Cabinet approves Women's Reservation Bill
The Union Cabinet has approved the Women's Reservation Bill providing 33 per cent reservation to women in Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies.
The Bill is likely to come in this session of Parliament.
The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met in New Delhi Thursday evening and discussed the Bill sent back to it by the Standing Committee and approved it in the form that it has come back in.
The Bill has already been introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2008 and it is a property of the Rajya Sabha.
It is now for the Business Advisory Committee to decide when the Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha, the sources said.
A delegation of Joint Parliament Committee on women empowerment had met President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and urged her to direct the Government to hold the discussion on the Bill on 8th March in Parliament to mark the International Women's Day centenary celebrations.
The controversial Bill has been delayed for past 12 years as many of the opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (United) had been demanding a sub-quota for OBC women.