All-State bodies should have women's proportional participation: HoR, NA Committee Chairs

The chairpersons of the thematic committees under the House of Representatives and National Assembly have underscored the need for women's proportional participation in all state bodies. Even the preamble of the constitution has mentioned 'proportional representation, they said at a meeting organised by the Parliament Secretariat on Thursday.

At the programme, Chairperson of State Affairs and Good Governance, Sashi Shrestha, said the proper interpretation of the constitution is a must. The constitution has not mentioned one-thirds participation of women, she argued, adding that the participation of women in any State bodies should be fifty per cent as per the distribution of male-female population in the country.

Chairperson of Monitoring and Evaluation Committee on implementation of state directive principles and policy, Niradevi Jairu, argued that top leadership still had little confidence in women. "Education and health sectors must be bolstered to empower women," she said, adding the environment should be created in a way it enables women's competitive capacity.

Similarly, Chairperson of Finance Committee, Krishna Prasad Dahal, viewed that in addition to women, the State should focus on mainstreaming of Dalit, indigenous nationalities, and marginalised communities.

President of Law, Justice, and Human Rights Committee Krishna Bhakta Pokharel said that implementation of the constitution was ineffective though the constitution in itself was prideful.

Likewise, Chief Whip of Nepali Congress Pushpa Bhusal argued that despite many treaties and agreements, and the constitution, their implementation part is weak. "Even some social values have prevented their implementation," Bhusal added. Leader Laxmanlal Karn argued that a caucus like that of the first Constituent Assembly (CA) was needed to increase women's participation.

On the occasion, National Assembly Member Devendra Dahal said that the statute convention of the UML will ensure one-third of women in the party organisation. He was of the emphasis that quality and capacity building also should go hand in hand along with participation.