New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Thursday deferred
a proposal to increase reservation for women to 50 per cent in
panchayats.
The proposal, listed for consideration at the Cabinet
meeting today, was deferred, Information and Broadcasting
Minister Ambika Soni told reporters here.
The proposal was to amend Article 243(d) of the
Constitution, which provides for one-third reservation for
women in panchayats, and increase it to 50 per cent.
In her address to the joint sitting of Parliament on June
four, President Pratibha Patil had said that a constitutional
amendment would be brought in to provide 50 per cent quota for
women in panchayats and urban local bodies.
She had said that since women suffer multiple
deprivations of class, caste and gender, enhancing reservation
in panchayats and urban local bodies would lead to more women
entering the public sphere.
The states which have already implemented 50 per cent
reservation for women in panchayati raj institutions are
Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
While Rajasthan has announced implementation of the
proposal in the next panchayat election in 2010, Kerala
declared yesterday that it would implement it.
Bureau Report
