PANJIM: Supporting the Women’s Reservation Bill, former Minister for Law and Judiciary Ramakant Khalap on Wednesday recalled that it was way back in 1996-1997 when he was the Union Minister in Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda Cabinet, he had the privilege of introducing the Bill to provide 33 per cent reservation.
Khalap said, “Ganesh has this year blessed me in a unique way. It was exactly this month in 1996, I introduced the Constitution Amendment Bill in Lok Sabha to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies. I was then Law Minister of India. Today on the Rushi Panchami or second day of Ganesh festival women reservation has become a reality. My happiness knows no bounds. I congratulate the women of India and thank all those who made this achievement possible.
Thanking Deve Gowda for affording me this unique privilege of a place in history of democratic India, Khalap said, “The system prevailing in the country is heavily oriented towards men and therefore even though we do have brilliant women, very few of them were able to get representation.”
Khalap, who represented the regional MGP was the second MP from Goa, after Eduardo Faleiro to be inducted in Union Cabinet, with independent charge. Like Faleiro, Khalap too served in two Union governments. Faleiro was the Minister in late Rajiv Gandhi and late P V Narasimha Rao government while Khalap served in Deve Gowda and late I K Gujral government. Khalap was allocated same portfolios in both the governments.
