Cabinet Assent to Women’s Reservation Bill

Sending ripples of optimism through the fairer gender, the Union Cabinet Thursday approved the much-awaited Women’s Reservation Bill that sets aside 33 pc of seats in parliament and state assemblies for women candidates.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting of the cabinet and the Bill is now likely to be introduced in the current session of the parliament.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice and Personnel in its December 2009 report had recommended passage of the Bill in its present form and suggested that the issue should not be left to the discretion of political parties.

The Bill has been hanging afire for over a decade for want of consensus.