International Women's day: Women Rajya Sabha MPs debate 33% reservation in Parliament

Marking International Women's Day on Monday, India's women parliamentarians debated the long-unimplemented Women's reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha. While Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi demanded that the women's reservation must be increased to 50%, BJP MP Sonal Mansingh demanded to celebrate 'International's Men's Day'. The 33% women's reservation Bill has been passed by Rajya Sabha in 2010, but is yet to pass in Lok Sabha.

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Women MPs debate women's reservation

"24 years ago, we proposed a 33% reservation for women in Parliament. Today, 24 years later, we should raise this to 50% reservation for women in Parliament and assembly," said Chaturvedi. Taking things in the opposite direction, BJP MP Sonal Mansingh said, "I demand that International Men's Day should also be celebrated". Congress MP  Chhaya Varma lashed at the Centre for rising crimes against women, saying, "While the government has pushed the slogan 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao', the high rate of crimes against women tells a very different story." Currently, the Lok Sabha only has 78 women MPs out of 543, while the Rajya Sabha has only 27 women MPs out of 238.

Echoing his colleagues, Srinagar Lok Sabha MP Farooq Abdullah lashed out at the BJP saying, "For years the Women empowerment Bill is pending in Parliament, why couldn't they pass it, when they passed 3 farm laws, 370 abrogation bill. It is because men do not want to give power to women. They say they are working for Kashmiris, I also want to see when they pass the bill.  They say(BJP) will form govt in Kashmir, how will you do it? I am on the way, how will you remove me out of your way?"

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What is the Women's Reservation Bill?

The Women's Reservation Bill aimed to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies, as per PRS. Moreover, one-third of the seats reserved for SC/ST too will have to be reserved for women of those groups. Reserved seats may be allotted by rotation to different constituencies in the state or union territory and the reservation will cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of this Act.

The Bill was introduced in Rajya Sabha in May 2008, referred to a Standing Committee which filed its report in December 2009. It was passed in Rajya Sabha on March 2010 and has remained pending in the Lok Sabha since then - where BJP now holds the single-party majority. In 2010, as per reports, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav were the most vociferous opponents of the Bill in the Lok Sabha, leading to chaos and the bill dying there. While Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has often talked about the 33% reservation, the Modi government is yet to take up the bill in Lok Sabha, since it came to power in 2014.

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