V-P M Venkaiah Naidu backs women quota: Parties should come together

MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomes Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu by in Bhopal on Sunday. PTI

Within days of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calling for early passage of the women’s reservation Bill, Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday voiced support for the Bill, saying it was already very late and women should be provided reservation in state assemblies and Parliament at the earliest by striking political consensus. “It is very necessary. It is already late. A decision on this should be taken at the earliest. No one opposes it but it is not going forward. We have to give it a serious thought,’’ he told a large gathering of members from self-help groups in Bhopal during his first visit to the Madhya Pradesh capital after becoming the Vice-President.

Lauding the contribution of women in governance, sports and freedom struggle as also in ancient times, he said women in India were granted voting rights immediately after Independence unlike many other countries. “We were the first to give them voting rights. We provided reservation to women in local bodies. Effort to reserve seats in assemblies and Parliament are on. I personally support this law and hope that all political parties come together and make this happen,’’ Naidu said.

He stressed that he was no longer a member of the BJP and that he was holding a constitutional post. He said he had served as minister under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and recalled how the women’s empowerment movement was once very strong in southern states vis-a-vis northern states. He said the idea of New India can be fulfilled only by empowering women. He advocated that women should get equal rights in property by changing the present mindset of giving it only to the males. “We call our country Bharat Mata not Bharat Pita, motherland not fatherland,’’ he said and stressed that goddesses of education, wealth, finance were women.

He also cited examples of Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Sushma Swaraj and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who are holding important positions today. Referring to women, he said, “They are judges, doctors and actors and they will also drive tractors in coming days.” On the criticism that despite election of women to various local bodies, it is their husbands who rule by proxy, he said even men find it difficult to administer in the beginning.

Talking about demonetisation, he said the objective was to bring back money into the banking system. “The money was stashed in bedrooms, bathrooms, below pillow cover and inside bed. The entire money returned to banks with address,’’ he said. Earlier, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced sops for self-help groups run by women. He said bazaars would be set up in every city to enable self-help groups to sell their products. He said shops would be rented in big malls to allow these groups find a wider market.