Women Reservation in LS and RS

[Fighter488]

Women’s Day: 33% quota set to become reality after 14-yr labour ​

On Eve Of Parliament Making Gender History, CJI Strikes A Controversial Note


Himanshi Dhawan | TNN



New Delhi: History is set to be created in the Rajya Sabha on Monday. By the time the House votes on the women’s reservation bill, the sense of anticipation would have reached fever pitch. A revolution 14 years in the making is now waiting to burst through the hallowed portals of Parliament.
The bill will be introduced around noon and the debate will begin minutes later. As is now being anticipated, despite likely disruptions, the House is expected to discuss the bill. In that case, Rajya Sabha will cast a historic vote around 5pm and set in motion the process of women’s quota being turned into law.
The vote is the first step in making the 33% quota for women in Parliament and assemblies a reality. The battle in Lok Sabha remains, but the scales will tilt irretrievably. A “yes” vote means West Bengal and Tamil Nadu assemblies, where elections are due in 2011, could have no less than 98 and 78 women MLAs. The next LS will have at least 181 women, up from 59 in the present House.
Parliamentary affairs minister Pawan Bansal pointed out that the bill’s outright opponents numbered less than 30. “We have to see how the House looks in the morning. But we might have a debate though some situations cannot be fully anticipated,” he said. The government has time to bring the bill to Lok Sabha till early next week.
In the final countdown, numbers are solidly stacked up for the Constitution (108th) amendment, better known as “Women’s Bill”. Congress managers are talking of 180 votes with 155 needed for a twothirds majority. They see JD(U) chief and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s sudden support for the bill as having hit the OBC-led opposition squarely in the midriff.
It is not a bitter debate that concerns the government. As a minister put it, the question is “how aggressive” the bill’s opponents would be. But with absenteeism ruled out, it may not be possible for the SP-RJDBSP combine to derail proceedings. The treasury benches are even ready for a division.
The bill now enjoys overwhelming support of not just the ruling coalition but has the backing of both BJP and the Left as well as a number of smaller parties. Parties like TDP, DMK, AIADMK, SAD and National Conference lend critical mass. JD(U) has not issued a whip, but most of its MPs will support the bill.


In Lok Sabha, it may be cakewalk for bill

With 33 crore registered women voters in India, a party can ill-afford to be “antiwomen”, in the centenary year of International Women’s Day. In a House with 233 MPs at present, the match is looking one-sided. Till Congress chief Sonia Gandhi gave it a hard push, the situation seemed different. Ever since the H D Deve Gowda government first introduced it in September 1996, the Bill has been frozen with innumerable “formulae” failing to break the jinx.
In Rajya Sabha, Congress has 71 members, BJP 45, CPM 15, AIADMK 7, NCP 6, CPI 5, DMK 4, BJD 4, Telugu Desam, Trinamool Congress and AGP 2 each and Forward Bloc and RSP 1 each. These parties support the Bill and account for 165. SAD has 3 MPs and at least five of JD(U)’s seven will back the Bill. The Women’s Reservation Bill has seen several twists and turns but usually ended in a blind alley. In case of Deve Gowda and then I K Gujral, the governments fell. In 1998, the same story repeated itself. In 1999, there were furious scenes in Lok Sabha with SP’s S P Singh snatching the papers from the hands of then law minister Ram Jethmalani.
The Bill was introduced in RS in 2008. The panel, reconstituted in May 2009 under Congress MP Jayanthi Natarajan, submitted its report in Dec 2009. The Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Feb 25 this year. The legislation has Sonia’s backing with the Congress chief seeing it as part of her late husband Rajiv Gandhi’s unfulfilled dream.







SP is not against reservation for women, but we are against the present format of the bill, which is a big conspiracy by Congress and BJP to prevent Muslims, backwards and Dalits from getting elected to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas
Mulayam Singh | SP




RJD will oppose the women's reservation bill tooth and nail and its MPs are even prepared to be marshalled out
Lalu Prasad | RJD

 

[Kinetic]

Good move but what it has to do with India defence!

 

[Fighter488]

Pak has twice as many women MPs ​

India lags behind neighbours & Asia when it comes to gender-balanced legislatures


Rema Nagarajan TIMES INSIGHT GROUP




Reservation to ensure fair representation of women in national legislative bodies seems more the norm than the exception globally, with almost 100 countries having some kind of quota system or the other in place. India happens to be in a minority group of over 20 countries that have no system at all to ensure a more genderbalanced national legislature. Hopefully that is soon set to change.

The average proportion of women in the national legislature is 18.5% for the Asian region, considered low by international standards, but almost twice as high as in India (11%). Even within South Asia, only Sri Lanka with 6% has a worse record. Both countries have no quota system for women in their parliaments.

