Hon. Speaker Sir, I thank you for giving me this
opportunity. On behalf of my party, I express my support to this Bill.
I also demand that 50 per cent of the total seats allotted to women be set
apart for OBCs and minorities. This is not the first time to have
a move like this. The Prime Minister yesterday was saying that God has
specially chosen him to make this Bill a law. It is an exaggeration.
In fact, many efforts were made in the past, especially during the UPA period.
We may recall the efforts in100
1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008. We are grateful to the UPA120 Government which took a bold initiative in
this regard. I would like to say that we are grateful
to Shri Rajiv Gandhi also for the bold initiative regarding local
bodies. That was the beginning. He was bold enough to start that. We
must salute him. There was some propaganda that women cannot perform; they will
work as proxies; husbands or brothers will have to support them. But, in fact, it
has been categorically proved that women can perform very well.200 Not only that, in some cases,
they have worked better than men. So, the credit goes to us. Secondly,
Sir, I would like to say that having such a legislation is a
great thing. Worldwide, women’s representation in the legislative240 bodies is 26 per cent whereas in India, it
is just 15 per cent. So, such a legislation was very much necessary.
Between 1977 and 1980, the Lok Sabha saw the ratio of women MPs plummet
to its lowest, that is, 3.4 per cent only. In the mid-90s, it never touched300 10 per cent. That is a fact. We had a
guilty conscience. If we pass such a legislation, we will have a
satisfaction that we did justice to our sisters. I wish to say that Census
is due in 2027 after which delimitation exercise will start. Then only,
reservation will be worked out. If BJP360
was really interested in giving this, it could have done this earlier.
Even though the name of the Bill is such, it is a fact that the BJP is trying
to find out an escape route. So, this400
Bill can be called as an ‘Escape Route Bill’. With regard to
implementation of this Bill, after next delimitation, there are many hurdles.
Anyhow, whatever may be the situation, we have to jointly work to get it
solved. It will be a credit for the entire democratic system for the
country. Finally, Sir, I would like to ask who is going to identify the
constituencies. I feel that the people’s representatives, political parties,
must have a say in that mechanism.480
It should not be left to the Election Commission. So, I feel that a body
of political parties must have500
a say in this. In the end, I would say that there must be some
reservation within it for the OBCs also. That is necessary. We know that the
OBCs and minorities, especially the Muslims, are facing deprivation. That
is why we have said that some effective steps should be taken to
set apart some percentage of reservation for backward sections of the
society. Sir, there may be many hurdles. But when we are doing
this work jointly, we must be able to tide over all these crises. So, I
once again express my party’s support600
to this Bill.
Sir, this is a Constitution Amendment Bill
providing reservation to the women. So, you can name it in any way. You
can describe it in any way but the nomenclature of the Bill is
Constitution Amendment Bill. There is no doubt about it. Regarding the
nomenclature also, I am not going into the details because I know there
is no time. I would like to say that I fully support the Bill.
It is Constitutionally okay but at the same time, I would like to say
that women are more than half of the population in the700 country. Definitely, women
are playing an important role in the nation-building process. So, the
participation of women in the720
policy making process should be adhered to because it is the need of the
hour. The idea of boosting women’s empowerment has been there from 1957
onwards. In the legislative history of India, for the first time, the
reservation for women was sought to be incorporated or a Bill was being brought
in the Parliament was by none other than the late Shri Rajiv Gandhi
in the year 1989. Sir, 33 per cent reservation had been provided800 for women in the 1989 Constitution
Amendment Bill. It was passed in the Lok Sabha but unfortunately,
it was defeated in the Rajya Sabha. In defeating that Bill, the BJP was also a
party to it. So, in parliamentary history,840
in the legislative history of India, Rajiv Gandhi’s name has to be
remembered. It used to be memorised because he is the person who,
for the first time, introduced the Bill by which 33 per cent of
reservation for women was provided in the Parliament as well as in the State
Legislative Assemblies. Subsequent to it, in the year900 1993, the 73rd and 74th
Amendments had come into place, and there also, 33 per cent of reservation had
already been provided for women. I would like to state that in my Kerala
State Legislative Assembly, in the year 1990, by way of the
District Council Act, 30 per cent reservation has been provided960 in the State of Kerala. In the Zilla
Panchayat and the three-tier Panchayati Raj and Nagar Palika Institutions, now
it is more than 50 per cent. As per the statistics of Kerala State Legislative
Assemblies, we are having 581000
per cent participation of women in the Local Self-Governments in the
State of Kerala.
Two questions have already been asked. Why is
this Special Session called for enacting such a law? This law would be
applicable only after the Census and only after the delimitation
process. That means we are getting a lot of time. Then, what is the need of
having a Special Session so as to pass this legislation? Nine years have
already lapsed. Yesterday, the hon. Prime1080 Minister was making a speech in the
Parliament saying that it was the wish of the God that the mothers1100 and sisters of this country
should get participation and that the opportunity or the fortune had been given
to him so as to have a legislation for giving participation to women in the
legislative bodies. If that be the case, already nine years have passed. What
prevented the Government from making a legislation in the first NDA Government
led by Shri Narendra Modi? The delay has to be explained. Also, I would like
to seek a specific assurance from the hon. Minister as to
when the Government intends to implement the Bill. Kindly provide an assurance in
the Bill so that we can support the Bill.1208
