In a special meeting held on Monday, the Union Cabinet is likely to have cleared the Women's Reservation Bill, according to media reports. The development was confirmed in a tweet put out by BJP leader Prahlad Singh Patel, which was soon deleted, causing confusion.
Also known as the 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill, it was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2008 and was subsequently passed in 2010. However, the bill has stayed in limbo since then.
The legislation seeks to reserve one-third of the total seats in the lower house of Parliament and the state legislative assemblies exclusively for women.
The bill specifies that women from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will get reservations in one-third of the seats allotted to these groups, and that different constituencies in the state or union territory may be assigned these reserved seats in a rotating fashion.
The bill also states that this reservation of seats shall cease to exist 15 years after the commencement of the Act.
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