DMK Marches To Make Women’s Reservation Bill A Reality

The Women’s Reservation Bill has been a topic of debate for years now. While the NDA government had it in its manifesto while contesting for elections in 2014, it is yet to become a reality. To set the conversation in motion again, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, led by its Rajya Sabha member, Kanimozhi, recently marched in the National capital in a bid to get the Bill passed.

The Bill, pending before Parliament, promises 33% seats reserved  for women in Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies. It was passed by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but has been pending in Lok Sabha for quite a while now.

"It remains a puzzle as to why the Women's Reservation Bill has not been passed. It has been 20 years, why has it not become a law?" Kanimozhi told reporters.

"We want to bring the focus back on the Bill because nobody is talking about it, not even the media," she expressed.

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Kanimozhi added, "We call on all like-minded parties who support the Bill to join our efforts." The march took place from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar.

Apart from Kanimozhi, the march saw prominent personalities like Communist Party of India’s D Raja, CPI(M)’s Ranga Rajan, Congress leaders Renuka Chowdhury and Rajni Patel and Nationalist Congress Party leader Supriya Sule, apart from Ranjana Kumari of the National Alliance for the Women’s Reservation Bill.

On March 17, Kanimozhi even wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reminding him about the bill and calling for his efforts in bringing the bill to reality.

Currently, the number of women MLAs in parliament is at an all time low. India ranks 103 when it comes to the global average of the percentage of women in parliament, which is 22.04%.

Picture credit- The News Minute