So far, the Modi government has been successful in pushing Bills that it really wants Parliament to approve, sometimes even taking the Money Bill route to skirt opposition, as in the case of Aadhaar. Therefore, it is puzzling that the minister of state for law and justice, PP Chowdhary, read a reply in the Lok Sabha citing the need for “consensus” to get the Women’s Reservation Bill passed. “The issue involved needs careful consideration on the basis of consensus among all political parties before a Bill for amendment in the Constitution is brought before Parliament,” he said.

Surely “consensus” in this case is a smokescreen, and the minister was clearly betrays dilly-dallying over bringing in the Bill, which is still live, as it has already been passed by the Rajya Sabha.

The global average of women in Parliament stands at 22.4 per cent, with India placed a poor 103 out of 140 countries; women have only 12 per cent representation in Parliament and an average 9 per cent in the State assemblies. It is India’s failure that the presence of women in the recent Assembly elections is dismal. In this situation, the Modi government with a brute majority in the Lok Sabha, can deliver all its election promises in a jiffy, if it wants to. After all, Bills have even been passed without discussion.

The path for women’s representation couldn’t have been clearer. With the DMK, along with the Congress, Left and other parties, recently renewing the demand for early passage of the Bill, and the three parties — Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and Samajwadi Party — opposing it now out of the way in the Lok Sabha, what’s stopping a ‘decisive’ Prime Minister from delivering on the promise he made in the 2014 election manifesto — that the “BJP is committed to 33% reservation in parliamentary and State assemblies through a constitution amendment”?

Aditi Nigam Senior Deputy Editor

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