Women’s Reservation Bill set to be passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 8

New Delhi: Both the Congress party, the main partner of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA)-led government at the Centre, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main Opposition, have issued whip in the Rajya Sabha asking all their MPs to vote in favour of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

The Women’s Reservation Bill is slated to come up in the Rajya Sabha on March 8, 2010, Prithviraj Chavan, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, said.

March 8 is the International Women’s Day, and March 8 of 2010 is the 100th International Women’s Day.

The Bill, which has been on the agenda for a very long time, has thus overcome the final obstacle to being passed.

President Pratibha Patil, in her address to Parliament on the first day of the current session, had announced that the Women’s Reservation Bill will be passed this time.

The Women’s Reservation Bill is intended to give 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and in the state assemblies.

The legislation – which has been hanging fire for over 13 years – was first introduced in Parliament by the government led by Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in 1996.

The present form of the Women’s Reservation Bill – the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill of 2008 – has the support of the Congress party, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Left parties.

Those parties opposing the Bill include the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi Party (SP), and the Janata Dal (United).

The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which are against the Women’s Reservation Bill in its present form, are demanding “a reservation within reservation” for women from the backward classes.

Arun Jaitley, leader of the BJP, said the Women’s Reservation Bill is “a long-standing commitment” and his party “fully” supports it. The BJP has issued a whip to the party’s MPs to be present in the Rajya Sabha on March 8, 2010.

To be passed, the Bill has to be backed by two-thirds of those present in the Rajya Sabha as well as needs voting. And, this figure should have to be at least 50% of the total number of the Members in the House.

At a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP), Sonia Gandhi, Congress president and UPA chairperson, emphasised the need to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Sonia Gandhi said that, other than the Right to Food Security Bill, she personally attaches the highest importance to the Women’s Reservation Bill. She recalled that several years have passed since “Rajivji first unveiled his vision of empowering women.”