Mahua Moitra describes Women's Reservation Bill as 'women's reservation rescheduling bill'

by IANS |

New Delhi, Sep 20 (IANS) Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Wednesday while speaking during the discussion on the Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha said she calls it both an honour and shame to speak about the bill, 75 years after Independence.

She highlighted that the number for male and female turnout were nearly the same in the last general elections, i.e. 66.7 per cent and 66.8 per cent respectively, but women’s candidature was at an abysmal 9 per cent, up from 7 per cent in 2004.

The government introduced the Bill as a groundbreaking move, but what does the Bill say, she wondered, highlighting that an article makes the reservations contingent on a delimitation exercise.

Moitra called the legislation a women’s reservation rescheduling bill, and said that it should be renamed as such, saying that "forget 2024, this bill will not come to light even by 2029".

She described the Bill as "a sham".

"When this government wanted to protect cows, you didn’t wait to count the number of cows, you started building cow shelters. Are women any less?" she sought to know.

She said that it is a chance for the prime minister to prove that “Modi hai toh mumkin hain” asking it to send 33 per cent women members to Parliament.