TMC MP Derek O’Brien submits notice for introduction of the Women’s Reservation Bill in Rajya Sabha

*Paromita Das

Open a dare to the PMO’s 56-inch government. This week, Rajya Sabha will hear the long-awaited Women Reservation Bill (before April 8). Accept and put to vote motion under Rule 168,” O’Brien said in a tweet that included a chart showing that the TMC has the highest percentage (37 percent) of female MPs of any major political party.
The budget session is in its final week and will be adjourned on April 8.

The TMC’s push for the Women’s Reservation Bill is viewed as a political move by the party, which is led by the country’s lone female chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, and has the highest percentage of female MPs in Parliament.

“My government recognises the critical role that women play in the development of our society and the growth of our country.” “It has committed to giving them a 33% reservation in Parliament and state legislative assemblies,” O’Brien said.
According to the TMC leader’s notice, India has dropped 28 places to rank 140th out of 156 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, owing primarily to “the significant decline in the share of women among ministers, which halved, from 23 percent in 2019 to 9.1 percent in 2021.”

The current Lok Sabha has 15% female MPs, while the Rajya Sabha has 12.2% female MPs.

The Women’s Reservation Bill, which was first introduced in Parliament in 1996, came close to passage in 2008 when the Rajya Sabha cleared the legislation. but it was not taken up in the Lok Sabha due to a lack of consensus among the then-UPA allies.