Govt keen to move women's quota bill in this session

NEW DELHI: With the Congress leadership deciding to take another stab at the passage of the women's quota bill, PM Manmohan Singh indicated on Saturday that the government would try to introduce the legislation during the current session of Parliament. Singh also told a delegation of women activists led by Mohini Giri that he regretted the bill had not been passed so far. "We are looking at the possibility of bringing it in the budget session," he said, according to Akhila Shivadas, who was in the delegation. The assurance came within hours of the Congress core group deciding to make a fresh effort to bring allies around on the bill which aims to reserve a third of seats in Parliament for women. The issue had featured prominently in the deliberations of the elite group on Friday evening. Party sources indicated that a move to introduce the bill would be made when Parliament reconvened in April after the month-long recess, though they stressed that for any forward movement to happen, all the UPA partners must be on board. Both BJP and Left have pledged their support to the deal, but allies remain the stumbling block. Among the partners who are opposing any bill, which does not earmark a certain percentage of "women's only" seats for backwards and minorities, there has been no change in the stand of Lalu Prasad. DMK appears to have softened its stance on "quota within quota" but can still be susceptible to "peer pressure" from OBC-dominated formations — RJD, JD(U), Samajwadi Party and PMK — which have in the past moved in concert to block passage of the bill. Sources in the PMO said the PM has been keen on early movement on the women's quota bill. "That is the only promise we made in the National Common Minimum Programme but have not been able to redeem. It remains a black spot on an impressive scorecard," a source said.
9 Mar 2008, 0153 hrs IST , TNNTimes of India