Kerala's lone woman LS member urges Modi to take up women's quota bill

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI (M) central committee member P K Sreemathi, the lone woman Lok Sabha member from Kerala on Thursday said the Narendra Modi government should take initiative for enactment of Women's Reservation Bill.

Sreemathi, who won from Kannur, sought to know whether Modi would give priority to this long-pending legislation and prove his words are matched by action.

"Now BJP has a majority of its own in the house. There is no technical hurdle before the government to take the bill from the cold storage," she told PTI.

"CPI (M) and Left parties will put pressure on the Modi government to fulfil their pre-poll promises. As a woman, I have special interest to take up the issue of Women's Reservation Bill, which is in cold storage now and see that it is passed at the earliest," she said.

Sreemathi, who wrested Kannur constituency from sitting Congress MP K Sudhakaran, said enhancing the status of women in society was equally important as ensuring their security.

"We have a number of laws to ensure the security of women. But unfortunately they have many loopholes. The new government should take the initiative to plug these loopholes and bring out a strong legislation to ensure women's security," she said.

Sreemathi, who handled the Health and Social Welfare portfolios in the V S Achutanandan government during 2006-11, said it would take some time to know the Modi government's approach and attitude towards women issues.

"We cannot predict now whether the approach of the Modi government will be the same as the previous UPA regime. Let us wait and see," Sreemathi added.