Congress demands immediate implementation of women's reservation bill with quota for SCs, STs, OBCs: Sonia Gandhi

Sonia Gandhi. Pic/PTI

Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday extended her party's support for the women's reservation bill and demanded its immediate implementation along with the provision for the representation of SCs, STs and OBCs, reported news agency PTI.

Initiating the debate from the opposition's side in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said, "I stand here in support of Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam," reported PTI.

She said any delay in implementing women's reservation bill will be gross injustice to Indian women.

"The immediate implementation of the women's reservation bill by removing all obstacles not only necessary but also possible," Sonia Gandhi was quoted as saying by PTI.

The Congress on Tuesday termed as "election jumla" and "huge betrayal of hopes of women" the women's reservation bill brought by the government, noting the Centre has stated that the reservation will be effective only after a Census and delimitation exercise is conducted post-enactment of the bill.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh wondered whether the Census and delimitation will be done before the 2024 elections, pointing out that the Narendra Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 decadal Census.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "In a season of election jumlas, this one is the biggest of them all! A huge betrayal of the hopes of crores of Indian women and girls."

"As we had pointed out earlier, Modi government has not yet conducted the 2021 Decadal Census making India the only country in G20 that has failed to carry out the Census. Now it says that the reservation for women will come into effect only following the first decadal Census conducted AFTER the Women's Reservation Bill has become an Act. When will this Census take place?" Ramesh said.

The bill also says the reservation comes into effect only after the publication of the next Census and the subsequent delimitation exercise thereafter, he pointed out.

"Basically the Bill gets the headlines today with a very vague promise of its implementation date. This is nothing but EVM - Event Management," he said.

In another post, Ramesh said If the prime minister had any real intention to prioritise women empowerment, the women's reservation bill would have been implemented immediately without the ifs and buts and all other conditions.

"For him and the BJP, this is only an election jumla that delivers nothing concrete," he said.

(With inputs from PTI)