NNWN / New Delhi, 2017-10-18

Women organisations continue to press for the passage of Women's Reservation Bill. An alliance of more than 1,600 women's organisations on Wednesday demanded that the Lok Sabha, where the ruling BJP has a majority, pass the Women's Reservation Bill should pass it in the winter session of Parliament. The Rajya Sabha had passed the Bill, which provides for 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and state assemblies, in 2010 but it is yet to clear the Lok Sabha. According to the the National Alliance for Women's Reservation Bill, the National Democratic Alliance government with 366 of the 543 seats in the Lok Sabha is "enough to fulfil" their objective. The alliance reminded the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of its election manifesto."We demand the bill's passage in the Winter Session of Parliament. There is no question that a consensus does not exist among political parties for its passage. It is the government's responsibility to get this bill passed and to fulfil the promise they made in the election manifesto.

In a statement, Centre for Social Research Director Ranjana Kumari said,"We face a now-or-never situation, and the government should now lead by example".Congress President Sonia Gandhi recently wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to take advantage of the BJP majority in the Lok Sabha to get the bill passed. The alliance also commented on the "dismal state of gender equality" in Parliament and state assemblies, which ranks 103 out of 140 countries ranked according to studies.