Speaker Om Birla prioritizes women MPs in Zero Hour

By: WE Staff | Friday, 10 December 2021

Speaker Om Birla decided during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha to allow as many women MPs as possible to discuss their grievances in the House. In the morning, 29 women spoke out of a total of 62 speakers. Many people spoke out of turn, with topics ranging from when the Women's Reservation Bill will be reintroduced to Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Kalaben Delkar reminding the House of her late husband Mohan Delkar's (who died by suicide in February last year) efforts to get a Union Territory Assembly.

The ball was set rolling when Kanimozhi of the DMK addressed the issue of the Women's Reservation Bill, claiming that it had been a long time coming and that the government should look into it seriously. Mr. Birla then stated that the 33 percent reservation for women was a major issue, and he invited as many female MPs as were present and ready to express their concerns in the House.

Ms. Delkar was just elected to the House of Representatives in a by-election. Mohan Delkar has accused the local authority of harassing him before his death. Unlike her husband, who was an Independent, she ran on a Shiv Sena ticket. She reminded the House of her husband's sacrifices and the fight he led for a responsive local government in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a "full Assembly."

Mr. Birla praised Pramila Bisoyi, a BJD MP from Aska, for raising the subject of women's job issues during COVID-19. Ms Bisoyi, who manages a number of SHGs in Ganjam, had addressed the issue of language apprehension with the Speaker eight months ago, despite the fact that she was only fluent in Odia. Mr. Birla had arranged for her to work with an Odia-to-Hindi translator in order to make her interventions more effective, and the outcome was seen on Saturday.

Six of the winter session's seven sittings have featured Zero Hour, during which a total of 402 members have been allowed to address their concerns.