Will the women’s quota bill be put on backburner?

The panel headed by senior Congress MP E M Sudarshana Natchiappan has written to Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari seeking extension of time as its term expires on Tuesday.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice going into the issue last month circulated a new proposal to its members in a fresh move to reach a consensus on the Bill that has been pending for over a decade.

Natchiappan said extension of time has been sought as several members wanted more time to study the proposal.

The bill which proposes 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures remains stalled due to the insistence by some parties on a ‘quota within quota’.

Under the new formula, the Committee has proposed an amendment in the Constitution in order to make some headway on the Bill. It wants the states be given the power to decide on the backward classes to ensure reaching out to such groups in an adequate manner.

The new proposal has been mooted as a “compromise formula” in view of the fact that after discussion with various political parties, NGOs and other stakeholders, the Committee came to the understanding that one of the main reasons for the pendency of the Bill was the OBC issue.