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Women’s Bill, Somnath’s dream

— Photo: PTI/ Shahbaz Khan

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee offers a sweet to Minister of State for Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury at an exhibition in Delhi on Saturday.

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said on Saturday that he hoped the “elusive” Women’s Reservation Bill would be passed by Parliament during his tenure.

“Every session, I hear that the Bill will be moved and it is my dream that during my tenure it is passed by Parliament,” he said at a book release function here to mark the International Women’s Day.

The Bill, seeking to reserve 33 per cent seats in State Assemblies and Parliament, had been sidelined on “some ground or the other” for over a decade now, he said.

A staunch supporter of the Bill, Mr. Chatterjee said he was convinced that it would be the “single most powerful catalyst” in ensuring equity and justice for women.

Advocating enhanced gender participation in democratic institutions at the State and national levels, the Speaker said women were grossly under-represented and he found it embarrassing to even quote the dismal figure of 8 per cent in Parliament.

Mr. Chatterjee said the picture was not very different in States as in some of them such as Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland — where women outnumbered male voters — there were no women legislators. In Kerala, there were only seven out of 140 legislators though the State had the highest literacy rate.

“It is a matter of great sorrow as well as concern that democratic institutions have not measured up to the expectations of women. The government of the day should not be spared in Parliament or the Assemblies, if it is found wanting in dealing with activities which result in denial of rights to women,” he suggested. There should be zero tolerance for discrimination, abuse and violence against women with democratic institutions taking a lead in this fight.

Acknowledging publicly that the reputation of democratic institutions has hit “an all-time low,” Mr. Chatterjee said devaluation of conventional parliamentary norms, disruptions, disorder and disrespect for the Chair have led to widespread cynicism.

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