Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) President Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the TRS Government had miserably failed to take steps for empowerment of women in the State.
In a statement on Tuesday, Uttam expressed regret over non-inclusion of a woman in the cabinet of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
He said absence of a woman minister clearly shows that KCR have no trust in the capabilities of women leaders. He said despite constituting nearly 49 per cent of the total population in the State, women have no representation in the Cabinet.
He said that it was unfortunate that Telangana is among a few States in the country where women have nil representation in the State Cabinet.
Uttam pointed out that Congress President Sonia Gandhi, a woman, turned the dream of Telangana State into a reality. He said it was the firm commitment of Sonia Gandhi that resulted in formation of Telangana. However, he said that women were being denied their share in power in a State which was formed by a woman leader.
The TPCC Chief also condemned the Chief Minister for not selecting a single woman for the post of MLCs. The Congress party has always believed in real empowerment of women.
For the same reason, he said that the previous Congress regime had five women ministers in the State Cabinet. Further, he said that the lone woman MLC in Telangana Legislative Council, Akula Lalitha, is from Congress party.
He also criticised the Chief Minister for not giving nominated post to any woman. Reacting to the constitution of a three-member panel by the Chief Minister to pick women candidates for nominated posts, he said that KCR was deceiving the women by making the announcement on the occasion of Women's Day.
