Women’s Reservation Bill: Karnataka CM seeks internal reservation for SC/ST women

BENGALURU: The Women’s Reservation Bill is a welcome decision, but the very purpose of it will fail if women from the backward castes are not given internal reservation in it, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said. Since there is already political reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), it should not be a problem giving reservation to women of those communities, the CM said and added that they need to take note of the fact that women from backward castes do not have social, economic or educational capabilities to compete with others to gain representation politically. The CM alleged that a detailed examination of the Women’s Reservation Bill shows that it was done with the intention of political gains, more than giving political justice to women. If it is implemented in a similar form, women may have to wait for another two decades to get a political reservation, he said. Siddaramaiah said if PM Narendra Modi had an honest intention of providing reservation for women, he should have tabled the same bill that was presented in Rajya Sabha in 2010 when Congress was in power. He said it will come into effect after the next census and delimitation of constituencies, which are expected in 2026 and 2031, respectively, he said. The CM said it was the Congress party’s dream to give 33 % political reservation for women and late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had made a sincere effort to realize this dream. Political reservation for women was also included in the Congress manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he added.