NEW DELHI: The much-delayed
women's reservation bill, easily one of the most contentious pieces of
legislation to be considered by Parliament seeking 33% reservation to women in
Lok Sabha and state assemblies, is likely to be taken up by the Union Cabinet on
Thursday.
There are indications that the bill may get Cabinet nod. The legislation
currently under consideration was introduced in Rajya Sabha in 2008. However, it
has been hanging fire for close to 14 years due to lack of political consensus
on the issue. It was first drafted by the H D Deve Gowda United Front government
and brought to Parliament in September 1996.
Since then it has often faced violent Opposition in Lok Sabha with the papers
being snatched from the hands of then law minister Ram Jethmalani in 1999. Even
in 2008, when law minister H R Bhardwaj introduced the bill in Rajya Sabha, he
was closely "guarded" by Congress ministers like V Narayansamy and Renuka
Chaudhary to ensure that the papers were not yanked away.
This time, the bill found significant mention in the President's address to
Parliament on Monday when it was stated that efforts would be made to get it
passed in the ongoing Budget session itself. No changes to the bill are likely
to be considered and it will simply mandate one-third reservation for women in
Parliament and assemblies.
Though the Congress leadership seems determined to give it a push, its passage
will not be easy as its opponents have not melted away. Politicians like JD(U)'s
Sharad Yadav, who kicked up a huge row over his derisive comment that the bill
will ensure the presence of "par kati" (urban) women in Parliament, remain dead
set against such a law. He is joined by other OBC bosses like SP's Mulayam Singh
Yadav and RJD's Lalu Prasad.
The OBC argument is that the reservation will benefit upper caste women and
there should be a "quota within quota" for OBC women. The proposal is simply not
viable constitutionally and is seen by some as a politically convenient ruse to
scuttle the bill. Though both BJP and Congress support the bill, their MPs are
by no means happy as the reservations could mean loss of their "sitting"
constituencies apart from gender bias.
The parliamentary standing committee on law and justice and personnel in its
report in December 2009 had recommended passage of the bill in its present form
and suggested that further amendments or changes should not be left to the
discretion of Parliament. This might mean negotiations between Congress and
other parties. Consensus has been elusive. In the UF years, Gowda offered to
whittle it to 10-15% but BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not agree, seeing
no reason to let the government of the day off the hook.
The bill could not be cleared during the tenure of UPA-1. Two bills for a
constitutional amendment to provide 50% reservation for women in panchayats and
urban local bodies have also been introduced in Parliament and are expected that
these will be passed in the current session.