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NEW DELHI — All India Mahila Congress President, Alka Lamba, declared a nationwide movement starting on July 29 to highlight women's issues and advocate for the swift enactment of the Women's Reservation Act.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Congress headquarters on Thursday, Lamba stated that the Mahila Congress, an affiliate of the Indian National Congress, will launch this movement from Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
She outlined three key demands of the movement aimed at the Central government.
Firstly, Lamba emphasised the urgent implementation of the Women's Reservation Act to enhance the political empowerment and participation of women, ensuring inclusion of the most marginalised groups.
In terms of political empowerment and women's participation, immediate implementation of the Women's Reservation Act is essential. This should include ensuring reservation and active participation of our OBC sisters from the most marginalised communities, she said.
Secondly, she called for measures to alleviate the hardships faced by women due to rising inflation and unemployment.
Lamba highlighted the Congress party's 'Nari Nyaya' initiative from their 2024 Lok Sabha elections manifesto, which pledges financial support of INR 1 lakh annually or INR 8,500 monthly to one woman from every economically disadvantaged family.
She emphasised the demand for this assistance to be directly deposited into the recipients' bank accounts.
Lastly, Lamba highlighted the need for enhanced social justice and security for women, citing the alarming increase in crimes against women across the country.
"There is a continuous increase in crimes against women across the country and the fear of law among the criminals is waning. The latest example of this is the incident of two women being buried alive by bullies in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh, which has put the country to shame. There is a case of gang rape and murder of a 30-year-old woman in Navi Mumbai and case of rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Thane district of Maharashtra," Lamba said.
She underscored the movement's commitment to continue from the national capital to every state capital, major city, and district until the rights and security of women, comprising half of the population, are effectively safeguarded and fulfilled.