New Delhi: The Women`s Reservation Bill has
been sent to the Cabinet in its present form, the Union Law
Minister said on Tuesday, a day after President Pratibha Patil
asserted that the Government is committed to its early
passage.
"It has been sent to the Cabinet. Yes, we are going by
the report of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Women`s
Reservation Bill," Law Minister M Veerappa Moily told agency.
He said this when asked whether the Bill has been sent to
the Cabinet in its "present form" which envisages 33 per cent
reservation to women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
In its report tabled in Parliament in December last year,
the panel headed by senior Congress leader Jayanthi Natarajan
had "strongly" recommended that the Women`s Reservation Bill
be passed at the earliest in its present form and the issue
should not be left to the discretion of political parties.
The President had said yesterday in her address to the
joint sitting of Parliament that members should accord
"special attention to this critical proposal." She had
recalled that the Bill had been tabled in the Rajya Sabha
sometime back.
Besides, she said, two bills for Constitutional amendment
to provide 50 per cent reservation for women in panchayats and
urban local bodies have already been introduced and it is
hoped that these can be passed during this session.
The Women`s Reservation Bill has been hanging fire for
the last over a decade for want of political consensus with
certain parties like SP and RJD seeking a quota within quota
for women from backward classes.
PTI