In Pakistan, 22% of the National Assembly seats are held by women, made possible through the quota policy that reserves 17.5% of seats for women. In Nepal, the proportion of women members is 33% thanks to the constitutional stipulation that women must constitute at least 33% of the candidates and electoral laws that mandate that 50% of any party’s candidates should be women. In Bangladesh, a constitutional amendment was brought in to reintroduce quotas for women, by which 45 seats out of the total 345 seats are reserved for women. Following the 2008 election, Bangladesh’s parliament has 65 women MPs, which is 19% of the total seats. Incidentally, China has 21% women in the National People’s Congress without any quota policy.

Rwanda, which has reserved seats for women, happens to be the only country in the world with more women (56%) than men in their national legislative body. This is followed by Sweden with 47%, South Africa (45%), Iceland (43%), Argentina (42%), the Netherlands (41%) and Norway and Senegal with 40%. In the list of 11 countries with the highest representation of women in their national legislature, five (Sweden, South Africa, Iceland, the Netherlands and Norway) have voluntary political party quotas for women. Angola and Costa Rica, both with 37% seats occupied by women, have electoral laws granting quotas. Only two countries in the list Denmark (38%) and Senegal have no quota system.

The widely accepted benchmark to ensure a critical mass of women parliamentarians is 30%. Yet, the proportion of women in parliaments globally stood at just 18.8% in December 2009, according to the Interp a rl i a m e n t a r y Union (IPU). By July 2008, 21 countries had successfully met the 30% critical mass target and about a quarter of these were Nordic countries known for long-standing efforts to increase the participation of women, according to the Parliamentary Research division of Canada. Another quarter were so-called post-conflict countries, which took advantage of rebuilding efforts to implement electoral reforms and political party practices, thus jump-starting the effort to boost the representation of women.

It was also noted that a majority of countries that reached the 30% benchmark had done so through measures such as proportional representation systems and electoral quotas. Countries that rely solely on the usual majority electoral system show low levels of representation of women.

The data put together on countries with quota mandated through electoral law or the constitution also indicates that having strict legal sanctions for contravention of the quota system also can show results. For instance, in Argentina, where party lists that do not comply with the electoral law will not be approved, the proportion is 42%. In Belgium, where if a party fails to comply with the gender composition, their list shall be refused by electoral authorities.

 

[Ingis]

Good move but what it has to do with India defence!

Maybe the women parliamentarians will have the balls to press the government harder to act against the enemy of the state.

So far... it seems are male-dominated MPs lack courage to face mational threats - be those coming from across the border, or be those coming from the Maoists.

 

[Communist]

Incidentally, China has 21% women in the National People’s Congress without any quota policy.

Pakistan has twice as many women MPs - India - The Times of India

 

[Iggy]

If it is passed no better present can be given to women in Women's day

 

[Fighter488]

It look to go through smoothly, till now.

Fighter

 

[IMADreamer]

It look to go through smoothly, till now.

Fighter

RJD, SP dump UPA Govt over women's quota bill

New Delhi: Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Samajwadi Party on Monday withdrew support from the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government following differences over the Women's Reservation Bill.

"We gave support to keep BJP out of power. There is no question of giving the support now (to UPA)," said RJD chief Lalu Prasad in New Delhi on Monday while addressing the media along with Samajwadi supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The two parties have been supporting the UPA Government from outside.

Both parties have been opposing the Women's Reservation Bill demanding a quota within the women's quota for other backward castes (OBC) women and Muslim women.

Mulayam had on Sunday demanded that the Bill, which reserves 33 per cent seats in Parliament and in state assemblies for women, should have a "sub-quota" for Dalits, OBC and minorities.

*

SP, RJD want Muslim quota; stall women's bill
*

No quota within women's quota for now: Govt
*

Women's quota bill: All about numbers

Together the two parties have 26 MPs in the Lok Sabha with 22 members belonging to the Samajwadi Party and four from the RJD. However, Samajwadi Party has already expelled its Lok Sabha MP Jaya Prada from the party.

Without the support of RJD and Samajwadi Party, the UPA enjoys the support of only 268 MPs in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

The Samajwadi Party has 12 MPs and the RJD has four MPs in the 233-member Rajya Sabha.

UPA's strenght in the Lok Sabha after RJD and Samajawadi Party withdrew their support: Congress 208, Trinamool Congress 19, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam 18, Nationalist Congress Party nine, National Conference three, Indian Union Muslim League two, Kerala Congress (Mani) one, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (ally of the DMK) one, Janata Dal (Secular) three, Bodoland People's Front one, Nagaland People's Front one, Sikkim Democratic Front one and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha one.

RJD, SP dump UPA Govt over women's quota bill


SP, RJD withdraw support to UPA govt - India - The Times of India

 

[Goodperson]

Close this thread.

 

[mjnaushad]

Good move but what it has to do with India defence!

I think you should know everything related to India will come in this section.


Good move india

 

[Cityboy]

are yar is section ka nam badal do.. india zone kar do..sabhi kuch india related isme post hota he