New Delhi: With uncertainity still reigning over the proposed legislation aimed at reserving seats for women in legislature, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday (Nov 22, 2006) expressed the hope that Parliament would move ahead in this regard.

He cited the strength of elected women representatives in panchayats, calling their share in them a remarkable success.

"I think it would be fair to say that there are now more women in India in positions of elective authority than in the rest of the world put together. I trust that this shining example will encourage Parliament to also follow suit," the Prime Minister said at an event on mid-term review of panchayati raj here.

He maintained that reservations for women, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in panchayats have combined both political and social empowerment.

"Earlier fears about elite capture of these institutions have been allayed. Indeed, the share of women has substantially exceeded the reserved quota with around 50,000 women elected from general unreserved wards," he remarked.

The phenomenon, Singh said, has brought hundreds of thousands of women into the mainstream of governance.

"It is particularly worth underlining that the primary reason for this is that a large proportion of SC/ST women are getting elected over and above their one-third reserved quota," the Prime Minister added.

Singh, who was scheduled to release a report on the state of panchayats, dropped the plan as it could not be tabled in Parliament earlier in the day because both Houses had adjourned immediately after assembly.