New Delhi, Oct 26 (UNI) Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Thursday said the Narendra Modi-led government has passed the Women Reservation Bill 2023, which makes 2.8 million women dept at fighting elections.
Participating at a Public Affairs Forum of India (PAFI) event, Irani said, “Women fight elections for legislative assemblies as well as panchayats. Politically, 2.8 million women are adept at fighting elections. That is the power of women in our country.”
Irani emphasised that representation of women is not limited to Parliament, but there are 2.5 million women actively engaged in the panchayats where the reservation for them is 33%, but representation is 40%, which comes at a time of a generational shift that empowers women.
“Our government has passed a bill that has a methodology for the implementation of the bill and also envisages the procedure 15 years from the implementation of the bill,” she said.
“The earlier bill did not give a framework for implementation of the bill” she added.
The Minister further added “The first working legislation discussed in the new parliament building was the Women’s Reservation Bill and it is a testament to how much we have grown as a nation”.
The Union Minister also asked the business community to “step up” to take the onus of providing equal opportunity for women.
“How much of government do you need in your boardroom to bring about change, and how much do you want,” she said, adding “Women need to be included in a diverse range of topics of discussion rather than being put in a box of just certain discussions”.
“There is only so much that policy can do, our boardrooms and leadership need to walk the talk” Irani added.
