Prime Minister should 'walk the talk' on women's issues: Indian Youth Congress

The Congress' youth wing on Monday inducted 34% women in its national committee with the approval of the party president Sonia Gandhi and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should now “walk the talk” to provide for reservation of 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the State legislative assemblies.

This comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi “gave up” his official Twitter account for a day to seven women achievers to tell their astounding stories to the world on the occasion of the International Women's Day.

“Indian Youth Congress (IYC) now demands that the Prime Minister should walk the talk and take up the challenge to increase the representation for women in power centres through their election in the decision-making process of the country by passing the Women’s Reservation Bill in the Parliament,” the Congress' youth wing said.

Women’s equal participation in politics is “a crucial step” towards achieving gender equality and progress for all, the IYC added.

The Women Reservation Bill 2008, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha on March 9, 2010, during UPA II regime, seeks to provide for reservation of 33% seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the State legislative assemblies.

The Bill is still pending with Parliament as it could not get clearance from the Lok Sabha “due to stiff opposition” by some parties in the Lower House.

Renewing the demand for the passage of the Bill, the IYC said that the Congress government under late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had got a bill passed from Parliament to provide for reservation of women in panchayats and urban local bodies to achieve the object of equality and empowerment of women through their participation in politics.

“Despite tall promises in the gender budget, the Modi government has not done much more than pay lip service to policies that impact women and to ensure their participation in higher numbers in the decision-making process of the country,” the Congress' youth wing said, targeting the NDA government on the issue of women empowerment.