West Bengal to hike women’s quota in civic agencies

KOLKATA - West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee Saturday said the women’s quota in the elected seats of panchayat and municipal committees will be raised to 50 percent.

“I have told the panchayat and municipality and municipal affairs departments to amend the acts for this,” Bhattacharjee said at a State Summit organised by Bengali news channel “Chobbis Ghanta”.

The chief minister hoped the women’s reservation bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha earlier this month, would be passed by the Lok Sabha soon.

Talking about women welfare measures of the government, Bhattacharjee said 80 lakh women were employed with 9.26 lakh self-help groups (SHGs) in the state. “The total bank deposits (of the SHGs) are Rs.800 crore. Their total business with banks involves Rs.2,500 crore,” he said.