Women and Child Development minister Smriti Irani spoke to News18 about the historic Women’s Reservation Bill, and mentions how Bharatiya Jana Sangh back in 1974 had stressed the need to “constitutionally guarantee the women of the country”.
On the Opposition’s objection for not including the quota for Other Backward Class (OBC) women, Irani said Congress’ reservation proposal did not have the mention of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe women. “There is a defined space for women in the SC and ST categories, and reservation for them in the bill.”
Edited interview:
Q: What does a day like today mean for you and women representatives?
A: Great day for us. We are jubilant for plenty of reasons. Firstly, some people were of the opinion that they were waiting for this since 27 years. I want to historically contextualise this. When we attained freedom from colonial rule, that is when many women walked up to those who were writing the Constitution, that there is a need for affirmative action for women. Today is a day to pay homage to those women. In 1971, the then government wanted to form a committee to create a report on the status of women of our country. If you look at the 1974 published report of that committee, in Chapter 7, I am very grateful that we find a mention of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh stating that there is a need to constitutionally guarantee the women of the country so that they can serve the country as leaders of tomorrow. Who knew that history will be created, the most glorious chapters for women would be written in the first 72 hours. So, this is a legislation defined very well constitutionally.
Q: Why is there no quota for OBC, SC and ST women?
A: The tongue in which the opposition speaks stands exposed. The proposal of UPA makes no mention of OBC community because even they know there is no constitutional provision as such. No constitutional provisional for the name of village. There is, however, a defined space for women in the SC and ST categories, and reservation for them in the bill that Prime Minister Modi has passed in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. In Congress’s proposal by Sonia Gandhi, page two, you will find that she proposed that women from the SC and ST communities will not receive reservation for 15 years. She curtailed it to 10 years, had no conclusion as to which seat has to be reserved where.
Q: Why was the government in such a hurry to bring the bill now if it can’t be implemented before the 2029 elections?
A: We will go to elections in a few months, hence, a legislation that seeks a constitutional procedure vis-a-vis how processes have to be laid out for delimitation by census that needs a special emphasis in a whole implementation strategy by the Centre and state. I think the process is so wide that if not today, when would the Opposition have wanted for the bill to come through? Look at Article 82, my appeal to the people is that it is clearly stated that the first published census after 2026 is when this particular process of readjustment of seats by delimitation can be undertaken.
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