SHILLONG, APR 16: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has said he expects Meghalaya’s representation in Parliament to increase following delimitation, citing the state’s population and geographic extent, even as he strongly welcomed the Women’s Reservation Bill tabled in the special session of Parliament.
“Yes, I do expect (that seats will increase in Meghalaya) and I feel that keeping in the large population and the geographic extent of it, government of India and delimitation committee will positively look into that aspect and we are hopeful that our representation in parliament will increase but as I said we have to wait and see,” Sangma told reporters on Thursday.
On the Women’s Reservation Bill, the Chief Minister termed it a “very welcome step” by the Centre.
“This has been a long pending demand, a long pending issue and this is something which should have been done a long time back but we must give credit to the Prime Minister for this bold step and bold decision that he has taken,” he added.
Sangma said the bill addresses a clear gap in representation.
“There will always be critiques and there will always be people who will be arguing in different ways but if you look at the larger section of the society and larger impact that it will have on the democratic representation which we have seen whether it is Meghalaya or even in the parliament that the representation of women is not at the level it should be,” he stated adding “This will be a very important democratic reform and will allow representation of women at the top level, to be able to take decisions which will overall the society and women especially at large and as I said it is a very positive decision and we as a government and as a political party, the National People’s Party, completely support this decision.”
“We are very happy with this decision and at every level of whatever is required will support it,” he assured.
“At the same time, I urge all political parties, all organizations across society must support a positive reform like this as it will be in the larger interest of the state and the country as a whole,” the Chief Minister said.
On implementation of the bill alongside delimitation, Sangma said both processes must be managed carefully.
“It is of course another aspect if you look at the demographic changes taking place, population trend that are there, delimitation is the need of the hour. Hence, it must be done and hence to overall implement the women’s reservation bill or the Act when it is passed, we will be looking at the details of how it will be implemented but those details are not with us right now,” he said.
“But as I said I am sure discussion will take place and I hope there will be scope for discussion and scope for intervention to see how the implementation of both the delimitation as well as women reservation bill/Act will not be as disruptive as it could be and the disruption could be minimized. So yes, both need to go hand in hand,” he added.
When asked about the possibility of states losing seats, the Chief Minister said he did not expect a decrease.
“As I mentioned that disruption should not be there, I have not gone through the details as it was just tabled, we don’t know the content or details of the content of it but multiple times I have heard the government of India spokesperson mentioning in their comments that there will not be any decrease of seats,” he said.
“In fact, what I have been reading in the press was that the number of seats will increase from 500 to 800 so I expect there will not be a decrease in any state, there could be some states that will gain more than some other states that would be a possibility,” Sangma noted.
“I think the decrease in seats is not going to happen. Whatever the case maybe as I said I am sure the government of India will discuss with us and this will be discussed at state and central level and I am sure there will be lots of discussions. So, if such a situation comes up, we will discuss at that point in time,” he added.
