Indian president calls for empowerment of women

The Indian president has called for the empowerment of women and proposed increasing their representation in state elected bodies from 33 percent to 50 percent.

In a speech on International Women's Day, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said on Monday that the Women's Reservation Bill has been taken up by the Rajya Sabha (the upper house of the Indian parliament), which will discuss the increase in women's quota in the parliament and state legislatures.

The country is also in need of a fundamental change in the mindsets of the people, she noted.

To change the attitude of the society toward women, she said, reforms should be made for gender equality.

While presiding over the annual Stree Shakti (women's empowerment) awards in New Delhi, the Indian president stated that women have always participated in the country's affairs.

There are currently 1.2 million elected women representatives in local bodies in villages and towns, which is about 36 percent, she said.

This figure is up for discussion at the Rajya Sabha to push it up to 50 percent, she added.

Championed both by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, the Women's Reservation Bill had been scheduled for a vote on Monday coinciding with International Women's Day, 14 years after it was first introduced.

But the house was repeatedly adjourned on Monday because some lawmakers opposed certain clauses in the bill and hindered the final decision to turn it into law.

Source: PressTV.
Link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120406§ionid=351020402.