Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to initiate necessary steps for passing the Bill for reservation of one-third of seats in Parliament and state legislatures for women.
In the letter, he assured full support from the state government for providing women their rightful place in the decision-making process.
“In the early 1990s, the legendary leader Biju Patnaik, for first time in the country, brought women to the realm of political decision making by reserving one-third of all seats in Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies for them. Besides, he had also implemented equal wages for both men and women to ensure gender equality and dignity of labour,” he said.
In 2011, the Odisha government enhanced the reservation for women in Panchayats and Urban Local Bodies to 50 per cent, the Chief Minister said, adding that this decision had empowered the women of Odisha and encouraged them to join the mainstream of development process.
“I am glad to state that recently, the State Legislative Assembly has adopted a unanimous Resolution to provide for one-third reservation of women in Parliament as well as the State Legislatures,” he said.
The Chief minister said taking the historic decision to empower women in the country would be the finest tribute to the father of the nation on his 150th birth anniversary.
“Empowerment of women is the empowerment of the nation. No household, no society, no state, no country has ever moved forward without empowering its women. The principle of gender equality is enshrined in our Constitution. The country will move forward with much greater momentum only if the other half of our population, our mothers, sisters and daughters, have a role in the highest decision making bodies of our states and our country,” he added.
The winter session of the state assembly had adopted a unanimous resolution to provide for one-third reservation to women in Parliament as well as the state legislatures.
The Women’s Reservation Bill or The Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill, 2008, had lapsed in Parliament. It had proposed to amend the Constitution of India to reserve 33 per cent of all seats in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.
