Speaker calls meet on Women’s Bill tomorrow

Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has chosen to flag a divisive issue: Womens Reservation Bill.

Amid the Lokpal hullabaloo,in which the Opposition is unitedly trying to tar the Congress with corruption,Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar has chosen to flag a divisive issue: Womens Reservation Bill. The Speaker has convened a meeting of floor leaders of parties on Wednesday to try building a consensus ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament.

A bulk of the 22 parties have confirmed their participation, official sources said,adding that some more confirmations would be hopefully forthcoming. They said Finance Minister and Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee,NDA chairman L K Advani and Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj were sure to come.

However,Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Sharad Pawar,who is currently abroad,is unlikely to make it. Janata Dal (U) president Sharad Yadav,who is among the most vocal critics of the Bill,left for his constituency,Madhepura,on Monday. He is scheduled to return only on June 25. They may be represented by some other leaders of their parties.

Former prime minister and Janata Dal (S) president H D Deve Gowda has written to the Speaker,expressing his inability to attend the meeting. However,he has pledged his support to any Bill based on a consensus among all parties for providing reservation to women in legislatures. The sources replied in the negative when asked if Kumar had any fresh formula to take all parties on board.

The controversial Bill,providing for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies,was passed in the Rajya Sabha on March 9,2010,after two days of high drama that saw suspension of seven members who violently disrupted proceedings. Of the votes polled,186 were in favour of the Bill and only one was against. The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill,as it was official called,got the support of the Congress,BJP and Left parties. The UPA ally Trinamool Congress,with two members in the Upper House,did not participate in the voting. The BSP,having 12 members,walked out of the House,saying the Bill did not contain amendments suggested by it. Most of JD(U) members,owning their allegiance to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,voted for the Bill.

The issue last figured in the Lok Sabha on March 9 Womens Day when,in the course of an impromptu discussion,the Speaker promised to take a fresh initiative to build a consensus on the issue. She also recited a Hindi couplet to express her feelings on the issue: Pankh bhi hain,akaash bhi hai,phir yeh na ud pane ki majboori kyon (Wings are there,the sky is also there,then why this helplessness of not being able to fly)?