On Women's Reservation Bill, Sonia Gandhi says,'it's ours, apna hai'
Union Cabinet approves Women's Reservation Bill, allocating 33% quota for women in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
PremiumSpeaking on the Women Reservation Bill, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday said, "What about it? It's ours. Apna hain."
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She made this statement while arriving at the Parliament for the joint session of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, marking the inaugural session in the newly constructed Parliament building.
ANI reported citing official sources that during a significant meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, the Union Cabinet approved the Women's Reservation Bill (WRB). This crucial bill aims to allocate a 33 percent quota for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies.
The authority responsible for determining the allocation of reserved seats will be as specified by Parliament.
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Speaking on the bill, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi says “This Bill should have been brought long ago. It was in the BJP's manifesto in 2014, but this is taking place after 9.5 years of Modi Govt. I hope that this will empower women in the right way. I expect that the Bill will be passed as early as possible. I hope this Bill to be implemented in 2024 Lok Sabha elections and 33% of women get elected and take part in the development of the country."
MM MP Mahua Maji said, "We welcome it as we ourselves have been demanding it for a long time. As I belong to a tribal state, I want that in this bill that SC, ST and OBC women get reservations. If this does not happen then the upper-class women will take all the profit from it..."
Meanwhile, in the Lok Sabha and legislative assemblies, one-third of the seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will also be earmarked for women belonging to these groups. Importantly, this reservation for women will be in effect for a period of 15 years from the commencement of this Amendment Act.
Mehbooba Mufti, President of JKPDP, said that this bill is a great step. "Having navigated the rough terrain of a predominantly male political landscape myself, I am happy to see that finally the Women Reservation bill will become a reality. Despite constituting half of the population, we are grossly underrepresented. Its a great step."
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BRS MLC K Kavitha gave her insights on the bill and said, “Happy we get to hear we are hearing from the sources that Cabinet has cleared the introduction of Women's Reservation Bill in the Parliament. And I hope the bill will be introduced very soon. The only, objection or the only apprehension that we currently have is that the nature of the bill is not being openly discussed by this government. The transparency of the government is missing So we hope the government will truly come up with a bill that will be agreeable to most of the parties."
She further noted, “Although this government has a good majority, they can independently pass the bill despite not having any support, but yet at times like these, when parties can rise above their political interest, and support the cost for the women. The government should reach out to all the parties and build a consensus. If it is passed in a very good ambience, it will also signal to the women of this country, that the parliament respects you that every political party respects you, and every political party wants you to come up. So in that sense, we wish the government was more transparent. We wish the government was more inclusive...And we will continue to support them in whichever format the bill is introduced. BRS will support the Women's Reservation Bill. We've also demanded that the 33 per cent OBC quota bill should also be introduced. I hope the government will also start working on that as well..."
TMC leader Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said, “Our party and our leader Mamata Banerjee has been raising this demand (for women’s reservation in Parliament) for over 20 years. Even without the bill, she has sent more that 33 per cent women to the Parliament."
Congress leader Rajani Patil said, "If that (women’s reservation bill) is passed, because so far these are all rumours. We have heard that this bill is going to be passed. We welcome this decision and let the record show that this bill is the brainchild of Rajeev Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party."
Also Read: Cabinet clears historic women's reservation bill
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said today, "We want the Women's Reservation Bill to be brought and passed as soon as possible. The demand for the Women's Reservation Bill was initiated by UPA and our leader Sonia Gandhi. It took so long, but we will be happy if this is introduced."
Earlier on Monday, the General Secretary of the Congress Party responsible for Communications, Jairam Ramesh, emphasized that the party has been advocating for the enactment of the Constitution 108th Amendment Bill, 2008, for an extended period.
(With inputs from agencies)
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