Dimple Yadav, a member of the Samajwadi Party, stated during the Wednesday Lok Sabha debate on the women’s reservation bill that it was crucial that women from other underrepresented groups and backward castes also benefit from it.
“Without revolution, evolution is not possible. For evolution to take place in our country, it is very important that women from OBC, SC and minorities get reservation…,” she said.
“Samajwadi Party has been demanding that women belonging to backward class, and minority community should also be given reservation. I want to ask will this reservation be applicable in Rajya Sabha and Legislative Councils in addition to Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas,” she said.
She also enquired about the government’s plans to implement this Bill, should it pass, in the upcoming Assembly and general elections. Later this year, elections for state assemblies are scheduled in Telangana, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Mizoram. She also inquired as to whether a caste-based census would be conducted and when the government would begin its annual count. The new women’s reservation bill, as it has been presented to the Parliament, states that it will go into effect following the completion of the decennial census and the constituency delimitation process. The 2020 Decennial Census has not yet begun, despite being scheduled for that year.