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by Kamla Nath (Director: Sandesh India)
Of the 545 members in the Lok Sabha all the major parties have publicly not only supported the passage of the Bill in its present form, have included giving women equality in law making bodies by giving 33% reservation of seats in their election manifestoes and are demanding immediate tabling of the Bill for the past number of years. If all the parties whose leadership has openly given support to the Bill as a party and issue a whip to their members to vote for the Bill the numbers for the Bill are as follows:
Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) 183 seats; Indian national Congress (INC) 110; Communist Party of India (CPI M) 34; Telgu Desham Party (TDP) 29Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) 14; AIDMK 11; All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) 8; Janta Dal United ( JD U 6; Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) Of India (CPI) 3; Lok Jan Shakati Party (LJSP _ Mr. Paswan) 2; Communist Party of India – M L L ; Samta Party – the leadership is in favor of the Bill but a couple of members in the Party are likely to vote against the Bill. Even if half of its 12 members vote for the Bill six more votes can be easily counted. Even a staunch opponent of the bill Samajwadi Party is also in agreement to the principle of reservation but wants the proportion to be reduced and have a caste reservation within the quota agreed by it. These suggestions can be voted for or against at the time of the discussion and voting on the bill.
Thus out of 545 members 404 will vote for the Bill. These numbers are visible for all to see. In a democracy any Bill, who has backing of the majority, should have no problem in its passage.
It has support of the largest women’s voice mainly the WOMEN’S MOVEMENT in the country.
All the elected members of the parties, which are supporting the bill, should give their letter of commitment to their leaders so that within each party the leader of the party can issue a whip if necessary to avoid disagreement on a major issue within each party committing themselves in support of the Bill saying that:
"After careful consideration I feel strongly that in the true democratic traditions the Bill for Reservation for Women in Parliament and state legislatures should be brought up for serious discussion in the monsoon session of Parliament."
And send it to the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the leader of their Party.
We have no majority in the Rajya Sabha !
NDA has been shielding itself under the pretext what if the Bill is voted out in the Rajya Sabha. Simple logistics says that if BJP and INC backed members of the Rajya Sabha will not oppose the Bill because parties backing their nomination in the Upper House are for passage of the bill. In fact like in some earlier cases the government should call a joint session of the two houses to get the Bill discussed and passed.
We are afraid that some members will not allow the bill to be tabled as happened in the earlier occasions where even the bill was torn by one of the members and thrown in the well of the house. The occasion reminded the viewers watching the Lok Sabha proceedings on that fateful day of a repetition of the Mahabhartha when Duryodhana fell to the wretched level of unrobing Draupadi.
If there are some members who do not know how to behave in the Parliament and use civil method of discussion and dissent on an issue but are used to using mussel power in their (personal) and parliamentarian role, there is a provision for calling of the Marshalls in the Parliament. That is what the marshals are for!
Political participation among women in any society acts as a reliable barometer of the health of its democracy. Democracy will remain seriously flawed if it fails to yield adequate space to women. It was to bring about gender balance that affirmative action of reservation of seats for women in local bodies through 73rd and 74th Amendment to the Constitution was used. In order to take the process further Women’s Reservation Bill for reservation of 33% seats for women was drafted by the Law ministry of the government of India.
The Bill has gone through all the parliamentary procedures. It was introduced in 1996 and because of some objections on the content of the bill it was referred to an All –Party Parliamentary Committee (Geeta Mukerjee Committee) and was redrafted after majority of the members had endorsed the suggestion for changes in the Bill. In all fairness to this Bill as it is for all other bills process should be taken further. The Bill should be tabled for discussion in the Lok Sabha. Let there be criticism on any of the clauses and changes made as per majority voting on each change and after inclusion of the changes the Bill should go to the Upper House for approval and for President’s consent. And even if it is voted out lock stock and barrel let the majority of the members of the Lok Sabha, who would have voted against the Bill, tell the voters and women of the country their true face on a fundamental issue of equality and gender justice. Parliament is the Forum for discussing the issues but to day it has become a forum for tearing the bills or walkouts and adjournments.
