Prasad, along with Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, has been opposed to the bill in the present form and has sought quota within quota for the women belonging to the other backward classes (OBCs).

The idea has not gone down well with the Left.

Chances are high as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left parties are willing to support the bill in whatever form it is tabled, sources said.

The current session of parliament is scheduled to end May 9.

The Bill, first introduced in the Lok Sabha September 1996 by then Law Minister Ramakant D. Khalap, has seen more downs than ups since its inception.

The idea of making a legal provision for reserving seats for women in parliament and the state assemblies first came up during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure as prime minister.

It found realisation first when the Panchayati Raj Act, 1992 came into effect granting not less then 33 percent reservation to women in the Panchayati Raj institutions or local bodies.

The bill, as the 81st Constitution amendment, was finally referred to a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) chaired by then member of the Lok Sabha Geeta Mukherjee.

To the frustration of the leaders endorsinhg it, the bill was rejected multiple times before reaching the conclusive stage, 12 years after it was first introduced.

The gender-based reservations are here to stay; but are they really needed? Will they work in women's battle for equality in India?

Share your views with us, dear readers.