A delegation of representatives from various national women's organisations today met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to ensure that the Women's Reservation Bill is tabled and passed in the ongoing session of Parliament.
"The long-pending Bill to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies is listed in the current winter session of Lok Sabha and this is a golden opportunity to remedy the injustice that is being meted out to women in our country, who are being denied their rightful place in the topmost decision-making bodies for many decades now," AIDWA Vice-President Jagmati Sangwan said.
Despite voices of protest from democratic sections, including women's organisations, over the past three years, the Bill has been placed in cold storage, the All India Democratic Women's Association leader said.
The recently-concluded Assembly elections in five states have revealed once again that without affirmative action, women's entry into decision-making bodies is extremely difficult, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Women, Annie Raja said.
In Delhi, only three out of 70 elected members are women.
The situation in other states is also grim. In Rajasthan, seven out of 200 MLAs elected are women while in Madhya Pradesh, it is 25 out of 230.
Raja said, "At a time when women in the country are facing so many problems, as violence in all forms is on a rise, as they battle to overcome these challenges, we feel that the time is ripe to introduce this important Bill so that in the upcoming general elections, women get their rightful place and are enabled to contest one third of the seats."
The representatives also called upon political parties to include the issue in their election manifestos before the forthcoming elections and show the political will to ensure passage of the Bill.
Gargi Chakravarti (NFIW) along with Leila Passah (Young Women's Christian Association) and Maimoona Mollah from AIDWA also met the Prime Minister.
