M A I N   N E W S

Women’s Reservation Bill
Bill to be passed in this LS session: Moily

New Delhi, March 14
The government today expressed confidence that the Women’s Reservation Bill will be passed in the current session of Parliament itself. “We would like to pass it in the present session -- in the first or the second part. We are confident,” Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told CNN-IBN in ‘Devil’s Advocate’ programme.

Asked whether in a democracy it was correct to have reservation of 48.5 per cent (including SC/ST), Moily said it was not an “offensive” thing as it cuts across caste, creed and community.

On a question whether it was fair to keep only around 50 per cent of the seats for the males, he replied, “men have to yield to women”, pointing out that the representation of women was only 11.2 per cent (in Lok Sabha).

To a query on the rotation system which would lead to member’s failure in nurturing a constituency, Moily said the system has worked well in the local bodies where similar rotation exists.

The minister downplayed the statement made by Pranab Mukherjee, Leader of the House in Lok Sabha that the government was open to suggestions. “It (Mukherjee’s statement) has been misconstrued. Parliament is supreme. We have to take Parliament into confidence whether it has to be amended this way or the other,” he said.

Moily also denied suggestions that the Bill was rushed in the Rajya Sabha saying consultations have gone in for more than 25 years and it was introduced only after convergence of views.

The Rajya Sabha on March 9 passed the historic Bill giving one-third representation to women in the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. — PTI

Pawar asks Yadav trio not to stall Bill

Pune, March 14
NCP president Sharad Pawar today said he has asked the three Yadavs -- Mulayam Singh, Lalu Prasad and Sharad -- not to stall the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha as their views on the quota for OBC and minorities could be taken into consideration by the government.

“A combination of Yadavs has emerged to oppose the Bill. I had a talk with them. I told them that the Bill could be amended to address their concerns in respect to OBC and Muslim women. A reduction in the proposed 33 per cent reservation can be considered to arrive at a consensus,” he said while speaking at the concluding session of the NCP’s two-day national conclave at Karla. — PTI