Sonia Gandhi optimistic about Women's Bill

Despite pulls and pressures on the Women's Reservation Bill, Congress President Sonia Gandhi is positive about a consensus on the Bill to ensure its passage.

"The UPA government has tabled the historic Bill. This is an important legislation and designed to ensure a greater degree of participation by women in affairs of the country," she said in the latest issue of party journal Congress Sandesh.

Noting that reservations for women in Panchayat elections have been successfully carried out and have helped empower women at grassroots, she felt "the success can be replicated at the Parliamentary level too".

"We hope to achieve an all-party consensus on this Bill to ensure its passage through Parliament," she said.

In the editorial the journal sought to disagree with the opinion of certain parties opposing the Bill that reservation would be cornered by women from the upper caste.

"While this may be true to an extent, we don't think it would necessarily be the case. Each political party has the right to determine the composition of its reservations. However, capability and commitment must also count," it said.

The editorial said, "power comes not through the barrel of the gun but through the direct political participation of groups that are otherwise marginalised."

It said that today women are equal partners in the modernisation and growth of the country and deserve an equal role in the decision making structures of the country.