BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: In a bid to build a consensus on the Women’s reservation Bill passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has called an all-party meet today. BJP leader Sushma Swaraj confirmed on Twitter that “an all-party meeting has indeed been called by Hon’ble Speaker of Lok Sabha to discuss women’s reservation bill at 12 pm on Wednesday.”
“Advani ji and I will attend,” she twitted.
The timing of the meeting is a bit significant as govt has been put in a corner by the opposition over the lokpal bill and corruption issues these days.
Amid such an acrimony, the bill is expected be bring convergence of opinion among most parties over how to ensure that 33% of members in Lok Sabha are women.
While the bill has been backed by the BJP and left in the past, it has been resisted by the Samajwadi Party, the BSP and the RJD. These parties have been demanding a sub-quota for minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the bill.
With 10.8% women representation in Lok Sabha and 10.3% in Rajya Sabha, the world’s biggest democracy India is ranked 98th for empowering women through legislative participation in the world.
India is ranked 47 places below its neighbour Pakistan and 80 places below Nepal along with Benin and Jordan, according to data released by Inter-Parliamentary Union. There are 12 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, which have zero women representation in their national assemblies, the report said.
