Women’s Reservation Bill cleared in key Cabinet meet chaired by PM Modi: Sources

A proposed legislation to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies was cleared by the Union Cabinet, sources told India Today TV on Monday.

The government is yet to make an official statement on this but it is believed that the women’s reservation bill will be brought in for discussion during the ongoing special session of Parliament.

The meeting was called at 6:30 pm, after the first sitting of the special Parliament session.

The bill guarantees a 33 per cent quota for women in Lok Sabha and state assemblies. Across political lines, several leaders demanded the introduction of this key bill.

Speculation around the much-debated women’s reservation bill did rounds, ever since the special Parliament session was announced.

Meanwhile, Congress claimed that the bill was a long-standing demand of the party. While Congress leader Jairam Ramesh welcomed the Union Cabinet’s decision, he also tweeted, “This could have very well been discussed in the all-party meeting before the Special Session, and consensus could have been built instead of operating under a veil of secrecy.”

The cabinet meeting was chaired by PM Modi and was attended by Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Piyush Goyal, Pralhad Joshi, S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Dharmendra Pradhan, Nitin Gadkari and Arjun Ram Meghwal, among others.