New Delhi | Indian Union Muslim League MP ET Mohammed Basheer on Wednesday said the women's reservation bill will take a long time to be implemented and called it an "escape route bill" for the government.
Attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party over the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Eighth Amendment) Bill, Basheer asked what the mechanism was to identify constituencies for reservation and asserted that views of all political parties should be taken into account and the exercise should not be left to the Election Commission alone.
"The PM yesterday was saying that God has specially chosen him to turn this bill into a law. It's an exaggeration and contrary to the fact. Endless efforts were made, especially in the past during the UPA period, in this regard," he said in Lok Sabha.
"This legislation was very much necessary. In 1977-80, Lok Sabha saw a ratio of women MPs which was lowest at 3.4 per cent. Before mid 90s, it never touched 10 per cent. That is a fact," he said.
The IUML MP questioned the government over the provision that says the exercise would only be undertaken after the next delimitation.
"If BJP was really interested in doing it, they could have done it. BJP is trying to find an escape route... This should be called an escape route bill," he said.
He also raised questions on the procedure to pick the constituencies for reservation.
"Who is going to identify the constituencies? I feel that people's representatives, political parties, must have a say in that mechanism. It should not be left to the Election Commission," he said.
Basheer also suggested there should be reservation for OBC women within the quota.
"OBCs and minorities, especially Muslims, are facing deprivation, underrepresentation, no representation. Some effective steps should be taken for setting apart some percentage (of seats) for the backward sections," he said.
Shiv Sena MP Dhairyasheel Mane welcomed the bill, saying, for a country to progress, equal contribution of women is important.
He said several attempts were made in the past to bring the bill, but they could not succeed, but this time, the bill will get passed as ruling alliance has the numbers.
Kavita Singh from JD(U) and CP Joshi of the BJP also supported the bill.