Tripura reserves 50% seats in civic bodies for women

The Tripura Assembly today unanimously passed two bills reserving 50% seats in civic bodies, including three-tier Panchayats and Municipal bodies, for women.    The Tripura Panchayat (Fifth Amendment bill), 2010 and The Tripura Municipal (Fourth Amendment Bill) were passed unanimously which were placed in the House for amendments to reserve 50% seats for women in civic bodies.    "When our Assembly reserved 50% seats for women in civic bodies, we also hope that the Parliament would also reserve seats for women in Parliament and state Assemblies," chief minister Manik Sarkar said.    While supporting the bill whole-heartedly, the leader of the opposition Gopal Roy said his party Congress has always favoured reservation for women.    "Women constitute 50% of the population but have been traditionally kept out of public life and decision making process because of various socio-economic conditions," minister for rural and urban development, Manik De said adding that the increased participation of women in public life has proved to have many benefits.