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Set aside differences, ensure passage of women’s bill, PM urges Rajya Sabha
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged members of the Rajya Sabha to pass the women’s reservation bill, which proposes 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Modi said the bill has been pending for decades and is a means to empower women. He credited the maturity of lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha for not letting party positions create an impediment. Despite not having the numbers on its side, the Union government has managed to pass contentious bills in the Upper House in the past nine years. Modi also spoke about the need to meet the aspirations of young Indians and achieve targets in a timebound way.
NEW DELHI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday urged members of the Rajya Sabha to set aside political differences and unanimously ensure passage of the women’s reservation bill when it comes to the Upper House for discussion. The draft Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was introduced in the Lok Sabha in the afternoon.
In his first address to the Upper House that convened in the new Parliament building, Modi said the bill that proposes 33% reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies has been pending for decades.
“Today, we are witness to a memorable as well as a historic decision...the introduction of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam,” he said, referring to the bill as a means to empower women. The government’s focus on development, offering ease of living and quality life, has women at the centre, the Prime Minister said.
“It is the end of ifs and buts,” he said, referring to the need to ensure there were no impediments to women reaching new heights and realising their potential.
Reflecting on the history of the bill that was passed in the Rajya Sabha in 2010, but could not be taken up for passage in the Lok Sabha, Modi said it was first introduced in 1996 and numerous attempts were made during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure to bring it to fruition, but the bill could not become a law as the government lacked the requisite numbers.
Even as Modi credited the Union government for taking tough decisions in the past nine years, even though it did not have the numbers in the Upper House, he credited the “maturity” of lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha for not letting party positions create an impediment.
“In the last nine years, we had the chance to serve, take big decisions, some were hanging fire for decades. Some were considered hard and politically incorrect to take up. We showed courage, we did not have the numbers here, but we had vishwas (confidence) that Rajya Sabha will take decisions in the country’s favour and rise above party politics,” he said.
Despite not having the numbers on its side, the Union government managed to pass some contentious bills in the Upper House, including the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which read down Article 370 of the Constitution that gave the erstwhile state special status, the criminalisation of the practice of triple talaq and the Citizenship Amendment Act that fast tracks citizenship for persecuted minorities from neighbouring countries.
In his 25-minute speech, Modi spoke about the need to “expand the scope of thinking and work” and to scale up efforts to meet the aspirations of young Indians, who unlike their predecessors are not willing to settle for less.
“We have to achieve targets in a timebound way, because the country cannot wait for too long,” He said. “There was a time when people adjusted to their circumstances, but the newer generation is not like that.”
While he urged lawmakers to set an example for legislators to emulate, Modi also spoke about cooperative federalism and said the country could face and tackle challenges such as the pandemic because of collective effort of the states. He referred to the programmes held across states as part of the G20 summit as an example of cooperative federalism and said even in the new Parliament building, the states have made contributions by sending their best art and artifacts.
Modi, who referred to the new building as a “new beginning”, expressed hope that by the time the country celebrates the centenary of its Independence, India would be among the top three economies in the world.
