Sonia writes to Modi, presses for greater action on Women's Reservation Bill
New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to push through the legislation that reserves one-third of the Parliament and state legislature seats for women.
While Sonia Gandhi’s party, the Congress, led a national coalition, the Women’s Reservation Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010; but even after so many years the bill has suffered inaction in the Lok Sabha for one cause or the other.
In her letter to Modi, Gandhi said that her party “has always and will continue to support the legislation.”
Sonia Gandhi's letter to PM Narendra Modi on Women Reservation Bill by Deccan Chronicle Online on Scribd
The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allied organisations enjoy an easy majority in the lower house of the Parliament. Bhupender Yadav, a BJP leader in the Rajya Sabha has reportedly said the present government will not approach the women’s bill from a novel angle.
Women politicians have repeatedly expressed that male MPs stand against the proposal that has the capacity to become one of the most empowering sanctions for Indian women.
However, women politicians have a total of 10 per cent seats in both the houses of the Parliament which, as per the Inter-Parliamentary Union, is half of the global average of 21.4 per cent.
