Dimapur, August 16 (MExN): The Rising People’s Party on Monday took the Nagaland government to task over non-inclusion of women representatives in the proposed consultative meet on women reservation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other issues scheduled for August 18.
“The state government has raised the issue of women reservation in Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and discussion is about to be held on August 18. While this is interesting and about time, the irony is not lost. There is not a single woman in the so called consultative meet,” the RPP pointed out in a press release. Discussion on women reservation without women participation is inconceivable, it underscored.
The party also stated that “the government has conveniently excluded both the Kuki and Kachari tribes” and only 14 Naga tribes along with the CM, Dy CM, Speaker, Ministers and Advisors, and the Chief Secretary, all of whom are men or representing the men folk “are apparently deciding the fate of women in Naga politics.”
Naga woman in politics is perhaps the most important issue right now, it said, adding that the manner in which the issue is being dealt with “cannot be more chauvinistic.” Given the background, the PDA government should have addressed the issue more sensitively, it asserted.
Stating that the PDA government also ought to host an all-women consultative meet on the issue where the NMA, ENWO and their units, and professional and career women from different fields may be invited, the RPP said that the “PDA government should understand that women reservation is a complex subject which political parties and CSOs are ill-equipped to handle.”
Unless some of the best minds such as scholars, academicians, and think-tanks are involved in the discussion, any number of consultative meetings on reservation for women in Naga politics will not bear the desired results, it added.
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