Rahul promises 33% reservation for women in govt jobs at national level

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday announced that if his party comes to power it will reserve 33 per cent of all government jobs at the national level for women.

In the first such poll promise for women, Gandhi said there were not many women in leadership position.

"I don't see them leading enough companies. I don't see them leading enough states. I don't see enough of them in the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas," he said while interacting with students of Stella Maris College for Women in Chennai.

"One of the things that we have decided that in 2019 we are going to pass the women's reservation bill in Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabhas and we are also going to reserve 33 per cent of all government jobs at the national level for women," the Congress chief said.

He asserted that women cannot be empowered in India unless the attitude towards them changes.

"I am a believer that women should be pushed into places of leadership. Generally women are smarter than men," he said to a huge applause from the students.

Later, speaking at a press conference in Chennai, Gandhi repeated his party's pitch saying: "We have taken a decision in our manifesto that we are going to pass women's reservation (bill)...We have also taken the decision at the national government level, to reserve 33 per cent of all jobs for women."
Later, responding to a question on the announcement