The Bill now having been introduced is the property of the Parliament and has to be discussed and voted for in the Parliament. It just cannot be kept shelved in order to get an all-party consensus on the Bill before it is tabled for discussion. The effort of NDA government for all-party consensus is neither necessary nor possible in any functioning democracy. Political parties are expected to have different views not only on this Bill but also on all the bills introduced by the government. However, it is for the government to prove its majority and get the bills passed even if by a majority of one vote. It is one bill on which majority of the opposition is for the Bill introduced by the government. The government can ride on this popular issue and get the bill passed and go to the voters early next year with the medal in their hand of having honored affirmative action on women’s representation in national and state legislatures and their commitment to gender equality. Or if the bill is voted out, and government has to hold an election earlier by a few months than planned, the BJP will have a strong whip in its hand to use against the opposition for letting the country down on a major political issue of gender equality. With all major parties in favor of the Bill what is the government afraid of! Only fear appears to be that the bill may be passed. Any discussion on other alternative proposals will and is creating confusion. In an Opinion Poll conducted by Hindustan Times on July 22, 2003 more than 80% of the voters feel that the various discussions and suggestions on the Bill is not bringing out any clarity on the proposal to reserve seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures.
In spite of being repetitive we will go over very briefly on various alternative suggestions to the bill with rejoinders as have been put forth by academia, constitutional experts and women activists.
First, we have already refuted the use of `fanciful idea’ of getting consensus on the Bill; in the parliamentary procedures of multi-party legislatures, it is neither necessary nor feasible and is only a waste of time.
The latest suggestion of making one third (180) of the existing constituencies DOUBLE MEMBER by rotation (Asian age July 22 article by Shahid Faridi) does not appeal to the women, it is unconstitutional and is undemocratic. It will lead to some constituencies having two votes in the Lok Sabha while others will have one vote. The suggestion for rotation of double member constituencies also mean that women will have to surrender their constituency after having nurtured it for five years (the same arguments as used by men in criticizing the Bill for the provision of rotation of seats – in romantic language of Mulayam Singh Yadav the love between a member and his constituency of being on line with that between a lover and his loved one. To overcome these objections and to give further commitment to the basic principle of equality the BJP should propose making all constituencies double member. The logistics of finding more space for a larger house should not be used as an excuse to throttle an issue of such major and fundamental political importance as GENDER EQUALITY. Physical space can always be found once social and political space for women has been created.
Reservation of caste-based quota within reservation should be opposed because women have only one caste – that is of being a woman. Women are against further division among them on the basis of religion and caste.
The fear of the OBC members that upper caste educated (parcutty) women will enter the Parliament is born out of unwarranted fear; if it was true all male members would have been from the upper caste and highly western and educated. A constituency sends a representative it can identify itself with. It will be rural women from rural areas, educated or uneducated and urban women from urban constituencies (long or short hair). Predominantly OBC or Muslim population will send a woman from the majority community of that area.
. The alternative Bill based on Election Commissions suggestion of reserving a quantum of seats by each party for women candidates as well as other changes suggested (of reducing the percentage from 33% to 10 – 15 – 20% by OBC dominated political parties) have also been taken note and dealt with by objective academicians and constitutional experts as well as by women activists through discussions and at seminars and conferences. All the arguments against the Bill are based on the basic insecurity of male elected members of losing power and/or having to share the power with women. This short sighted view overlooks the fundamental reasons contained in the People’s Representation in the legislatures not for having and hold on to power but to work for the welfare of the constituency in which women have as much right and capability as the men.
It is about time that all these discussions on the Bill are held within the Lok Sabha, changes suggested and voted for and the Bill is passed with or without changes OR is thrown into the waste paper basket.
The NDA government has been avoiding introducing the Bill for discussion due to unnecessary fear. If its intentions are as noble as voiced by the leaders then:
i. The Bill should be immediately listed and tabled for discussion and put to vote.
Or
ii. If the Government itself is not comfortable with this Bill then it should withdraw it and bring a more viable alternative bill
Or
iii. Confess that they are not in favor of reservation or for that matter not in a hurry to change the gender composition of the national and state legislatures and face the ire of Indian women. Women of the country then will have their own agenda to get their rights.
From Members of Joint Action Front for Women
Kamal Nath: knath1@yahoo.com
Krishna Priya Prakash: krishnap51@hotmail.com
Ranjana Kumari: info@csrindia.org
Taruna Kanuga: taruna2020@yahoo.co.in
Jyotsna Roy : jyotsna_roy@vsnl.net
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