Women'S Bill On Monday

Showing almost as much determination as former Prime Minister I K Gujral did last year, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday announced that his government will introduce the women reservation bill without modifications in the Lok Sabha.

The move, to reserve 33 per cent of Lok Sabha and assembly seats for women, has been pending for at least three years. Its passage has repeatedly been stymied over one pretext or another but its votaries remain undaunted.

Yesterday's meeting, attended by 57 leaders of 35 parties, was as divided as the earlier ones. The Congress and the Left parties agreed to support the bill as it stands. The Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal argued for a sub-quota for the Other backward castes (OBCs) and minorities. They were backed by such BJP allies as the Samata Party and the AIADMK.

AIADMK leader and Union minister R Muthaiah said a sub-quota should be included. Samata President and defence minister George Fernandes said his party would move an amendment to the bill and press for division. However, he assured Vajpayee that his party would vote for the bill even if this amendment was defeated.

The Telugu Desam Party and the DMK supported the bill without reservation. DMK leader T R Balu said the OBCs clause can be addressed at an appropriate time. Janata Dal leader Ram Vilas Paswan described the bill as a revolutionary step and pledged his party's support.

Vajpayee, in the chair, held that there was a consensus. Parliamentary affairs minister Madan Lal Khurana said he told the meeting that, since there was a consensus, the bill would be introduced in the Lok Sabha. The government has already notified the Lok Sabha of its intention to move the bill on Monday, Khurana said, adding that the law ministry has given its nod.

Apparently worried that other parties might try to appropriate credit for women's reservations, Khurana claimed that the government's move was not driven by demonstrations organised by other parties. The left parties and the Congress have been vocal supporters of the bill.

By introducing the bill, the Vajpayee government would fulfil the commitment made by the BJP and its allies in the National Agenda for Governance, he said.

The government had sought to table the bill on July 3, but convened an all party meeting after Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav objected and asked for an all-party meeting, Khurana said.