved which would led many sitting MPs to lose their current parliamentary seat in the next coming general elections. They are also apprehensive of the fact that their political equations would get adversely affected after they get out of their political den to contest elections on some other open seat which would not be a child’s play considering caste factors and the amount of work which they have to do in that constituency to woo voters in their favour.

This time there are strong indications that the bill may get Cabinet nod as the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself, along with the members of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) want the Bill to get through, in this session of Parliament.

The much awaited Bill that was formulated during the regime of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in 1996, when he was in power (United Front govt.) never got its due, following lack of political consensus, especially when it got strong opposition from several backward leaders like Samajwadi party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and his counterpart RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who remained adamant in opposing the Bill granting reservation of 33 percent to women in both the Parliament and Assembly seats.

As the Bill found its place in the President's address to Parliament this time on Monday when it was stated that efforts would be made to get it passed in the present Budget session with no changes to the bill, I feel it will be a great victory to the Indian women who have always stood up for their rights in solidarity and have been doing yeomen service which often go unnoticed and don’t get a word of praise from any quarter.

The other Bill for a constitutional amendment to provide 50 per cent reservation for women in ‘Gram Panchayats’ and other Urban local bodies has also been introduced in the Parliament and expected that it will be passed in the current session of the Parliament. Many of the women MPs feel the increase in the number of fairer sex in Parliament would change the picture for better and it would contribute for the betterment of Indian society in a larger way, as women form the backbone of our society.