Women's Reservation Bill Sapling Planted by Cong, It Should be Implemented Immediately: Rajasthan CM

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday described the women's reservation bill as a "sapling" planted by the Congress and demanded that the Act be implemented immediately.

He said the Union government has talked about holding a Census and a delimitation exercise to implement reservation but has not given any time limit for it.

President Droupadi Murmu has given her assent to the women's reservation bill which seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies.

The law will take some time before being implemented as the next census and the subsequent delimitation exercise – redrawing of Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies – will ascertain the particular seats being earmarked for women.

"We want it (the Act) to be implemented immediately. We want women to get a reservation, they should become MLAs and MPs, they should have a separate quota," Gehlot said at a programme to lay the foundation stone of and inaugurate various development works at Bissau in Jhunjhunu.

"We welcomed women's reservation because it is a sapling planted by us. You (BJP) did not support us at that time so it could not be passed completely. It was passed only in Rajya Sabha, but could not be passed in Lok Sabha," he said.

There have been several efforts to pass the bill in Parliament since 1996. The last such attempt was made in 2010 when the Rajya Sabha had passed a bill for women's reservation, but the same could not be passed in the Lok Sabha.

The senior Congress leader said it was due to the vision of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi that women got reservation in the panchayati raj institutions.

Referring to various public welfare schemes of his government, Gehlot said, "Our work is unmatched, whether in the field of education or health. A network of roads is being laid in Rajasthan. Many water schemes are being implemented and pension is being given to one crore people." He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi who is visiting the state frequently for poll campaigning, should promise to implement social security law in the country. The prime minister should promise that if the BJP comes to power in Rajasthan, then none of the schemes currently running in the state will be stopped, Gehlot said.

Regarding his remarks on Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar's frequent visits to Rajasthan, Gehlot said he had expressed his sentiments which Dhankhar would understand.

“The Vice President is a constitutional post and we respect that post. The only clear thing is that in the election environment… he visited five districts in a day. I had expressed my feelings and he would understand it," the chief minister added.