Keep contentious issues out of Women's Bill: PM

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, AUG. 17. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today urged political parties to evolve a consensus on the Women's Reservation Bill by keeping contentious issues out at ``this initial stage of enacting this revolutionary legislation''.

Addressing the inaugural session of ``Gender Balance 50:50'' here, Mr. Vajpayee reminded fellow politicians that they had all promised 33 per cent reservation for women and should live up to it.

As for his party, the Prime Minister said, ``we are in favour of 33 per cent reservation''. Also, he was full of praise for the late Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, for introducing the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution.

Indicating that some male colleagues in Parliament were against reservation of seats for women in Parliament and State Legislatures, the Prime Minister said to an appreciative round of applause from the participants at the two-day session organised by the National Forum for Women's Rights that the legislation could not be stalled for too long.

Of the view that the empowerment of her women was India's empowerment, Mr. Vajpayee lamented that a country which in ancient times accorded equal status to men and women should have made the latter suffer injustice and discrimination.

``We have closed the doors of opportunity to many of them in many areas of our economic, social, political and cultural life; we have not enabled our sisters and daughters to develop to their full potential.''

Stating that education was the first step towards women's empowerment, he called for a national effort to universalise education. ``Universalisation of education should become a people's movement,'' he said adding India did not lack pro-women legislation. ``What we lack is implementation. Our law provides for equal pay for equal work, but it is not implemented.''

Asserting that Indian society should no longer live with instances of female foeticide and dowry deaths, Mr. Vajpayee stressed the need for Central and State Governments as also the Panchayati Raj institutions to intensify efforts to redeem their obligations to women.

This said, the Prime Minister was quick to point out that Governments alone could not reduce - much less remove - the gap between the ideal and reality.

In this connection, he said every agency of the Government should work more closely and with a stronger sense of partnership with women's organisations, voluntary agencies, educational institutions and professional bodies.

Several members of Parliament and women activists are attending the two-day session to discuss the National Policy for Empowerment of Women, approved by the Cabinet earlier this year.

Women activists thanked the Prime Minister for bringing out the policy document promised in 1995. Though Mr. Vajpayee was all for empowering women and their uplift, he was silent on the demand for budgetary allocation for putting the policy into action.

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