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Uttarakhand CM Dhami backs women’s reservation bill, urges consensus beyond politics
Uttarakhand's Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami advocated for a unified political stance on the Women's Reservation Bill.
Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Tuesday called for a unified political approach to women’s empowerment, urging parties to rise above differences while discussing the proposed 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies. Addressing a special session of the Uttarakhand assembly titled Nari Samman - Loktantra Mein Adhikar, Dhami backed the Centre’s push to implement the women's reservation bill at the earliest and proposed a unanimous resolution in support of the legislation.
He said the Bill was a transformative step aimed not just at increasing women’s representation but ensuring their role in policymaking. Dhami criticised opposition parties for allegedly blocking the legislation in Parliament and accused them of creating confusion on the issue. He maintained that provisions such as delimitation would not disadvantage any state and said the Centre had clarified this in Parliament. The chief minister also invoked historical and cultural references, highlighting the role of women from figures such as Rani Lakshmibai and Savitribai Phule to contemporary examples in defence and space sectors, saying women were now leading across fields.
Speaking on the Centre’s initiatives, Dhami said gender budgeting had increased significantly over the past decade, with over ₹5 lakh crore allocated for women and child welfare in the 2026-27 budget. He cited schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Matritva Vandana Yojana, alongside measures like the ban on triple talaq, as steps toward empowering women socially and economically.
Focusing on Uttarakhand, Dhami said the state government had earmarked around ₹20,000 crore under gender budgeting this year and was promoting women’s self-reliance through livelihood missions and self-help group initiatives. He added that over 2.65 lakh women in the state had become “Lakhpati Didis” (women earning at least ₹1 lakh annually). The state has also implemented 30% reservation for women in government jobs and 33% in cooperative institutions, he said, adding that a women’s sports college was being set up in Lohaghat at a cost of about ₹256 crore.
The chief minister also defended the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code in Uttarakhand, saying it had addressed practices such as triple talaq and polygamy. He urged opposition parties to adopt a constructive stand on women’s reservation, asserting that the goal of ensuring equal political representation for women would eventually be realised.
Opposition backs quota but opposes delimitation linkage
Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, have reiterated their support for 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, while accusing the Centre of delaying its implementation. Leader of Opposition in the Uttarakhand Assembly Yashpal Arya said the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed in 2023, has the backing of senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge. However, he alleged that the Union government has not taken concrete steps to operationalise it, adding that the party wants the provision implemented ahead of the 2027 Uttarakhand Assembly elections.
Demand to implement reservation with existing Lok Sabha strength
The opposition has strongly objected to linking the implementation of women’s reservation with the proposed delimitation exercise. Congress MP Jairam Ramesh called for an all-party meeting to discuss ways to roll out the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam using the current strength of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha, as reported by news agency ANI. He argued that reservation can and should be implemented without increasing the number of seats, maintaining that delimitation is not a prerequisite for ensuring women’s representation.
(With ANI inputs)
