The Centre would pass a legislation providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures when it has majority in the Rajya Sabha, said Union minister Venkaiah Naidu on Friday (Feb 10).
Also read: Paramilitary forces to have 33% reservation for women in constable level position
Currently, the BJP has 56 seats in the 245-member strong Assembly while the Congress has 60. The Samajwadi Party, with which the Congress entered an alliance for the UP Assembly elections beginning Saturday (Feb 11), has 19 seats followed by the AIADMK (13), Trinamool Congress (11), Janata Dal-United (10) and others.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has this in mind and the day is not is far when parliament will pass the law providing women reservation through consensus. Once we (NDA) get majority in Rajya Sabha, we will get the Bill passed," Naidu said, addressing the National Women's Parliament in Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh, on Friday. "A mere Bill is not sufficient. What is needed is political will and administrative skill. Political parties should show conviction in this regard," he said.
The idea of providing 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament is being debated for years. The BJP government has so far succeeded in getting reservation for women in the armed forces and saw them as emerging as pilots of fighter jets in the air force.
The BJP will be eagerly looking for a decent show in the UP polls if it has to inch forward to make Naidu's words a reality. The UP, which has the most number of Assembly seats (403), sends the most number of MPs (31) to the Rajya Sabha.
Naidu's words were perhaps also directed at the voters in the poll-bound state.
"Push for policy changes. With your moral support, we will bring in changes to empower women," Naidu said.
The three-day National Women's Parliament is being organised by Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly with the theme of 'Empowering Women – Strengthening Democracy'.
The event was attended by Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Puducherry's Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi, and actress Manisha Koirala.
"We are a state where women were given the right to property for the first time and we are the state where we have 33% reservation for women in jobs," said Naidu.
The 20-year-old bill had received the assent of the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but failed to get the assent from Lok Sabha. Had it got the nod, it would then be sent to state legislatures for their approval and then to the president.
