Accusing the government of lacking political will and social commitment for women's empowerment, CPI-affiliate women body today demanded immediate passage of the 33 per cent reservation bill for women in Parliament and state Assemblies.
The National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) held a demonstration in front of Parliament today and said that until women get at least one-third representation, achieving gender equality and human rights of women will remain a "distant dream".
"BJP, with its huge majority, is not even mentioning the Bill. When in opposition Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley repeatedly stated in the floor of Parliament that BJP is for the Bill. But now they ignore this issue. This shows double standard, lack of political will and social commitment for the empowerment of women," NFIW general secretary Annie Raja said.
Raja who held the demonstration along with 15 supporters was also detained by the police till 6 pm.
NFIW said that the 33 per cent reservation bill has been the demand of women across the country for decades and has been through a select committee of Parliament and passed by Rajya Sabha.
It said that although the bill has been presented in Lok Sabha several times, it has been scuttled every time in the name of consensus.
"NFIW is of the opinion that to address the issues of gender-based exclusion, inequality, violence and discrimination at institutional, structural, ideological and operational levels, women's equal participation in decision-making processes is needed," it said.
"NFIW strongly demands the immediate passage of the 33 per cent Women's Reservation Bill in the ongoing session of the Parliament. The time has now come to set aside subterfuge and place the Bill once again before Parliament and pass it," it said.
