Congress Slams Government’s ‘Biggest Jumla’: Demands Immediate 2024 Implementation of Women Reservation Bill
Dr. Shama Mohammad Criticizes Delay in Women's Reservation Bill, Calls for Exclusion of Delimitation and Census Clauses
25-09-2023 : Srinagar, September 25: The Indian National Congress has issued a scathing critique of the recent passage of the Women Reservation Bill by the government, deeming it the “biggest jumla” (a term often used to describe political gimmicks) and insisting on its immediate implementation in 2024. The party has called for the exclusion of clauses pertaining to delimitation, census, and the inclusion of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which are not covered under the bill.
Dr. Shama Mohammad, the National Spokesperson of the Indian National Congress, voiced her party’s dissatisfaction during a press conference, expressing concern over the delay in introducing the bill to Parliament, despite the government’s majority for the past nine years. She emphasized that the bill introduced in 2010 by Congress had no provisions regarding delimitation and census, but the current bill includes two clauses without specifying a timeline for implementation.
Dr. Shama recounted previous endeavors by Congress leaders to advocate for women’s reservation. She referenced letters written by Sonia Gandhi in 2017 and Rahul Gandhi in 2018, both urging the government to introduce the bill for the betterment of women in the country. However, she lamented that despite these efforts, significant progress had not been made.
Recalling history, Dr. Shama highlighted former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s 1998 attempt to pass a bill for 33 percent reservation of women in Panchayats. While the bill passed in the Lok Sabha, it fell short of seven votes in the Rajya Sabha, with prominent BJP leaders, including L.K. Advani, Yashwant Sinha, and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, opposing it. She emphasized that the Congress remains committed to empowering women.
Dr. Shama also pointed to the Congress’s 2010 efforts when they introduced a bill seeking 33 percent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. However, the bill did not pass due to a lack of majority.
She questioned the sudden push by the BJP-led government to pass the Women Reservation Bill after nine years of inaction, highlighting that the Congress leaders had stressed the need for its implementation without delimitation and census, as well as the reservation for OBCs, during parliamentary discussions. She expressed skepticism about the government’s sincerity in implementing the bill and suggested that their motives might be politically driven.
Regarding the delays in delimitation and census, Dr. Shama expressed doubts about the government’s commitment to women’s empowerment. She questioned the government’s stance on conducting a caste census and called for the inclusion of OBCs in the bill. She concluded by insisting that the Women Reservation Bill should be implemented in 2024.
Dr. Shama criticized the government for its alleged leniency towards individuals accused of sexual assault, citing cases like Unnao, Kathua, Bilques Bano, Hathras, and Manipur, where women were subjected to heinous crimes. She accused the government of remaining inactive and silent in the face of such atrocities.
Addressing the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, Dr. Shama called for immediate elections, asserting that the current environment is conducive to holding them. She stressed the importance of allowing people to choose their representatives in the interest of democracy.
“Why are they not paying heed to the voice of the people?” she questioned, referencing the transformation of the state into a Union Territory without the consent of the people.
