New Delhi, Trinamool Congress leader Sushmita Dev, the only woman member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which will go through the Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021, has written to panel's chairperson and urged him to invite all women MPs to testify on the bill that raises marriaglble age of women to 21.
Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also wrote a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu to ensure participation of more women when the Bill is debated in the committee.
Dev, the only woman member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, wrote to Committee Chairperson senior BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, requesting him to invoke rule no 84 (3) to allow all women MPs to testify before committee on the Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill 2021.
The Rajya Sabha has 29 women MPs and the Lok Sabha has 81 women MPs.
"I request you to use the power of your office to open the meetings of the Committee on this issue for testimonials from any of the hounourable women members, and request you to allot time accordingly," Dev said in her letter.
Charutvedi, in her letter to Naidu, said the committee had only one woman member.
"It is of utmost importance that the interests of all stakeholders are taken into account and the voices of all, especially women are heard and understood by the committee," she said.
Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani introduced a bill to make 21 years the legal age of marriage for women in Lok Sabha on December 21 amid protests by opposition members. The Bill was sent to the department related standing committee for further consultation.
The committee is expected to give its report in the Budget session of Parliament.