Panaji, Apr 15 (PTI) Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday pitched for women’s quota in legislative assemblies, saying he won’t mind even if his own seat turns reserved after the implementation of the women quota law.
Addressing a “Town Hall of Women” to raise awareness about the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’, more commonly known as the Women’s Reservation Act, he said Goa is looking forward to the implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in legislative bodies.
The Budget session of Parliament has been extended, and a special three-day sitting of the House has been convened from April 16 to 18, during which amendments to the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ will be brought for its implementation in 2029.
“We are ready to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Goa legislative assembly. We don’t mind giving 33 per cent of the existing 40 seats (to women). I don’t mind even if my own seat is reserved for women,” he said.
The chief minister said that the exact number of assembly seats that would increase in smaller states like Goa would be known only after discussions on the women’s quota and delimitation bills.
He said the amendment bills are being tabled to consider the 2011 Census figures as a base so that reservations can be implemented in the 2029 general elections. He said the next Census will take at least two years to complete.
Taking a dig at the Opposition, Sawant said that the country even had a woman as prime minister, but the then governments never thought of giving representation to women in the elected bodies.
He said that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who thought about giving representation to women. “Women will get representation from panchayat to Parliament,” he said.
The chief minister said women should take up economic, social and political leadership. Forums like legislative assemblies and Parliament are the ones where the country’s laws are formed, he said.
“Through these bills, women will play a major role in decision-making for the country, once they get the representation,” he said.
Referring to Goa, he said the state has dedicated 33 per cent of its recently passed budget to women.
“Goa is the first state in the country to have a gender-specific budget providing 33 per cent of the allocation through all its 56 departments to women,” he said.
The number of Lok Sabha seats will be increased to up to 850 from the current 543 to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise to be carried out based on the last published census.
According to the draft Constitution amendment bill, which will be introduced in the upcoming special sitting of Parliament, seats would also be increased in the state and Union Territory assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women. PTI RPS NR
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