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Consensus emerging on women's reservation bill

A broad measure of consensus was arrived at on Wednesday night among political parties for the introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill in its present form in the current session of Parliament.

Talking to the media immediately after the all-party meeting, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee hoped that the debate on the bill would be peaceful and the proceedings allowed to be held in a democratic manner.

The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party allies and the Left parties have supported the 33.13 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana said.

The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Muslim League were prominent among those who opposed the bill in the present form. They insisted that the reservations for other backward clases and minorities, particularly Muslims, should be incorporated before the bill was introduced.

The meeting was attended by 36 members, including the prime minister. Almost all the parties were represented, Khurana said.

He said the bill had been drafted in the light of the recommendation of the joint parliamentary committee headed Geeta Mukherjee (Communist Party of India). The bill will incorporate all the recommendations made by the committee for immediate compliance.

The bill provides for 33.13 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies by rotation of seats to different constituencies.

The proposed legislation will remain in force for 15 years.

It provides for a scheme of rotation to ensure the representation of women in those states, where the number of MPs are less than three.

It also ensures reservation in favour of women belonging to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe.

There will also be representation on rotation basis for SC/ST women in those states where the representation of SC/ST MPs is less than three.

The committee has also recommended representation of women even in the categories of Anglo-India nominees of the President.

As regards the capital region of Delhi assembly, the reservation for women can be done by a law by Parliament.

Khurana said the issue of reservation to be extended to the OBC women would be taken up at an appropriate time.

Similarly, as regard reservation for women in the Rajya Sabha and state legislative councils, he said, suitable legislation can be brought forward at an appropriate time.

He said 28 of the 36 members spoke on the issue in the meeting.

The bill originally came up before the Lok Sabha in 1996. But it could not be carried out as the House was dissolved. Last time when it was introduced by the Vajpayee government, it was physically prevented from being tabled.

Sharad Pawar (Congress) was of the view that it should be introduced and passed in the form as recommended by the standing committee. The Congress would support it whether reservation for OBC was included or not.

Mulayam Singh Yadav (Samajwadi) whose party had physically prevented introduction of the bill in the last session, registered his opposition against the bill, saying it must include reservation for OBCs, dalits and minorities. The Muslim League and RJD also held the same view.

Surinder Singh of the Haryana Vikas Party, which is an ally in the government, also opposed the bill in the present form.

Somnath Chatterjee (Communist Party of India-Marxist), Inderjit Gupta (CPI) Mamata Banerjee (Trinamul Congress) and Yerram Naidu (Telugu Desam Party) said the bill should be introduced in Parliament in the present form. They felt that anybody desiring to bring in amendments should do so during the consideration period of the bill.

Ram Vilas Paswan (Janata Dal) felt that if the reservation to OBCs was granted now, there would be demand for increase in reservation quota for SC/ST women as well. He, however, agreed that the bill be introduced in the present form.

All Indian Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazagham chief J Jayalalitha, meanwhile, in a letter to the prime minister conveyed her party's support to the reservation bill.

UNI

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