Women's quota may not be possible even in 2029: TMC's Mahua Moitra

Terming the women's reservation bill a "sham", Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday said it should be renamed as "women's reservation rescheduling bill" and asserted that what was needed was action not the "placebo of legislatively-mandated procrastination".

Participating in a debate on the bill in Lok Sabha, Moitra said women's reservation is dependent on two totally "indeterminate dates" and asked, "can there be a greater jumla".

"It is both my pride and my shame as I stand here in India's Parliament speaking on a women's reservation bill. It is my pride that I belong to the All India Trinamool Congress, a party that sent 37 per cent women among its members to Parliament, but it is my chagrin that I belong to a Lok Sabha that on aggregate has only 15 per cent of its people as women, far below the global average of 26.5 per cent and also below the Asian regional average of 21 per cent," she said.

"As this government pats itself on rankings in various global tables let it also hang its head in disgrace that the same India ranks 140 out of 196 in the Inter Parliamentary Union tables in women's reservations," Moitra said.

The TMC member pointed out that within women parliamentarians, women and Dalits have been consistently under-represented.

In 17th Lok Sabha, there are only two Muslim women members and both from TMC, she said.

Pointing out that the reservation would come into effect only after a census and subsequently a delimitation exercise is carried out, Moitra said, "It actually means that in true BJP's doublespeak-style, we do not know if and actually when we will have 33 per cent women sitting in the Lok Sabha because the date of the next census is indeterminate, and the date of the delimitation exercise is doubly indeterminate."

"Women's reservation is dependent on two totally indeterminate dates, can there be a greater jumla. Forget 2024, this may not be possible in 2029," she said.

Hailing West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Moitra said she is the mother of this bill and had given birth to the original idea as 37 per cent of TMC MPs are women.

"What this government has brought here is not a women's reservation bill, it is a women's reservation rescheduling bill and should be renamed as such. Its agenda is delay, its agenda is not reservation," she said.

"The endless dithering on when will there be the next census, when there will be the next delimitation, will only ensure that the urgent need for reservation for women in elections to Parliament and to state legislatures will be indefinitely delayed yet again," she asserted.

"Alas, this is not the historic bill that is being touted as, it is a sham. And for the women and the men and girls and boys who would be men and women in future, better recognise this because it is staring at us in the face," she said.

The question of women's reservation requires action not the "placebo of legislatively-mandated procrastination", Moitra said.

She asserted that Mamata Banerjee and the TMC have walked the talk on women's reservation.

This government needs to go on record and send 33 per cent women MPs, the TMC leader said.

"We don't need any more vandans, we want direct action, implement the reservation bill immediately based on voters list, send 33 per cent women to Parliament in 2024 from the BJP like our party has done," Moitra said.

After the House proceedings began, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the women's reservation bill for consideration and passage in the Lok Sabha, saying it is a step towards women empowerment.

The constitutional amendment bill was introduced in the Lower House on Tuesday. It was the first bill introduced in the new Parliament building.

The bill provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The reservation will come into effect only after the completion of the census and delimitation exercise.