Women's bill a way to empowerment, says Christian women council

The passing of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill, according to the All India Council of Christian Women (AICCW), will be a major step in the empowerment of women in India.

"The women's reservation bill has been a political raw nerve for nearly a decade now. If the bill is passed it would be a major step in women's empowerment," Rachel Pradhan, secretary of AICCW, told Christian Today.

The women's bill reserves 33 per cent of legislative seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women. Currently, women make up just 10% of the lower house of parliament.

The bill was first proposed in 1996 but was never passed with lack of consensus among political groups. The opposing groups had even demanded separate reservations for women from Muslim, or Dalit or low-caste communities.

"Every government in last 15 years promised to introduce the bill and nothing happened," laments Pradhan.

She adds: "If the bill had been passed it would have been a giant step in women's empowerment as one-third of the total available seats would be reserved for women in national, state, or local governments."

The ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) vied to turn the bill into a law on Monday coinciding with International Women's Day.

However, with uproar from opponents, the bill was delayed from passing.

"Government surely has to take blame for this. It has definitely failed in floor coordination and management. It was not showing the real political will to push things," says Pradhan.

Nonetheless, the bill must be passed at any cost. "Women and men are equal in the eyes of God and there is no distinction between both," she observes.

"And when we say women, it includes all women irrespective of caste and colour and creed."

India's first female president, Pratibha Patil, meanwhile, strongly called upon political parties to support the bill.

"I appeal to all political parties to pass the women reservation bill and as far as possible I would be grateful if it is passed by consultation and consensus," President Patil told reporters on Monday.

She noted that the country is in need of a fundamental change in the mindsets of the people.

For such a change in the attitude of the society, she said, reforms must be made for gender equality.