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"Table women’s Bill this session"

Special Correspondent

Congress women MPs’ plea to Manmohan

NEW DELHI: Almost on the eve of the conclusion of the budget session of Parliament, a delegation of Congress women MPs on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand the tabling of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the current session.

In a memorandum, the MPs said that during the first phase of the budget session, the Prime Minister had given an assurance that the government would evolve a consensus among all United Progressive Alliance partners on the Bill [that calls for reservation of 33 per cent seats for women in Parliament and Assemblies].

“Today the Mahila Congress and various NGOs working on women issues are looking up to you and your government with great expectations to get this important Bill tabled in this session so that by ensuring their participation in national politics and in decision-making, the process of their political empowerment would be complete,” the memorandum submitted to Dr. Singh said.

The delegation led by senior Congress leader Mohsina Kidwai noted that while the Congress-led UPA was committed to get the long-pending Bill passed, due to the “non-cooperation” of some of the alliance partners, the government could not present the proposed legislation in Parliament.

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