New Delhi: DMK MP Kanimozhi on Thursday raised the issue of providing 33 per cent reservation to women in Lok Sabha and asked the government when will a bill for this be brought in Parliament for its passage.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, the DMK member said it has been 25 years since a bill to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies was brought in Parliament “but nothing has happened so far”.
“It was passed by Rajya Sabha. This (BJP-led) government had promised in their election manifesto that it will bring the bill for its passage (in Parliament) but they haven’t done anything about it,” she added.
The BJP in its manifesto for Lok Sabha polls in 2014 and 2019 had stated that it was committed to providing 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and state assemblies through a constitutional amendment.
Kanimozhi said more than 22 questions about the bill have been asked by the members in Parliament since 2014.
“But the same answers have been given (that) government is making a deep study, (its in) careful consideration,” she said.
“I also asked questions about it three times and got the same answers. I want to know when this deep study, careful consideration and trying to create a consensus among all the political parties will (conclude) and the bill be passed,” she added.
Earlier on November 28, several parties had demanded at an all-party meeting that the women’s reservation bill be taken up in the Winter Session of Parliament
The TMC, YSR Congress and the DMK were among the parties that had suggested that the bill be brought for discussion in the Winter Session.
The 15th Lok Sabha could not pass the bill and the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, which was pending in the Lower House since 2010, lapsed following its dissolution in 2014.
The bill, brought during the erstwhile regime of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), sough to provide for 33 percent reservation for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies for 15 years.
Any bill pending in Lok Sabha lapses with the dissolution of the House. Bills pending in Rajya Sabha are put in the ‘live register’ and can be taken up subsequently. —PTI

Press Trust of India