Shakti, a non-partisan collective for enabling women in politics, has announced the launch of its campaign, ‘Call your MP’. Batting for the Women’s Reservation Bill (which was approved by the Rajya Sabha in 2010 but relapsed in the 15th Lok Sabha), the collective urges people to call their Member of Parliament on December 27 from 7 pm to 9.30 pm in this regard.
“This India-wide unique campaign is for women and men to reach out to their elected Members of Parliament to table and pass the Women’s Reservation Bill,” a media release by Shakti said. Shakti, which was formed to enable more women in politics, was announced on December 8 at a one-of-a-kind unique gathering of women from various political and leadership backgrounds in Bengaluru.
“70 years after a democratic republic, there are still about 10% women only in State Assemblies & Parliament, making women the largest demographic that is least represented. Since this winter session is the final Parliament session in this term, it is crucial for all citizens to put pressure on all parties to get this bill passed at least now, nearly 30 years after it was first mooted,” Shakti urged.
The Women’s Reservation Bill aims to reserve seats for women in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.
Joining Shakti in its campaign from 18 states from across the country are civil society groups, students, women's groups, farmers, domestic workers, corporate sector women and numerous others. People from Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry & Kerala will participate in ‘Call your MP’ campaign.
Tara Krishnaswamy, founder of Citizens for Bengaluru and a member of Shakti said, “We call upon all men and women that believe in fair representation in politics and who want to transform India to join this campaign.”
You can access the campaign website at bit.ly/ShaktiCall
Shakti is a non-partisan inclusive platform of women across who have joined hands, regardless of region, caste, creed, ideology and setting aside our differences with a single-minded objective to get more women elected as MLAs and MPs.