Meghalaya CM welcome Centre’s decision to reserve 33% seats in Parliament & state assemblies for women

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 19, 2023

Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s decision to reserve 33 percent of seats  in Parliament and State Assemblies for women.

Speaking to reporters, Sangma said, “Of course as a matrilineal state and as an individual who believes in women empowerment, I’m very happy about the Bill and I welcome the Bill. I’m sure that this will lead to a very positive strengthening and representation of women in the Parliament and in the state assemblies.”

“As a state also it is something that I’m sure the state as a whole will be also acceptable because it’s one of the few states in the country that believes in socially empowering women by means of having a matrilineal, it is part of our culture,” he said.

Stating that his party National People’s Party (NPP) will soon take an official stand on the matter, Sangma said, “As a party, of course we will take our official stand on it, we will be calling a meeting and once we do that officially will take a resolution and pass in will take a call on that. As a president of the party and as an individual it is something that we welcome.”

When asked, the chief minister said, “See that is the reason why the prime minister has decided to move on this and this is something that has been discussed in the past because of the fact that there are no takers so now reservation being there so they would now be a reason for women to come forward and say well because others cannot contest, men cannot contest, so women have to contest and that’s the whole purpose of reservation.”