The representation of women in the Indian Parliament is not even one-fourth as compared to the number of male politicians. Currently, the female presentation stands at 14 per cent, and this low number is honestly quite concerning. Women in the Parliament ensure that the issues of the country’s women will be heard by those who relate to them. In view of the same, the amendment in the Women’s Reservation Bill is about reserving 33 per cent of seats for women in the Parliament. To push for the speedy amendment in the bill, K Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader is on a hunger strike at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar.
K Kavitha is Telangana Chief Minister, K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter, also the head of the BRS party. As per reports, she has gone on a hunger strike to get the Women’s Reservation Bill passed by the central government. On March 9, 2023, K Kavitha said that the bill has been lying in ‘cold storage’ since the election of PM Modi in 2014. She added that getting the bill passed was a part of BJP’s 2014 and 2019 manifesto. K Kavitha also said that the central government has failed to deliver on this promise.
Talking about the huge scale participation she has gotten for the hunger strike, K Kavitha said that 500-600 party members are going to extend their support. She also said that 6000 people and 18 political parties are going to support her cause.
More about Women’s Reservation Bill
The Women’s Reservation Bill aims at providing one-third of seats for women leaders in Lok Sabha. It also aims at providing one-third of representation to women in gram panchayats. The first introduction of the bill dates back to 1996. The importance of the bill was highlighted via a PIL and lawyer Prashant Bhushan advocated the same. The petitioner who filed the PIL said that the bill is extremely important in today’s political times and also that the Rajya Sabha has passed it.
Also read: What Is The Women’s Reservation Bill, Seeking To Be Reintroduced In Parliament Via A Supreme Court Plea?
We are keeping our fingers crossed on getting this very important bill passed. Having a good ratio of women in the Parliament will help important women’s issues like period leaves, safe sanitation and cheapy available menstruation products.