KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 30

Chairpersons of the thematic committees in the House of Representatives and National Assembly have underscored the need to ensure women's proportional participation in all state bodies. "Even the preamble of the constitution has guaranteed proportional representation," they said at a meeting organised by the Parliament Secretariat today.

Chairperson of State Affairs and Good Governance Committee Sashi Shrestha said proper interpretation of the constitution was of utmost importance.

"The constitution has not mentioned one-third participation of women," she argued, adding that, "The participation of women in any state bodies should be fifty per cent as per the distribution of male-female population in the country."

Chairperson of Monitoring and Evaluation Committee on Implementation of State Directive Principles and Policy, Niradevi Jairu argued that the top leadership still had little confidence in women. "Education and health sectors must be bolstered to empower women," she said, adding, "The environment should be created to enable women's competitive capacity." Similarly, Chairperson of Finance Committee Krishna Prasad Dahal said that in addition to women, the state should focus on mainstreaming Dalit, indigenous nationalities and marginalised communities.

President of Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee Krishna Bhakta Pokharel said implementation of the constitution was ineffective.

"Despite many treaties, agreements and constitutional provisions, their implementation is weak," said Chief Whip of Nepali Congress Pushpa Bhusal. "Also, some social values have prevented their implementation," Bhusal argued.