India far behind Afghan in women’s reservation, rues govt

India lags far behind even when compared with countries like Afghanistan in providing reservation to women.

India lags far behind even when compared with countries like Afghanistan in providing reservation to women in Parliament or state legislatures, Union Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyer rued.

“We are such a backward country that we could not get even 33 per cent reservation for women so far,” he told reporters today after an interactive session of the Indo-Afghan Joint Working Group (JWG) here.

The JWG was formed to work out modalities for the development of local bodies in Afghanistan with India’s cooperation.

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Deputy Minister of Rural Rehabilitation and Development of Afghanistan, Asif Rahimi, who headed the Afghan side, said the average participation of women in local bodies in his country is already 43 per cent, while fifty per cent representation of women has been ensured in the national and provincial assemblies.

While lauding the participation of women in large numbers in governance in Afghanistan, Aiyer rued that even in local bodies in India, the participation of women is confined to a mere 38 per cent.

“Average women participation in local governance in India is only 38 per cent while the proposal for 33 per cent reservation in Parliament is yet to see light of the day,” Aiyer said.

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