Govt committed to women's reservation in legislature, says PM

Noting that women's participation in politics could bring about a revolutionary change in governance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said his government was committed to women's reservation in state assemblies and Parliament and was working for a broad consensus on the issue.

Inaugurating the 2nd East Asia Gender Equality Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi, Singh said the election of more than a million women in the local bodies has brought about a significant shift in public policy and in social attitudes towards women.

"We are committed to providing similar representation to women in our state assemblies and the Parliament. We are working for a broad consensus on this matter," Singh said, holding out hope for the much-delayed bill providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in the legislature.

"We firmly believe that the participation of a critical mass of women in politics at the highest level will bring about a revolutionary change in ensuring good governance," he said.

Singh noted that the experience of other countries shows that greater participation of women in the process of governance does contribute to gender equality and women's empowerment.

"Our government seeks to impart a new sense of urgency to the task of ensuring gender equality in our society, in our polity, in our economic life and, above all, in our families and communities," he said.

Observing that empowerment of women has been one of the most important social transformations we have seen in our lifetime in east Asia, he said India is and will be an active participant in Asia's resurgence in the 21st century.

Addressing the inauguration, women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury quoted from a report of the World Bank and said representation of women in decision-making in east Asia falls short of meeting the targets set forth in the Millennium Development Goals.

"The number of women in elected parliaments in east Asia has only increased by less than two per cent since the early 1990s," she said.

Chowdhury said while the countries have increased investments in human resource development, the challenges of high mortality rate, increasing proportion of gender-based violence and low representation of women in decision-making persist.

The two-day ministerial meeting that has 16 participating countries will deliberate the three themes of women in decision-making, violence against women and home-based workers.