President Ram Nath Kovind underlined the importance of increasing women representation in the law-making process, citing the low number of women members in both the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Legislative Council.
In his address to the UP Assembly and Legislative Council as part of the Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence, President Ram Nath Kovind recalled how Uttar Pradesh had once made history by having the first woman chief minister in Independent India, Sucheta Kripalani.
“From the point of view of social inclusion, it is a good achievement that in the current Legislature, the ambit of representation of various sections of the society, has increased. But, I have been told that in the UP Legislative Assembly, the number of women MLAs is 47. However, one should not be satisfied with this number. This is around 12 per cent of the total 403 MLAs. Similarly, in the 100-member UP Legislative Council, out of the current 91 members, five are women, which comes out to be 5.5 per cent. There are immense possibilities in increasing the representation of women,” the President said.
The President lauded Uttar Pradesh for having "the smallest salary disparity between men and women as compared to the rest of the country" and called it a "commendable work in the direction of women empowerment," citing the NITI Aayog's 2020-21 report.
“Uttar Pradesh should become the leading state in women empowerment,” he remarked, noting that the state had elected the country's first female governor, Sarojini Naidu.
