What a woman MP wants... from the Women's Reservation Bill

"Implementation iswhat we want", DolaSen, TMC's fiery upper house MP told The Statesman, after both houses of Parliament passed the Women's Reservation Billlate last month

- DOLA MITRA

Anarrow by-lane off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass leads to the new Trinamul Bhavan, one of the Kolkata offices of West Bengal's ruling party. Even on a rain-lashed Sunday morning, a queue of visitors wait in front the tiny cubicle of Rajya Sabha member Dola Sen, who was elected to the Upper House of Parliament three times in a row this July. There are people who come from the districts and around the city with a variety of problems ranging from the personal to the professional and political. Dola is known to give patient hearings to all and has a system of jotting down on handwritten sheets of paper the names and phone numbers of each person to ensure that even if she is unable to meet them on that particular day if time runs out, she will have them contacted on the next available date.

Just back from the Special Session of Parliament which was held late last month when the much-awaited Women's Reservation Bill was finally passed, one of Trinamul's-most fiery woman MPs, Ms Sen says: “As far as reservation of one-thirds of the seats in the Parliament and the Assembly is concerned, we fully support it. However, implementation is the most important aspect of it, otherwise it will just remain a legislature." In fact, Trinamul leaders, including Ms Sen, pointed out how in Mamata Banerjee's party women already represent more than thirty-three pe rcent in Parliament with nine of its 23 MPs being women.

Commenting on her third term as RajyaSabha member, Ms Sen tells The Statesman, "I feel honoured that our leader, Mamata Banerjee and my party has chosen me for the third time. I am committed to working for the people who have put their trust in Trinamul and I try to do my job as a member of the RajyaSabha to bring to the notice of the Central government the issues of concern.”