September 20, 2023
Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar’s speech on The Constitution (128th) Amendment Bill, 2023 (Women’s Reservation Bill) in the Lok Sabha
Thank you, Speaker Sir. I stand here to support the Bill which has already been implemented by my Leader Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal. West Bengal is the only State in the country which has a female Chief Minister. I am sorry to say that inspite of Bharatiya Janata Party having their rule in 16 States, at the moment we do not have any women Chief minister there. We are actually delighted to witness the realisation of our leader Mamata Banerjee’s vision where women’s rightful entitlements are being recognised and initiatives are being taken to uphold the vision throughout the country. She passionately advocated for the implementation of women’s reservation all her life, right from 1996 when it was tabled first. She was a member of the Committee headed by the then hon. Member Smt. Geeta Mukherjee trying to argue for the passing of the Bill, possibly keeping in mind the sage Swami Vivekananda who said, “Na Janile Bharat lalona, E Bharat Jage na, Jage na” It is the awakening of women of India which awakes India towards development. Bengal has boldly demonstrated and spearheaded a paradigm shift leading the entire nation towards progress. Notably, we have more women legislators in our Assembly than anywhere else in the country. We have more women Ministers along with Mamata Banerjee. In the Lok Sabha right from 2014, we have been having more than 33 per cent reservation within the Party so to say without any forceful reservation being implemented through any Parliamentary procedure or through the Election Commission. At the moment, in this august House of Lok Sabha, All India Trinamool Congress has nearly 40 per cent of women Members and also in the Rajya Sabha. This is what Smt. Mamata Banerjee has done. She is the only Chief Minister, like I said she has been implementing different programmes for empowering women, for empowering women towards education, for empowering women towards better health and towards better administrative positions. It is ironic to note that despite the seemingly professed affection towards women demonstrated by the NDA alliance today, just six months before the general elections, none of the 16 States ruled by them has a woman Chief minister. What took them so long? Why was not this Bill brought in 2014? Why just before the elections? What are you trying to prove to the people? Is it like a gimmick? Is it like pulling out a rabbit from the hat and placing it before the country? The Government has raised many questions against themselves. Why is delimitation linked with reservation? It is a sinister move and it will have more Members in the Parliament from States which have failed in population control and poor women empowerment. Rather than allocating large sums of money towards construction of structures and altering names of citizens and places, I would urge my colleagues in BJP to prioritise transformation of the mindset. It is imperative that they demonstrate genuine respect for women by aligning their actions with words. Moreover, it is crucial that they take appropriate action against all individuals who are harming and showing disrespect towards women. The golden girls of the country who got us medals have been sexually harassed and they were in Jantar Mantar but the perpetrator sits here today, Shri Brij Bhushan Singh, who has not been brought to book. So, if you are reallyinterested in taking care of women towards betterment and progress, then why do you not take action against the perpetrators? Why do you not take action against those people who have been molesting and killing women in Hathras and in Unnao? Little Asifa was stoned to death in Jammu and the wrestlers, as I said, have been manhandled and molested. I would also like to draw the attention of the House to the plight and the economic non-empowerment of the women labourers who have job cards. They hold the job cards all over the country through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. There are many women who work in that field but their payment has not been released yet. That is also insulting the women labourers. So are the researchers and the scientific workers of ISRO and IITs who have been denied their salaries. I have requested the hon. Minister in the last Session that they are not getting their stipends. The research workers and the scientists are not getting their stipends. The women researchers of IIT, Kharagpur are not getting their salaries….… Do not shout me down. It is a fact. Go and look into the books. The job card holders are not getting salaries. We know that. In our State, the job card holders who are poor labourers are not getting salaries. In IIT Kharagpur and ISRO, the women scientists, even after sending Chandrayaan, are not being paid their salaries. You have to respect women.… : I would like to quote the Bengali poet known all over the world. Vidrohi Kobi Nazrul said – “Viswey Ja kichu mohan sristi chiro kalyankar, ardhek tar koriyache nari, ardhek tar nor.” The women work very hard in every field. They should be respected. None other than Shri Rabindranath Tagore said “Jadi rakho pasey, sonkot e, songshoi e, sammoti dao jadi kothin o brote” Just like my sister, Shrimati Kanimozhi was saying, we want equal opportunity, we want equal respect, we want to participate in nation-building as equals and not by looking down upon us because we are equals and we can perform provided we get support in education and in health care system. What is the budgetary allocation for women’s health? This Government should tell us and the whole House the extra budgetary allocation for reproductive health of women in the country. The women and their children need it and not the men. So, women require this extra budgetary allocation for their reproductive health. Do this first before bringing the Bill. You have tabled the Bill. This Bill should have come in 2014 when you came to power if you are so much interested in the welfare of women and not before the elections like a gimmick and pulling out a rabbit from the hat. Should I believe this Bill? Should I believe this House? Should I believe this Government or Should I believe their IT Cell Chief? He said in 2010, “Sonia ji is holding the nation to ransom just to fulfil her agenda to get the Women Reservation Bill through. Will her MPs stand up to her?”. Again, he said in 2010, “By pushing the Women Reservation Bill, Congress has created another constituency for itself. This one transcends caste and religion”. He again said, “When we should be talking and moving away from reservations of all kinds, we have a new wave demanding reservation for women”. These have been said by the IT Cell Chief of Bharatiya Janata Party… He again said, “We, in certain States, have reservation for women in the local bodies. Has it helped the cause of women?”. He has questioned whether the women in the local bodies have helped the administration… He has always been maligning everybody in the Opposition. I can lay this on the Table. So, this is from the IT Cell Chief of Bharatiya Janata Party… They are always looking down on women. We are equals. Women are equals. We actually are better than men, I should say, in many respects because we look after the home and children. This Bill was first brought in 2009. It could not be passed at that time for whatever reasons. But My leader, Mamta Banerjee, has implemented 40 per cent reservation of seats for women in All India Trinamool Congress which we are representing here. I would like to quote the famous boxer Cassius Clay, “Catch me if you can.” Catch Mamata Banerjee if you can and make it 40 per cent, not 33 per cent. We get that much respect in Trinamool Congress of being here in rich number and also in the State Assembly where the important portfolios like health, law, empowerment of women, and industry are being held by ladies. The horn is in the hand of a lady. Why you do not respect women and give them their dues, that is the question. According to the report of NCRB, Kolkata registered the least number of rape cases out of 19 major cities in the country. Kolkata has the lowest crime rate against women… This is the data of NCRB. I am not saying this. It shows that 56,000 cases have been there in Uttar Pradesh followed by Rajasthan where 40,000 molestation cases have been there and in Maharashtra, 39,000 and more cases have been there… So, we see molestation against women in all the States ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party… It is only in West Bengal that women are safe. So, to keep us safe, this should be implemented and not treated as a gimmick. Thank you, Sir
