Delegation meets Venkaiah Naidu over Women's Reservation Bill

NEW DELHI: An eight member delegation representing 100 women's organizations and NGOs met with parliamentary affairs minister Venkaiah Naidu demanding passage of the Women's Reservation Bill in the coming session of Parliament.
Delegation members said that the minister appeared positive to their demands but was concerned about consensus among political parties.
The bill provides for 33% reservation for women in Parliament and was introduced by the UPA.The delegation urged the minister that the bill be brought in to the list of business for the coming Session.
The delegation expressed their concern about the efforts of the previous Government, particularly in taking up the bill at the fag end of the term and not being able to pass it. In order to address that, they demanded that the bill should be brought up at the right time in this session in order to speed up the process.
"Women's organizations will launch ‘Andolan 50-50’ to mobilize a large number of women for the passage of the bill if their demands are not met this time. The BJP had earlier promised the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill. They must now honor the mandate and pass it in the coming session of Parliament," Dr Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre for Social Research said.
The representatives of this collective will be meeting the Prime Minister, concerned ministers and leaders of different political parties.
The delegation included the following 8 members: AIDMAM — Vimal Thorat, AIDWA — Jagmati Sangwan, CBCI — Sr Talisha, CSR — Amitabh Kumar, NFIW- Annie Raja, Jagori — Neetu Routela, JWP- Padmini Kumar, YWCA — India-Tanya D’Souza.
The minister was positive to their demands, and said that PM Narendra Modi is very keen to pass the bill. But the Government is concerned about the ‘consensus’ among political parties. Shri Naidu informed the delegation that the informal consultations are going on to pass the bill.
When the delegation requested the minister that bill should be brought into the list of business for the coming session, he assured that he will initiate further consultations with the leaders of different political parties to ensure that.
The delegation expressed their concern about the efforts of the previous Government, particularly in taking up the bill at the fag end of the term and not being able to pass it. In order to address that, they demanded that the bill should be brought up at the right time in this session in order to speed up the process.
The representatives of this collective will be meeting the Prime Minister, concerned ministers and leaders of different political parties.
India is one of the world's worst countries in terms of women in politics. Data shows that there are only 96 women representatives in both houses of Parliament in India. It ranks 103rd in the "Women in Parliament" study. In the Lok Sabha, out of the 543 members, only 65 are women. In the Rajya Sabha on the other hand, there are only 31 female MPs among 243 members.India is one of the world's worst countries in terms of women in politics.
Data shows that there are only 96 women representatives in both houses of parliament in India. It ranks 103rd in the Women in Parliament study. In the Lok Sabha, out of the 543 members, only 65 are women. In the Rajya Sabha on the other hand, there are only 31 female MPs among 243 members.