Campaign Reservation Express, which has been passing through 56 cities and towns across the country in support of Women's Reservation Bill, will reach the city on Thursday night. A public meeting and awareness campaign has been scheduled for Friday at the Victoria Edward Hall in this connection.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Bimla Chandrasekar, director of Ekta, a Madurai-based organisation for women, said that the campaign would seek support of the public for this bill. A large number of Muslim women would also take part in the campaign.
The Bill, which mandates providing one-third reservation of seats in Parliament and State Assemblies for women, has been passed in the Rajya Sabha and was stalled when tabled in the Lok Sabha. The Bill would also have to be ratified by the States.
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The campaign, which has been conceived and initiated by Act Now for Harmony and Democracy (ANHAD) and supported by a host of other women's organisations, will witness three caravans travelling 15,000 km around the country, covering 56 locations between May 20 and June 6, with a public meeting scheduled for June 7 in New Delhi.
Three routes
Three routes would be followed during the campaign. The first would cover Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Gujarat and Delhi.
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The second would traverse Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The third route would pass through Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, a press note said.