Lok Sabha Election 2019: Women IIT/IIMs, cyber safety, Mahila Morcha sends wish list to BJP

Establishing dedicated central universities, IITs and IIMs for women, creation of one crore jobs in the next five years, exemption from payment of GST up to Rs 50 lakh and drafting a law to end female genital mutilation -- these are some of the key suggestions that BJP's Mahila Morcha has submitted to the party's manifesto committee, DNA has learnt.

Last week, the party's women's wing submitted an 8-page document on manifesto suggestions to Union Minister for Home Affairs Rajnath Singh, who is heading the party's manifesto committee for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

BJP's 20-member party's manifesto committee includes only two senior women leaders -- Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Meenakshi Lekhi -- among its members.

The manifesto document made a key suggestion to make governments more inclusive. It said that the constitution must be amended to ensure that at least 15 per cent of the total number of Council of Ministers at Centre and in state should be reserved for women.

The document, senior leaders from the party said, was prepared following nearly 100 meetings with women across metro cities, tier-two towns and rural towns as part of the Bharat ke Mann ki Baat initiative.

Party leaders said this was the first time the women's wing had submitted a separate document with inputs for the manifesto. Many of these, however, may not necessarily make the cut in the party's final manifesto, a senior party leader added.

The women's wing said that dedicated autonomous higher education institutes such as Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Institute of Management, National Institute of Technology, National Institute of Fashion Technology should be established for women. Besides this, only girl schools should be opened on the lines of Kendriya Vidyalayas or Navodaya schools in 117 aspirational districts, it added.

Among inputs on employment and jobs, the document stated that the party could consider raising income tax exemption limit for women up to Rs.7 lakhs per year, create 50 clusters of medium and small enterprises and also raise exemption on payment of GST to Rs.50 lakh.

The women's wing has also suggested that the poll manifesto should include promises to repeal all personal laws to give women fair share inheriting property rights, children's custody and during divorce settlements. It reiterate the demand for a law to end Triple Talaq which could not be passed in Rajya Sabha and one to end female genital mutilation.

The NDA government had earlier planned to outlaw FGM but eventually put it in cold storage.

The document also seeks that a cyber safety law should be enacted to protect women from online bullying, harassment and revenge porn.

"We held quite extensive consultations at regional and district level in our attempt to reach out to as many women as we could. We received about 10,000 inputs during our consultations with professionals, entrepreneurs, anganwadi workers, labourers, homemakers and even widows of martyred soldiers," said Vijaya Rahatkar, national president, BJP Mahila Morcha.