Panaji: With women excelling across sectors, including business, education and science, their participation in policy-making and law-making must grow too, said Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla on Friday.Speaking at the valedictory function of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association India Region Zone VII Conference in Goa, Birla said that efforts are being made to build consensus and agreement among all the political parties to ensure 33% reservation for women is put in place in state legislatures and Lok Sabha.“We want women’s participation to increase in policy making. From panchayats to Delhi, whether it is state legislatures or Lok Sabha, the role of women has to increase. Women work with sensitivity and compassion and, thus obviously, when their participation in policy-making increases, then automatically, women’s rights and benefits will also be taken into consideration,” said Birla.Parliament passed the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill in 2023, which seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies and Delhi assembly.The Women’s Reservation Bill, which is called Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, was approved by both Houses.“We are trying to give a new vision for the country. We got it passed after building consensus. We will continue to build consensus among all the parties in the future so that we can implement it. There will be more discussions and deliberations on this so that we can continue building agreement among all the political parties,” said Birla.In the coming times, we need to increase the participation and role of women in formulating policies and laws.At panchayat-level, women already enjoy 33% reservation of seats, while in some states half the seats at the panchayat level are kept aside for women.Birla said that enhancing public participation is vital to deepening the country’s democratic process.
