Congress urges govt to bring Women Reservation Bill, points out skewed proportion

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge speaks in the House. Pic/PTI

The Congress on Monday urged the government to bring Women Reservation Bill in the parliament and highlighted the issue of unemployment saying rising joblessness will finish democracy in the country.

During a discussion on 'Parliamentary Journey of 75 years Starting from Samvidhan Sabha Achievements, Experiences, Memories And Learnings' leader of the opposition Mallikarjun Kharge from Congress said, "Women Reservation Bill should come. We all tried. This issue if you (Chair) raise then they will."

Kharge highlighted the small numbers of women lawmakers in parliament, saying they constituted only 14 per cent in both houses combined, while their number in legislative assemblies is just 10 per cent.

The proportion of women MPs was just five per cent in first Lok Sabha in 1952.

Kharge told the House that the proportion of women members had risen to 28 per cent from two per cent in the US Parliament while in Britain, it jumped to 33 per cent from three per cent.

Ram Nath Thakur of JD(U) too demanded reservation for women when the lawmakers shift to the new parliament building.

"When we are shifting to new parliament building tomorrow, why not we give 33 per cent reservation to women," he said.

Thakur also demanded a special session to discuss rising inflation and remedy for it.

Kharge in his speech highlighted the issue of unemployment saying that there were 8 crore educated jobless youths in the country.

If the joblessness keeps rising then the democracy in the country will destroy, he said.

He slammed inflation saying that the price of tomatoes has risen to Rs 400 to 500 per kg.

Kharge also took exception to the use of BJP's election symbol lotus on the G20 sign boards.

Leader of the House Piyush Goyal countered his remark pointing out the success of the Summit held earlier this month.

Kharge said when it comes to the pride of the nation, we all are same.

Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar also lauded the efforts of the government in making G20 Summit a success.

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