AIADMK for early passage of Women's Reservation bill
Describing the Women's Reservation Bill as a "crying need', the AIADMK demanded that it be passed in Parliament.
There should not be any further delay (in passing the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008) in the name of making amendments or incorporating new suggestions", a party statement said.
Giving the party's view on the issue, the statement issued with the approval of AIADMK general secretary Jayalalithaa, said "The AIADMK is of the opinion that the 33 pc reservation envisaged for women should be applicable to existing quotas as well. If 30 seats are reserved for Dalits, a sub-reservation should exist whereby 10 seats will go to Dalit women."
This would ensure that women from all segments of society would find representation, it said.
In order to ensure that there were no regional or constituency wise inequities, the party also suggested that the reserved constituencies be rotated every 10 years.
The party said it understood that the opposition to the bill was on two grounds that it would deny adequate representation to other sections of the society, more specifically the Dalits, Backward Classes, Muslims and other minorities and that the total reservation, including the existing 22.5 pc for SCs and STs, would cross 55 pc making it unfair to the other sections of the population.
It expressed concern that in the May 2004 election, only 44 women candidates were among the 539 elected Lok Sabha members, a mere eight per cent.
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