"Not Criticising But Seeking Clarification": Congress On Women's Quota Bill

Calling the Women's Reservation Bill 'good', Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal on Tuesday said that the party is not criticising the introduction of 'Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam' adding that the party just wants to seek some clarification from the government.

"This move is good, we are not criticizing it. But we want to seek some clarification from the government. Firstly, when is this going to be in effect, whether the OBC will also get the benefit of this," KC Venugopal said speaking to ANI.

KC Venugopal said that though he supports the move to bring about the Women's Reservation Bill, there is scope for improvement.

"It is well and good now the government is coming for a Bill. But when we saw the bill, we think that there is something that has to be done more," the Congress MP said.

KC Venugopal sought clarification from the government on whether women from the Other Backward Class (OBC) community will get reservations under this Bill.

"We think that the reservation of SC/ST under the reservation of women is okay. But other OBC community people are also waiting for the reservation. The government should come forward with a clarification on what they are going to do for OBC," the senior Congress leader said.

KC Venugopal also sought clarification on the time frame when the Women's Reservation Bill will be implemented given the delimitation process.

"Also, they are saying that the implementation will take place only after the delimitation process. Government has to clarify for how long women have to wait for the opportunity," he said.

KC Venugopal pointed out that this bill was passed by the Congress government when they were in power.

"We are for the Bill. Of course, we only introduced and passed it in Rajya Sabha. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi was very keen to pass the Bill. Unfortunately, the Bill could not be passed in the Lok Sabha at that point in time," he said.

KC Venugopal also highlighted that it was the Congress government that brought about reservations for women in the Panchayati raj institutions.

"This type of milestone was done by the Congress party. 50 per cent women are sitting in corporation, municipality and panchayat...," he said.

The Narendra Modi government introduced the new Women's Reservation Bill in the Lok Sabha of the new Parliament building here on Tuesday.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the bill in the first sitting of Lok Sabha in the new Parliament building.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)