Women's bill: Meet witnesses fireworks

NEW DELHI: The very first meeting of a key parliamentary panel on the contentious women's reservation bill on Tuesday witnessed verbal duels between the pro and anti-reservationists. One member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, which is considering the proposed legislation introduced in the Rajya Sabha on the last day of the recent budget session, said it was not expected that a sharp differences would be witnessed in the first meeting itself since it was primarily held to decide the procedure for the subsequent meetings. Sources said RJD and SP MPs did not take long to air their strong opposition to the Bill that promises 33% reservation to women in Parliament and assemblies. Supporters of the bill, mostly women MPs, said the opponents are raising unrelated issues. More than a decade has already been lost, they pointed out. RJD-SP MPs said urban educated women would benefit from reservation while rural women would still remain in the margins. They also demanded a study on whether reservation in panchayati raj institutions has helped rural women or not. The two parties have been demanding sub-quota for Dalit and minority women. Committee chairperson EM Sudarsana Natchiappan has asked five national parties and 42 regional parties to give their opinion on the proposed legislation.
28 May 2008, 0308 hrs IST,TNN
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