Put it to vote
The efforts to get a consensus on the Reservation Bill have reached a dead-end
With a consensus on the Women’s Reservation Bill remaining elusive for nine
years after it was first introduced in Parliament, it is evident that the
attempt to forge a complete consensus is futile. The latest attempt to get all
political parties on board the issue of reservation of 33 per cent seats for
women in Parliament and state legislatures has reached - as it has several times
in the past - a dead-end. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party have refused to extend support to the Bill
in its original form. The RJD wants a separate quota to be earmarked for
Muslims, SC, ST and OBC women. The SP wants each party to be able to decide for
itself what percentage of seats it should reserve for women and of this how many
should be SC/ST/OBC women. The arguments being raised by the RJD, the SP and the
BSP are not new.
These parties raised the same objections every time an all-party meet was
convened to hammer out a consensus and it is clear that they will not budge from
their obstructionist approach to the issue. Getting all political parties to
endorse the Women’s Reservation Bill is a desirable goal but it is an ideal that
is unlikely to be achieved. Allowing these few parties to hold up legislation on
an issue that has significant implications for empowerment of women is absurd.
The Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties have been
saying that they support the Bill in its original form. But how genuine is their
commitment to the Bill? If these parties are indeed committed to the idea of
women’s reservation they should move seriously towards pushing the Bill through
Parliament by putting it to vote. Together, these parties account for more than
two-thirds of the seats in Parliament – the support required for the Bill’s
passage. All parties, including the obstructionist ones, are agreed on providing
reservation for women. That is consensus enough for the government to move
forward on the matter. The government must summon the political will to make
reservation for women a reality.
[Deccan Herald, Wednesday, August 24, 2005]
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/aug242005/editpage162152005823.asp