AIMIM chief and Hyderabad Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi said that his party is against the Women’s reservation bill as there is no quota for women from the Muslim, OBC communities in it.
“You are making a bill so that there is representation of the underrepresented. Until now, seventy Lok Sabha elections have taken place in this country. 8992 MPs have been elected until now, out of which, only 520 are Muslims. There is a deficit over 50 percent. In that 520, not even a handful are women. So, who are you providing representation to? Those who need it should get it. A major flaw in this bill is that there is no quota for Muslim and OBC women. This is why we are against the bill,” he said, speaking to ANI.
The long-awaited and debated Women’s Reservation Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, September 19, after the first session began in the New Parliament House.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the second day of the special Parliamentary session, announced that the Women’s Reservation Bill was given a nod in the key Union cabinet meeting that was held yesterday.
The Bill that reserves 33 percent seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies was introduced in the lower house by the minister of law and justice Arjun Ram Meghwal and was passed by a voice vote.
The Bill will come into effect after a delimitation exercise with provisions for 1/3 quota for SC and ST candidates.
The Bill which will be applicable for 15 years, had been tabled several times in the last 27 years but never passed despite repeated attempts. It was last brought up in 2010 and was passed in the Rajya Sabha, but it could not be passed in the Lok Sabha. Meghwal claimed that a Bill passed by the Rajya Sabha, not considered by the Lok Sabha lapses.
