Arjun Ram Meghwal hails Women's Quota Bill as "revolutionary"
Sep 24, 2023
Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], September 24 : Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Sunday hailed the Women's Quota Bill as 'revolutionary'.
"The bill which had been in limbo for nearly three decades was cleared by both the houses of the parliament in the special session. It is a revolutionary step. We had consensus also which is historical. Women welcomed the decision of the government. It is indeed a joyous moment for all of us, and especially for women," Meghawal told reporters in Rajasthan's Jaipur.
Taking a dig at the Congress party, he said, "I don't know why they had presented the bill directly in the Rajya Sabha. They could have done in the Lok Sabha too. They never gathered the courage to get it passed. They thought that they would lose the power. They prioritized their power."
The Women's Quota Bill, cleared its final legislative hurdle at the Rajya Sabha on Thursday with 214 members voting in support and none against.
Earlier on Wednesday, the bill was shown the green flag by the Lok Sabha with the brute majority of 454 votes in favour and just 2 against.
The Rajya Sabha had earlier passed the Women’s Reservation Bill in 2010 during the Congress-led UPA government but it was not taken up in the Lok Sabha and subsequently lapsed in the lower House of Parliament.
In 1996, under the United Front Government (an alliance of 13 political parties) headed by then Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, the bill was brought but it faced opposition from the alliance parties due to the latter's demand to take into account the OBCs.
Since then, the bill had been in limbo for 27 years.
Arjun Ram Meghwal also talked about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Jaipur, which is going to be held tomorrow.
"Tomorrow, it is the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. It is a pious day. Prime Minister Modi will arrive in Jaipur to culminate the 'Parivartan Sankalp Yatra'. Throughtout the Yatra, we covered 200 constituencies. And we got a massive suppot from the public", he said.
PM Modi is to visit the Dadiya village of Rajasthan's Jaipur tomorrow where he will culminate the 'Parivartan Sankalp Yatra', which was started by the BJP, earlier this month, aiming to cover 200 constiuencies over 9,000 kms, and reaching out to over one crore people in the state with its eyes on the upcoming state assembly polls.
Meanwhile, lauding the Narendra Modi government, the Law Minister added, "We gave a stavble government under Prime Minister Modi's regime. Women were empowered socially and economically".
On being asked about the implementation of the Women's Quota Bill, he said, "We have done some amendments. Accordingly, the census will be conducted and the delimitation will be done. Census is not a trivial issue."
Meghwal also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win the Rajasthan assembly polls, which are due later this year.
"They (Congress) are definitely going to lose. We will win the election the maximum number of seat", he said.
Reacting to Ramesh Bidhuri's 'communal' remarks in the Rajya Sabha, the Law Minister said, "Our party sent a notice to him. Would the Congress ever have done this?"
Earlier this week, BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri's communally insensitive remarks, made during the discussion on Chandrayan-3 Mission in Lok Sabha, were expunged from the proceedings.
Sources said Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla took note of Ramesh Bidhuri's remarks and gave him a warning.
The BJP also issued a show cause notice to party MP Ramesh Bidhuri on the instruction of party president JP Nadda for his use of unparliamentary language against BSP MP Danish Ali, sources said.
Ali has given an ultimatum of leaving the Parliament if the Speaker does not conduct an enquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan assembly polls are scheduled to be held later this year for which, the parties are putting their shoulders to the wheel, with their focus on the maximum number of seats.
Earlier in 2018, the Congress secured 100 seats, one short of securing an absolute majority. It formed the government in alliance with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).