Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Reservation for women

Sir, — It was much easier, it seems, for India to get independence from a colonial empire than it is to reach an agreement on reservation for women. It is a pity that more than 50 years of so-called representative governance has left half the population waiting outside Parliament for their rightful share. It should be noted that India will remain a third world country for centuries unless it does justice to half of its population.

Sandhya K. Panicker,

Kudappanamood, Kerala

* * *

Sir, — The BJP's proposal to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to accommodate women in the legislatures is not a sound one and may backfire.

The party should strive for a consensus on the issue by first firming up its views and those of its allies, and then proceed in the matter in such a manner that the issue is resolved at the earliest.

V. Padmanabhan,

Bangalore

Sir, — The proposal to create additional seats may not be the only way out but it is still worth adopting with certain corrective measures. Of course, increasing the strength of the House, by assigning certain constituencies as double member ones, besides being ultra vires of the Constitution, may be irrational. It will allow 8.33 per cent fewer women than proposed. It will increase the size of the House artificially by 33 per cent.

This will practically thrust an enormous unproductive overhead cost on the country's exchequer.

To balance this, the emoluments and accessories of the MPs and the MLAs may have to be reduced by one-third and the area development funds halved.

R. K. Divakara,

Bangalore

* * *

Sir, — It is evident that the BJP and some other parties have no real intention to pave the way for women's reservation. The proposed double member constituency in some places will only postpone the passage of the Bill.

Divi Kumar,

Vijayawada, A.P.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Avoid the 'peacekeeping' trap
• Attack on panchayati raj
• Beyond the Iraq decision
• New masters, old spies?
• Mind your language
• The legislation route
• Reservation for women
• Lessons from A.P.
• Retrograde step

Copyright © 2003, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu