Some allies stalling Women’s Bill, alleges Margaret Alva

Some allies stalling Women’s Bill, alleges Margaret Alva

One option is reducing percentage to 20 in Parliament and 25 in Assemblies
Some understanding should be reached now to introduce Bill in budget session: Brinda

NEW DELHI: Blaming some UPA coalition partners for stalling the Women’s Reservation Bill, senior Congress leader Margaret Alva has called for a “flexible approach” to arrive at consensus. One option was reducing the percentage of reservation to 20 in Parliament and 25 in the State Assemblies while the gap could be filled from the general quota — on which all parties had more or less agreed — or introducing 33 per cent reservation only in the Assemblies now and subsequently in Parliament. Introducing reservation in the Assemblies would be easier, Ms. Alva said speaking at an interactive meeting organised by the National Commission for Women here.
Clarifying that these were personal opinions and not of her party or government suggestions, she said that in the present coalition set-up, consensus on 33 per cent reservation appeared unlikely. At least two-thirds of the political leaders, including Cabinet Ministers, would not allow the Cabinet to clear the Bill for being tabled in Parliament. “The Prime Minister and the Congress president are holding extensive discussions with leaders of the political parties but consensus seems elusive.” After the political parties, opposing the Bill in the original form, accepted the proposal for reducing the percentage, she made this suggestion to women’s groups, Ms. Alva said. “I think we have to be more flexible and see what works in the existing system.”
While this was greeted with silence initially, the women’s groups present at the meeting wanted a formal proposal from the government so that it could be discussed with grass roots workers. The meeting, where only two women MPs were present, was represented mostly by women’s groups and individuals working on the field, who outright rejected a proposal of rotation of seats and the concept of reservation within reservation.
Brinda Karat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said she had spoken to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad thrice during the winter session and asked him to commit his support to reservation before finalising on the percentage, but failed to extract a commitment.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had told Ms. Karat that he would not oppose if the parties arrived at consensus, while Mulayam Singh (SP) rejected the concept of rotation of seats.