New Delhi:
Differences continue to persist over the controversial Women's Reservation Bill as the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar on the matter ended today without any consensus.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), known detractors of the Bill, skipped the meeting.
Ms Kumar, after the meeting, said that she would soon convene another meeting to discuss the issue as some changes were needed in the Bill.
Meanwhile, consultations would continue with political parties, Ms Kumar said.
The Speaker had, in a letter sent to political parties earlier, asked them to take steps for early passage of the Bill in the Lok Sabha.
The government is keen for a broader consensus on the contentious Bill ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament.
The Constitution Amendment Bill granting 33 per cent reservation to women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies was passed in the Rajya Sabha amidst two days of high drama in March 2010.
But consensus still eludes the measure in the Lok Sabha with some parties like the SP, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Janata Dal (United) seeking a quota within quota for women from Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The Women's Reservation Bill has been hanging fire for the last fourteen years. It was first drafted by the H D Deve Gowda-led United Front government and brought to Parliament in September 1996.