New Delhi: Amid the much-awaited Women's Reservation Bill being introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Mahua Maji, Rajya Sabha MP and the leader of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha supported the Bill and said it is a big achievement for women, and credit for this goes to all the parties.
In an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, Maji said, "I have personally raised my voice for the Women's Reservation Bill in Parliament. We also demanded a special quota for SC and ST sections of women in the reservation because after all, the women belonging to the upper class will take all the advantage, and those who are struggling won't get a chance as they are not financially strong. Therefore, I happily welcome the Bill".
JMM leader Mahua Maji further stated that if there is more representation of women in politics, they can participate in better policy making ." Even countries like Bangladesh and Nepal have the highest percentage of women in Parliament . However, we had only 14% women MPs in the Lok Sabha and 10% in the Rajya Sabha respectively", she pointed out.
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Maji said, "I don't want to view this politically, and as far as achievement of the Bill is concerned, the credit goes to all the political parties, who continuously pitched and raised their voice for the passage of this Bill". Titled Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam - the Women's Reservation Bill was introduced in the Lower House of the new Parliament on Tuesday during the special session of Parliament. The Bill proposes a 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative Assemblies. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha after 27 years of efforts to obtain consensus by all parties
However, the legislation will come into effect after the next delimitation exercise, which might be conducted after the first census to be taken after 2026. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha of the new Parliament building by Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on the second day of the special session.
"In a country like India, where women are achieving greater heights in different domains, then why not in politics? With this Bill, more women leaders will be motivated to join politics and will work with high spirit", further said the JMM leader. The Bill seeks to reserve 33% of seats for women in the Lok Sabha, state legislative Assemblies, and the Delhi Assembly. The quota won't apply to the Rajya Sabha or state Legislative Councils. From the said quota, one-third shall be reserved for women from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
