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10-22-2008
Glory
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: Oct 2008
: India
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Arrow Women's Reservation Bill - The end of U turn

Some noises against the bill

Rashtriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party are the main opponents of the bill. "Lalu says the Bill 'would deny adequate representation to other sections of society.' He favours 10 to 15 percent reservation for women. 'My party is not opposed to women's reservation, but the case of Dalits, backward classes, Muslims and other religious minorities should not be overlooked,' is his argument. Mulayam favours making it mandatory for political parties to give 10 percent of election tickets to women"

Possible consequences

1. Though this bill can promise the brighter future, initially it can bring some rubber stamp women MPs to parliament, some of whom (not all, mind you!) might not be capable of handling political pressures. It is evident from the Panchayat Raj experience that some of the elected women in Village Panchayat's are dictated by husband/close relatives/some influential person in the village.Political Parties can very well use these elected MPs like a rubber stamp![some examples here and here]
2. On the other hand, it can reflect the gender equality in parliament, "Increased political participation of women will help them fight the abuse, discrimination, and inequality they suffer from."

Are there any alternatives to women's bill?

1. One is to amend the Representation of People’s Act 1951, to compel political parties to nominate women for one-third of their seats or lose recognition (Interesting to note that the main opposition party, BJP, has decided to reserve 1/3rd of the seats to women). This, according to Rajindar Sachar, former Chief Justice of Delhi, is flawed, as it would violate the Constitution of India, which guarantees its citizens the right to form association under Article 19(1)(c) as a fundamental right.
2. Another alternative is to increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha, which is currently based on the figures of the census of India, 1971, when the population of India was 54 crores. The numbers of seats were limited to 530 till further amendments. Now the Delimitation Commission has been asked to take the 2001 census as the basis for delimiting constituencies. According to 2001 census, the population of India has risen to 102 crores, therefore the number of seats are bound to increase before the next general elections. This should be reason enough to pave the way for the safe passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill.