Changes to women8217;s Bill opposed

NEW DELHI, May 20: Several national women's organisations today opposed the reported alternative proposals being made on the women's reserva...

NEW DELHI, May 20: Several national women8217;s organisations today opposed the reported alternative proposals being made on the women8217;s reservation Bill. They requested leaders of all political parties to 8220;redeem your pledge to the women of this country8221; for passage of the pending Bill as recommended by the select committee of both houses of Parliament.

In an open letter to heads of all political parties, the seven women8217;s organisations expressed concern over alternative proposals being made on the Bill like double member constituencies, cut in the quota and caste-based reservations.

Accepting a double member constituency where women are to be elected and single member constituencies elsewhere, meant that women were not capable of representing the people but required the help of a man, the letter stated. Besides giving legal sanction to rank discrimination which would weaken democracy, such a move would require complete overhauling of the present electoral system, they said.

They also urged against dilution of the quota in the name of compromise saying that in areas where women constituted 50 per cent of the population, one-third of the seats was the very minimum which they deserved as their right. Accepting that there was concern and resentment among some male MPs that men would be displaced from those seats, they however pointed out that 8220;In the processes of social change this is bound to happen, more so when the Bill has been necessitated precisely because of the existing monopolies in elected bodies which represent an unequal gender order.8221;

On the question of OBC reservations, the women8217;s organisations said they were committed to the rights of most oppressed women. Observing that at present, reservations for OBCs were not there nor had they been demanded in state assemblies, they, however, said: 8220;If in future it is found necessary by Parliament to reserve seats for OBCs including for OBC men because of caste discrimination against them, then OBC women should get one-third of the reserved quota8221;.

The signatories to the letter were the All India Democratic Women8217;s Association, All India Women8217;s Conference, Centre for Women8217;s Development Studies, Joint Women8217;s Programme, Mahila Dakshata Samity, National Federation of Indian Women and YWCA of India.