New Delhi: The Women’s Reservation Bill that seeks to reserve 33 per cent seats for women in Parliament and state legislatures hit another roadblock with an all-party meeting convened by Speaker Meira Kumar on Wednesday failing to break the deadlock over its provisions.
One of the Bill’s major opponent, the Samajwadi Party (SP), stayed away as did the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) while its other opponents stuck to their stand.
However, the speaker, talking to reporters later, said, “We will keep the effort going on”.
“I will call the SP and the BSP separately to discuss the issue… Efforts will continue till consensus is achieved,” she said, adding that another meeting would be convened before the monsoon session of parliament that begins Aug 1.
The Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on March 9 last year. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) are the other main opponents of the bill. They are demanding a quota within a quota for women from the other backward classes (OBCs) to be included in the Bill.
Senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad, who represented the party at the meeting, demanded a “quota within quota” for OBC women.
Extending the BJP’s support to the bill, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj urged Meira Kumar to evolve a consensus on the bill.
“Members who disagree should be given a chance to put across their views and be allowed to press for amendments and even walkout. In the Rajya Sabha marshals had to be used. But no similar scenes should be repeated in the Lok Sabha,” Sushma Swaraj said. (IANS)
