Nitish Kumar bats for women's reservation in Parliament

Pitching for reservation of seats for women in the Parliament and state legislative assemblies, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday said that concrete step towards women's empowerment cannot be taken unless a law is passed for the same.

"As long as a law for women's reservation in Parliament and legislature is not passed and a provision is not made in the Constitution, a concrete step towards women's empowerment cannot be taken," Kumar said at the inauguration ceremony of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Conference here.

Notably, the 108th Constitution Amendment Bill, popularly known as the Women's Reservation Bill that seeks to reserve 33 percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha and all state legislative assemblies for women, has been pending in the Lok Sabha since 1996.

Kumar was the chief guest at the event.

The CPA Conference was inaugurated by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan.

The two-day conference will discuss Parliament's role in the development process, and the importance of legislature and judiciary as pillars of democracy.