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‘Seems they won’t…': Udhayanidhi Stalin raises doubt over implementing women reservation in legislature
Stalin Jr questioned the Centre's intention behind women's reservation Bill as it talks about its implementation only after delimitation based on next census.
Tamil Nadu minister and DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin on Tuesday raised doubts over the implementation of the women's reservation Bill once it becomes a law. “There is no clarity.” He made the statement at a time when the row after his earlier remark on Sanatana Dharma is still simmering.
"It seems they (Centre) are not going to implement it (the Bill) for the time being. For the last 10 years, we have been demanding such a law. They are saying that they will only do a census and delimitation exercise for now. There is no clarity on when they would implement it," he told reporters earlier.
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The women's reservation Bill, or the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was introduced in Lok Sabha on Tuesday by Union law minster Arjun Ram Meghwal. It guarantees a third, or 33%, of seats for women representatives in the lower House of the Parliament and state assemblies. The reservation will be exercise for 15 years, starting from the commencement of the Act. The Parliament can extend it further.
One of the new articles in this Constitution (128th Amendment) Bill talks about the implementation of reservation only after the completion of delimitation process based on the next decadal census.
The Opposition criticised the Centre over this provision and called the women's reservation Bill is another ‘jumla’ by the BJP government and added that it is a ‘huge betrayal’ of Indian women.
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also raised question over the implementation of the proposed law and said it is a way of ‘extracting political mileage’ by the BJP.
"They want to tell the people, especially women that they brought this landmark law into force. They should have done it in 2014. What is so historic about it? There has to be a census and delimitation before the women's reservation Bill is implemented. What if census and delimitation don't happen?" he asked earlier.
Responding to Sibal's remark, Union minister Anurag Thakur alleged that Congress neither wanted to give reservations to women leaders in 2010 when it was in power and nor does it want to do so now.
"He was a minister then (in 2008 when a similar legislation was tabled under the UPA). He knew that the Congress was merely pretending to bring the law. The Bill was tabled in 2008 and the country went for general elections a year later. However, instead of passing it, the draft legislation was sent to the Standing Committee. They (Congress) did not intend to give reservations to women then and neither do they want it now," Thakur told news agency ANI.
