Bhubaneshwar: The Odisha assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution seeking 33 percent reservation for women in legislative assemblies and the Parliament. The move comes after Odisha chief Minister Naveen Patnaik moved a resolution in the assembly, urging for reservation for women in all representative bodies.
Stating that Odisha must show its commitment and resolve to the entire country that it is a land where women are truly empowered and involved in nation-building, the chief minister appealed to all the lawmakers to extend their support and unanimously adopt the resolution.
The members of the assembly then unanimously passed the resolution giving 33 per cent reservation to women in the assemblies and the Parliament.
Initiated historic motion in #Odisha Assembly for 33% reservation for women in Legislative Assembly & Parliament for a new Odisha to move forward with much greater momentum & with our mothers and daughters having a role in the highest decision making bodies in state & country pic.twitter.com/o3BSsdAQDM— Naveen Patnaik (@Naveen_Odisha) November 20, 2018
The chief minister’s move came at a time when the Women’s Reservation Bill or the Constitution (108th amendment) Bill is pending before the Parliament.
Patnaik said initiatives like girls' education, loans at 1 percent interest rate, hostels for 5 lakh tribal girls, provision of Rs 7 lakh for women under its healthcare insurance scheme and land rights for women were among the many initiatives his government had taken to improve their socio-economic condition.
In 1992, Patnaik said, his legendary father and former chief minister Biju Patnaik had brought women to the realm of political decision-making by providing 33 percent reservation for them in local bodies.
"The principle of gender equality is enshrined in our Constitution. Biju Babu was the true champion of women's empowerment," he said.
"I am confident that the mothers and sisters who run their household so efficiently will run the Panchayat Samiti and Zilla Parishad with equal competence," Patnaik quoted his father as saying while making a provision of 33 percent reservation for women in the three-tier Panchayati Raj system and urban local body.
"My government has further enhanced it (reservation for women in panchayat and ULBs) to 50 per cent. In fact, it’s heartening to know that, in real numbers, it's much more than 50 per cent," Patnaik said.
"This bold, aspirational and new Odisha has voices which must be heard across panchayats, legislative assemblies and the Parliament," he added.
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