Women’s Reservation Bill put on back-burner, again

August 17: The Women's Reservation Bill, which sparked a furore in both Houses of Parliament last week, has been put on the back-burner. T...

August 17: The Women’s Reservation Bill, which sparked a furore in both Houses of Parliament last week, has been put on the back-burner. The issue figured in the Lok Sabha’s business advisory committee meeting held this afternoon but with parties taking predictable positions, plans to hold discussions on the bill during the ongoing session have been shelved.

The BAC did, however, agree to hold a discussion on the Subrahmanyan committee report on the Kargil intrusions. The debate, to be held under Rule 193, will take place on Thursday, which also happens to be the last day of the monsoon session of Parliament.

On Monday, the Lok Sabha is scheduled to take up a discussion under Rule 184 on the Congress-sponsored motion seeking a judicial inquiry into the latest round of killings in Jammu and Kashmir. The discussion will be followed by voting on the motion.

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The demand to get the Women’s Reservation Bill passed during the current session was raised in the BAC by Rupchand Pal (CPM) and Madhavrao Scindia (Congress). No sooner had they made their point, Akhilesh Singh (Samajwadi Party) jumped into the fray, opposing the move. Putting forth his party’s point of view, he said that the Bill should not be taken up for consideration unless separate provision is made for reservation for OBCs and minorities.

In fact, he suggested that the Government table amendments to this effect while holding the discussion on the Bill — a move which was opposed by the Congress and the Left parties, which wanted the legislation to be passed in its present form.

Quoting Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s speech made on the Independence Day, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pramod Mahajan said that the Government would strive to evolve a consensus during the inter-session period.

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