Bhubaneswar: The special one-day session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly on “Women’s Contribution in Indian Democracy” on Thursday turned stormy over the shocking incident in Keonjhar district where a tribal man was forced to exhume his deceased sister’s skeletal remains and present them at a bank branch to withdraw money from her account.
Congress MLAs rushed to the well of the House, holding placards and raising slogans against the BJP-led state government, accusing it of failing to uphold women’s dignity and administrative sensitivity. The Opposition legislators briefly walked out in protest, even as Speaker Surama Padhy allowed the proceedings to continue.
The BJD leader accused the government of reducing women’s empowerment to mere “narratives and optics” rather than substantive action.
Turning to the legislative agenda, Naveen welcomed the discussion on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill but stressed that the Women’s Reservation Bill, passed unanimously in Parliament in 2023, should be implemented immediately without linking it to the delimitation exercise, calling it a “clandestine move” that could undermine Odisha’s political representation. He urged against supporting delimitation without broader consensus, stating, “History will not forgive us if we compromise on Odisha’s rights.”
He also recalled Odisha’s pioneering role under Biju Patnaik and his own tenure in introducing 33% reservation for women in local bodies and enhancing it to 50%, and pointed to BJD’s record of fielding 33% women candidates in Lok Sabha polls.
Reaffirming his position, Naveen assured the people of Odisha that their rights would be protected and urged the ruling party to move beyond rhetoric on women’s empowerment.
Later speaking to the media, the former CM added: “In my speech in the assembly, I clearly stated how much work we have done for women during Biju Babu’s time and my time… The BJP government is not helping women at all but is just doing drama…”
CM’s Broader Vision of Empowerment
The ruling BJP moved a motion highlighting its commitment to women’s empowerment and support for greater representation, while also criticising opposition parties over their stand on the Women’s Reservation Bill at the national level.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, while addressing the session, emphasised a holistic approach to women’s empowerment that goes beyond economic self-reliance through schemes like Self-Help Groups. He critiqued narrow definitions of empowerment limited to small financial support, asserting that true empowerment involves women’s right to make decisions in social, economic, and political spheres.
Majhi highlighted Indian women’s strides nearly 80 years after Independence, citing their roles as fighter jet pilots, armed forces officers, and public transport drivers. He referenced specific contributions, such as a radar engineer’s role in the Balakot operations and women officers like Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh.
In education, he pointed to UDISE+ data showing women comprising 53.3% of school teachers (2023-24) and 43% of higher education faculty, asking why they should not also lead the country if they shape its future.
The CM praised the BJP’s consistent support for women’s reservation and contrasted it with the Congress’s failure to enact such legislation despite massive majorities in the past. He also questioned the BJD’s apparent reluctance to extend quotas to assemblies and Parliament despite its achievements at the panchayat level, suggesting self-interest might be a factor.
Majhi lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership in elevating women in politics, pointing to President Droupadi Murmu, Deputy CM Pravati Parida, and national figures like Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. He listed national benefits under Modi’s tenure, including high shares of Mudra loans and Stand-Up India beneficiaries going to women, property rights via PMAY houses registered in women’s names, and strong female participation in STEM.
On the state front, Majhi outlined key initiatives including Subhadra Yojana, a flagship program aiming to empower over one crore women, promoting financial independence, digital banking, and self-reliance toward becoming “Lakhpati Didis” and establishment of Nari Adalats for grassroots justice and security.
CM Majhi noted that about 14.5 lakh women are already elected representatives in Panchayati Raj Institutions and expressed confidence that the Women’s Reservation Act would extend this participation to higher levels, with implementation targeted from the 2029 elections.
He dismissed concerns over delimitation, clarifying that any increase in Lok Sabha seats would proportionally benefit state assemblies, leaving no loss of representation for Odisha.
