A women's collective, comprising more than 1,600 organisations, today pitched for the passage of the "long pending" Women's Reservation Bill in the upcoming Monsoon Session of Parliament which commences on July 17. With the slogan "Ab 33 per cent nahi 50 per cent", the National Alliance for Women's Reservation Bill has demanded 50 per cent reservation for women in the the Lok Sabha and state assemblies instead of 33 per cent. "The Prime Minister had congratulated African countries for women's majority in their parliament. In India, women hold a mere 12 per cent of the seats in Parliament and nine per cent in state assemblies, Director of Centre for Social Research, Ranjana Kumari, said. Director of the Joint Women's Programme, Jyotsna Chatterjee, said that the BJP had "committed" support to the women's reservation bill in its 2014 election manifesto, and now it was time for the party to stand by it.

Source: dna July 13, 2017 15:45 UTC